Building my own air quality sensor

At the weekend I attended a workshop where I built my own air quality sensor.

The session was run by TOG Hackerspace, which is a shared space where people go to create and build things. Their members use the space to do all kinds of things such as: coding, electronics, wood work, metal work, crafts and knitting, and 3D printing.

The session to build the air quality sensor was based upon the instructions provided by luftdaten.info, a project that started in Stuttgart, Gemany to monitor the air quality to the city – and which has subsequently spread to other countries.

The instructions use cheap off-the-shelf electronic components to let people build their own wifi-connected sensor that is capable of constantly monitoring particulates in the air (PM2.5 and PM10), temperate, air pressure and humidity – and then share all that information with everyone else to build up coverage of air quality monitoring throughout the city.

The information is plotted on a map, and you can click on individual sensors to see its current readings and history.

Map showing air quality sensors in Dublin – from https://maps.sensor.community/

Mounting the sensor

The sensor is enclosed in a standard electrical box, and it is powered by a standard 5-volt USB cable.

My current challenge is to work out a way of getting the USB power outside of my house without making destructive changes such as drilling holes. I’m currently looking either running a cable out of the window somehow, or perhaps even using a solar panel.

Until that’s sorted out I have a USB power bank in my shed providing power to the sensor, and for the last couple of days it’s been monitoring the air quality outside my house.

One thought on “Building my own air quality sensor

  1. Pingback: Problem with my air quality sensor • Richard Bloomfield's Blog

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