It’s hard to see what’s in the air around us, unless you have a handy portable air quality monitor like the Arnov Sharma. This manufacturer uses our favorite microcontroller, Raspberry Pi Pico 2powers his custom-made handheld device that lets you see exactly what you’re inhaling and how much is around you. This portable air quality meter is an open source project and full build details are available at Huxter.
Sharma said the meter is built around the MQ135 air quality sensor. This mod works with a variety of controllers and operates efficiently with the Pico 2. The screen has a custom interface that can display specific grain levels in real time.
One important thing to note about this portable air quality monitor is the limitations of the sensor. It does not provide a complete assessment of the full range of particulate matter in the Air Quality Index (AQI). Sharma confirmed that his handheld device can only detect carbon dioxide, smoke particles, benzene, alcohol, ammonia and nitrogen oxides.
The first iteration of this project was built using a Raspberry Pi Pico 2, but this was eventually replaced with a Firebeetle 2 ESP32-E. This is mainly because the Pico does not have a battery charging circuit and requires more space to install the second module. The Firebeetle has an integrated TP4056 which is a bit more practical for this unit.
If you want to recreate this project, you can use either board as a microcontroller if you pay attention to how you plan to charge the battery. It will need to be connected to the MQ135 air quality sensor, SSD1306 screen and 14500 lithium-ion battery. The casing is also 3D printed. You can also explore the project’s source code on Hackster’s project page.
If you want to check this More in-depth Raspberry Pi projectsyou can view the full build guide at Huxter. You can also follow Arnov Sharma to learn more cool Raspberry Pi projects.