Two IoT projects for anyone who wants to get involved. Here are two quick and easy Internet of Things (IoT) projects to get the beginner started and the established maker involved in meaningful projects.
IoT is becoming more mainstream every day. But many people don’t know that there are some simple ways to use this technology, in meaningful ways. One of those ways is through DIY projects that teach the basics, but also tackle issues like the environment and home security.
These two projects use Single Board Computers (SBC) that are readily available and easy to use.
First up is an Air Pollution Monitor, by DebadrD you can find the full instructions here.
Air Pollution Monitor
Air quality has become an issue in many places, not just in cities. Anywhere there is a refinery or petrochemical plant, manufacturing, or large animal farm, air pollution follows. With floods and wildfires in many places, the quality of air becomes more of a concern.
The monitoring and tracking of air quality is a reasonable and meaningful endeavor and one that can help society in many ways, big and small.
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The solution to this issue is to monitor the air in as many places as possible. This is one of the easiest IoT solutions to build and maintain. It can help monitor PPMs or Parts Per Million of air quality and detect natural gas leakage or other toxic gases and particles. This system also saves data on a web server for research and statistical modeling.
The system uses alerts and alarms with MQ135 and MQ6 sensors if air quality drops below a threshold. The sensors can identify toxic gases. The system also can determine an accurate level to the toxins and records the data for future use. Additionally, a natural gas sensor can be added for detecting any leakage.
Key hardware
- NodeMCU, an ESP8266-powered microcontroller, for building IoT systems and applications
- MQ2 Gas Sensor – a simple gas sensor to detect different types of gases present in the air.
Key Software
- Arduino IDE installed on a PC or laptop
- Jupyter Notebook, Python
- and a number of different libraries that can be set up through this video
Weather Reporting System.
The second project is a simple weather reporting system.
Rasmika-B developed this simple Raspberry Pi 4B project using readily available parts found online in many places. Find full instructions here.
This project is great for anyone who would like to monitor weather patterns. It collects the data and sends it to the cloud (may need a cloud account, some are free). The data can be used for many different reporting processes and statistical modeling.
This project generates simple weather forecasts for surrounding areas, and can even be portable and travel on trips, measuring surrounding weather conditions. The system can track weather in real-time, with embedded temperature, humidity, and rain sensors, that can deliver stats on the fly.
Key Hardware
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- Raspberry Pi 4B
- DHT11 Temperature Sensor
- BMP180 Barometric Pressure Sensor
- YL-83 Rain Sensor
Key Software
- Key software is set up directly through the Raspberry Pi 4B Operating System and related packages.
- MATLAB data analysis
- IFTTT service for alerts and notifications
There are a number of great IoT-based projects that can be found on projectpro.io
ProjectPro | projectpro.io
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For the past 8 years, I have been writing about embedded technologies, added to my technical, academic, and medical editorial experience, with companies like Elsevier and Cambridge University Press. I tell people to read what I write, not try to pronounce my last name. I am always available for comments and suggestions you can reach me at product-editor@circuitcellar.com and I promise I will take the time to reach back out to you. I live in the North East with my wonderful family.
