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Prototype Development Begins

This past week, we officially started assembling and soldering our first components as the equipment began arriving.

We chose 3.7V lithium cells instead of standard batteries (such as alkaline or 9V) because the ESP32 requires high current peaks for Wi-Fi communication, which conventional batteries cannot reliably support.

Bosch BMV080 with Shuttle Board

For monitoring fine particulate matter, we selected the Bosch BMV080 solid-state sensor mounted on the Shuttle Board 3.1. This device uses a high-precision laser to measure PM2.5 concentrations—microscopic particles that the World Health Organization identifies as critical for cardiovascular and respiratory health.

Power Module (5V Boost Converter)

We selected this specific 5V output module instead of a basic charger because our particulate sensor requires a stable 5V supply to ensure its internal fan operates reliably. Since the batteries can only provide up to 4.2V, this module boosts the voltage to the required 5V.

Radon Monitoring (Future Considerations)

Although measuring radon gas was one of the initial objectives of the project—due to its high risk in indoor environments and its significant presence in the northern and central regions of Portugal—we decided not to integrate this type of sensor in the current version of the prototype due to economic feasibility constraints.

SCD41

The integration of the SCD41 sensor by Sensirion is essential to our project, as it uses photoacoustic spectroscopy to measure actual CO₂ concentration—unlike low-cost sensors that only provide estimated values (eCO₂).