Socialcops, a technology data company, has launched a mobile pollution data network project, by integrating low cost mobile IoT devices on five rickshaws. The devices consist of an airborne particle sensor, a GPS unit and a cellular antenna to beam back the data, and cost around Rs 6,500 each. The idea behind the technology is to get better PM10 air quality data in realtime. As such the device reports back two readings per minute, which with 5 devices, can add up to 600 data points over an hour. The uptime of these devices is upto 12 hours, or the average amount of time rickshaw drivers spend driving their vehicle. The hardware: Socialcops uses a basic LinkIt One prototype board along with a case and external power bank as the sensor. The sensor is instructed to “sample data from the pollution sensor for 30 seconds, calculate the particles per .01 cubic foot from these values, retrieve the GPS location, upload the data to the server, and repeat.” The company uses this data to provide an AQI (Air Quality Index), which usually includes calculating the impact of pollutants like particulate matter, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3, and Pb. However for now, the company only uses particulate matter (PM10 only) to measure pollution levels, likely to avoid the cost of specialized sensors. Making sense of data: Gathered sensor data is freely mapped out by Socialcops on its website and updated on an hourly basis. Users can select between sensor 1 and 5, and the…
