As we learn more about all the nasty stuff floating in the air, it becomes more compelling to monitor the air for pollution levels. [Aleksei Tertychnyi] does just that with pollutagNode2, a solar-powered pollution sensor.
The device uses a Seeed Studio Wia-E5 module for its built-in LoRa low power long-range communication capabilities. Pair that with a cheap 2 watt solar panel and a Li-ion battery, and you have a monitoring device that can stay up indefinitely — or until harsh weather gets the better of it. Even if the solar panel were to be omitted, a full charge would last you about two weeks!
It comes on an open-hardware PCB; no need for giant wire messes, just solder the solar panel, battery, sensor, and anything else you want onto the convenient pads on the side. It also integrates into the existing sensor community nicely via existing LoRa infrastructure. All this combined makes it easy for anyone to deploy one.
What’s not to love. Solar power, Lora, air quality. Dang I wish Lora was cheaper to get into. I have so many things that could benefit from it. Oh well.
This deserves to be the winner—though the solar cooker dish wins in the looks department.
I love dishes.
LoRa modules are like a few bucks each? It’s not expensive.
Open hardware, but LoRa itself is proprietary?
What sensor was used?
Most of these ‘air quality’ projects measure CO2, which is a halfway decent proxy for ventilation, but doesn’t have any relation to air quality / pollution
Downside is when the air gets so bad it loses its power.