RS Components has launched its DesignSpark #ActivistEngineering programme, further strengthening the company’s commitment to engage and inspire design engineers across the globe to ‘make amazing happen for a better world’.
Hardware for air quality pilot project.
The programme gets underway with a pilot project addressing the challenges of rising air pollution, particularly pollution indoors caused by airborne particles, household odours and gases, carbon dioxide and others. The ‘Air Quality’ project urges the more than one million registered members of the DesignSpark engineering community to help design, build and deploy a global network of portable indoor air quality monitors for the home, workplace or other public indoor spaces and share the data collected with the community.
To support the project, RS has unveiled a new cloud-enabled open-source prototyping platform that consists of open-source hardware and code developed in collaboration with DesignSpark partners. The DesignSpark Environmental Sensor Development Platform is based on a Raspberry Pi single-board computer with wireless connectivity to connect to the cloud. The kit comprises a set of air quality sensor modules that plug into a Raspberry Pi-compatible board with touchscreen. The platform and 3D printed enclosures are optimised for the Raspberry Pi model 3B+, though any model can be used. It is also compatible with peripheral modules (PMOD), allowing connection to an extensive range of PMOD add-on boards.
The Air Quality project will roll out over three phases for six months from November 2021, with a small group of first-phase participants selected to alpha-test the sensor development platform. These users will create and share inspirational projects with the DesignSpark community, paving the way for phase two of the project which will be extended to all DesignSpark members with an opportunity to win one of 50 sensor kits. Commercial availability will follow in the final phase.
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