Date: 11-02-2022

Air Quality Monitoring Applications with Smartphone Capabilities

Smartphones are, by now, universal technology in the developed world. As the technical capabilities of smartphones increase, consumer applications seem to grow and grow. There is a stark contrast between the latest smartphones and the Palm Pilots and Blackberries of yesterday, which were used mainly as a business communication tool. The smart phone’s appeal for today’s consumer is obvious; with enough apps and games to fill all your spare time, and then some, meanwhile, there’s no candy crush for industrial automation.

New technology, and new industrial data management platforms, has made more appealing the prospect of using smart phones for building automation, or even on the factory floor. We can leverage the ubiquity of smart phones to send live, instantaneous data to a broad base of less-technical users.

The MQTT protocol, for instance, is one of the newer — in terms of the industrial automation industry —technologies that you can leverage to bring cellphones into your operation.

Based on the publish-subscribe model, MQTT is an easy to use protocol designed for equipment that needs periodic monitoring. Sensors, or other equipment, send messages through an MQTT broker, a type of server. The end users “subscribe” to the sensors individually or in groups, and the broker sends the last known value to each of the subscribers at pre-determined intervals.

The benefit of MQTT is its ease of use. The publish-subscribe model makes it simple for anyone to connect to the broker and subscribe to one or more devices. It’s also easy for operators to group sensors into useful groups based on location or purpose. An operator can combine all the temperature sensors on Floor 4 of your building into one group and name it “Floor 4.” Each device in “Floor 4” will broadcast its unique id along with the most recent value at pre-determined intervals.

This type of monitoring is perfect for building automation, air quality monitoring, and other types of less-than-critical data acquisition. When your users need periodic updates, or if it would be unnecessary to have your devices always broadcasting, then MQTT is the perfect protocol.  

In applications where more frequent, or more reliable, measurements are required, we can make use of some of the same technology to broadcast constant updates to all personnel and to send alert messages when required.  

In this application, one of our DL-302 environmental sensors is measuring the temperature and CO2 concentration on the 6^th floor of the office. Through a direct Ethernet connection, it broadcasts temperature, CO2 concentration, and air quality as Modbus values to an iKAN-116 industrial LED display.

The iKAN-116 can be used to read indoor air quality monitoring data from an external DL-302 module, including the carbon dioxide level, temperature and humidity, and then display the information in real-time, making it suitable for commercial and public buildings, such as schools and museums, as well as for retail, leisure and healthcare facilities where personnel are required to stand for long periods of time, and where the indoor air quality is required to be monitored and displayed at the entrance or lobby of the building.

With the iKAN broadcasting this information to personnel on the floor, the DL-302 is prepared to send emergency alert messages over office Wi-Fi as an email or through our iAir application. The DL-302 also includes a flashing LED and relay channel that can be triggered for visual and auditory alarms.

These three components work together to provide a multi-faceted messaging and notification system. Constant visual data and alarm notifications are broadcast over the iKAN display; anyone connected to local Wi-Fi can view the same information or receive alerts via the iAir application. In the event of dangerous particulate buildup, the DL-302 will flip its relay and alert the entire floor with a siren.  

Finally, in a kind of merger between the consumer and professional side, there are app-enabled industrial sensors like our DL-300 series. Real-time data from the DL-300 Data Logger can be accessed from anywhere and at any time using the DL300 Utility, the iOS or Android App, or via a regular web browser, as long as they are connected to the same local network as the Data Logger.

iAir app is designed for connecting to the DL series via your smart phone or tablet. It can retrieve real-time data from the DL series, and transfer messages to display on the DL-300 devices

On its touchscreen display, the DL-302 shows a constantly updated air quality status report with both PPM measurements and an at-a-glance air quality score. If the particulate concentrations measured in the office stay at non-harmful levels, then the display stays green. If particulate concentration increases, then the status update changes to reflect the estimated harm to office occupants. 

The iAir app is a free mobile application available to Android and iOS users, published by ICP DAS.

iAir gives the same instantaneous readings to any app user connected to the same local network as a DL-300, or a group of DL-300s.

The iAir application is an apt example of the kind of consumer-friendly tools for DAQ and data display that smartphones can bring to very technical industries. The app provides an approachable way for less-technical personnel to get access to field data without giving them behind the scenes access to SCADA or the control system. This kind of limited, user-friendly approach is a great compromise between too little and too much information.

All the methods of data display we’ve discussed today, the iKAN-116 LED display, the on-unit display, the MQTT broker, and the mobile phone app; these methods come together to form a redundant, comprehensive messaging and alert system that is simultaneously easy to use. The advantage of smart phones in this case is to put exactly the right data into the hands of workaday personnel right at the time it’s measured.    

 

Products Featured in this Application:

iKAN-116: Industrial grade scrolling LED display with web user interface and built-in RTC. Interprets and displays Modbus values as scrolling or static text. iKAN-116 includes 7 colors, a library of common messages, and the ability to integrate text and Modbus variables into readable lines.

DL-302: This is an all in one sensing, datalogging, display, and alert module. DL-302 measures CO2 concentrations, temperature, humidity, and dew point and then displays it on an attractive color touchscreen. Users are free to access data logs and live readings remotely through our iAir app, the DL-300 utility, or through a web browser.

iAir Mobile App: Available to Android and iOS users, use our iAir mobile app to get live sensor readings and air quality reports from our DL-300 series. Get up to date sensor output in the palm of your hand, from anywhere on the local network.

 

If you have some questions, we can certainly help you to choose the best solution. Please call our technical support team at 346-292-9998 X102

For more information, please visit http://www.icpdas-usa.com

ICP DAS USA is a provider of Industrial Data Communication, Automation Control and Test and Measurement products. We specialize in PLC hardware, Ethernet controllers, distributed I/O modules, Industrial Ethernet Switches and protocol converters. We provide programming services, training classes and free technical support.