Alacrity AirBox V2 Assembled

Alacrity AirBox V2

The AirBox V2 Station is an open source air quality monitoring station based on the Sensirion SEN66 sensor. It measures particulate matter, CO2, VOC and NOx, runs on a solar charged lithium cell, and reports over Wi-Fi.

AirBox Platform

Why another air quality monitor?

The AirBox-class monitors are meant to be educational devices first and foremost. Although they are just as capable to measure air quality as any other device, they were also meant to be built by aspiring engineers, scientists and enthusiasts alike. From the ground up.

Commercial monitors are usually sealed opaque boxes. AirBox was meant to be soldered, opened, flashed, inspected, broken and fixed again.

We have an entire 5 weeks long bootcamp dedicated to ALL the information that goes into making an AirBox (legit from the atom up).

Alacrity AirBox Soldering Closeup from the AirBox Bootcamp


Features

Angled 3D render of the Alacrity AirBox Bootcamp PCB with cyan pads

Open Source

From the PCB to the Source Code running on the entire Airbox infrastructure, the entire Airbox Framework is Open Source.

Github Repo
Render of the Alacrity Education Soldering Skillbuilder PCB with switches, transistors and resistors

Educational

AirBox is designed to be able to be manufactured and programmed end-to-end by aspiring engineers. Check the courses for AirBox on Alacrity Wiki.

Alacrity wiki
Student in black gloves working with tweezers at an electronics workbench

Open Access

We believe that the research data should be available to anyone. Download all the data you need from the Airbox framework. For larger downloads contact us.

Airbox platform
PCB routing view of the AirBox board showing sensor connectors and the solar input

AirBox v3, coming soon

Powered by super-efficient Nordic Semiconductors MCUs, featuring LTE connectivity and a sleek new and improved outer case.


How an airbox sees the world:

Device View for Alacrity Airbox Grafana. Fully open with realtime data

The Specs

An AirBox V2 features a Sensirion SEN66, I2C air quality sensor, chosen because it features the ability to read a more varied array of particles, increasing the collected data's variety. This can be regarded as futureproofing because scientists and people who are interested in collating information for different uses can select from more than just the relevant items of the past. It is based on the ESP32-S2 Mini (WEMOS board).

The other sensors such as DS18B20 external temperature probe (over temp protection) are there for reliability, in order for the AirBox to avoid overheating.

It features Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, 2.4 GHz connectivity. The 3000 mAh Li-ion (single 18650 cell) battery can last for up to 3 days of bad weather when implemented in a power mode in which it draws power only from the built-in 6V, 2W solar panel. However, the Airborne can be plugged into a wall if it is convenient to the user.

The case is fully 3D-printed in ASA plastic, a material highly resistant to shock as well as the elements and extreme weather phenomena. The rigid build assures function in spite of any conditions that may affect it.

The Airbox can connect to the internet and transmit its collected information roughly every 10 minutes. This data is displayed on a user-friendly dashboard page which shows relevant and up-to-date information about the air quality of wherever the unit has been set up.

Known Limitations

  • The SEN66 is specified down to -10 °C. Winter temps go below that, so outdoor readings in January may be out of spec or unavailable.
  • The station depends on a local Wi-Fi network. Many locations will not put an unmanaged device on their network/may not have WiFi at all, which is the main reason V3 moves to cellular.
  • VOC and NOx are indices, not concentrations.