Using dust sensor GP2Y1010AU0F

I just received a dust sensor (GP2Y1010AU0F) which I want to use to measure air cleanliness. Just for fun but I want to see how well it works compared to official readings.
I found instructions how to use it with Arduino here: http://arduinodev.woofex.net/2012/12/01/standalone-sharp-dust-sensor/
I would like to feed the data from this sensor to WD somehow. I have a 1-wire board that could supply voltage and read raw voltage from this module but I’ll not be able to control the LED. So I’m thinking to use Arduino board and take data from there. The challenge then is how to read this data from /dev/ttyUSB to WD. I could probably write data to a file.
Did anyone work with this dust sensor? Any suggestion is welcome.
Thanks.

After long time, I continue my work on this. I made the system work and it is logging the data. I’ll see how it behaves over days & weeks and report back.

WD does have aruduino support, and so you could add the data to that data stream and I could add a custom tag

Are you using a fan to ensure some airflow?

I have a 5V fan that is positioned above the sensor’s hole. It sucks the air up and pushes it outside, see the sketch. I think this way is better than pushing the air down. The airflow is not very strong but just strong enough that is flows a little.
I have no comparison data to say the system work alright. I’ve ordered another module so I put them side by side.

I’m looking for someone that has more experience in representing and processing the dust data. I’m using a general equation that does voltage to dust-density conversion but I think it is very inaccurate. I’m basically looking for a trend instead of an absolute value.

I know WD has Arduino support and I’ve tried it (just to see if it works). I’d appreciate new tags but don’t want to bother you with it since it takes your time. In parallel to this “project”, I’m using a lightning detector (currently on RPi) but would like to move it to Arduino. That would also be interesting to feed into WD as an Arduino custom tag.


dust.png

Your setup looks good. As I recall MichaellPT had one of these sensors but I don’t know if he got it working.

Hi

yes I have one with a fan moving the air through the sensor and a display

Which shows the voltage and 3 led green good air
Blue
Red very bad

See old post
http://discourse.weather-watch.com/p/496097

Which as a pdf link showing my set up with other air sensors

Nice… I haven’t seen that before. My readings are typically like this attached (just have it in operation for a couple of weeks).

Equation to convert from voltage to dust value:

dustDensity = 0.17 * calcVoltage - 0.1;

I’m getting results offset by ~ -50. I suppose I should shift them up, right? I know it’s experimental sensor and it degrades over time, but nevertheless.


20170802_prah.png

This is the info on the LEDs that light up on the module I’m using
It’s exactly the same sensor

When the value is less than 150, the green D2 light turns on, the surrounding environment is relatively healthy;
When the value is greater than 200 and less than 400, the yellow D1 light turns on, the surrounding environment is moderate pollution;
When the value is greater than 400 less than 700, the red D3 light turns on, the surrounding environment is severe pollution;
When the value is greater than 800, all light turns on, the surrounding environment is serious pollution.

mick

Coming back to this. I’ve been logging the data from the dust sensor for a while now. We get fog over the night. When the fog starts to formate, the temperature slightly increases (1 degC) and the dust reading visibly increases. Is the sensor sensitive to humidity or is it expected that there are more dust particles with the fog?

That’s a very interesting question. Unfortunately the data sheet is very vague with no operating humidity range specified, but there is this note,

“12 When inside of the sensor is moisturized, this product does not keep its proper function. Please design the application so that moisturization of the sensor does not happen.”

which could be interpreted as it not really being suitable for outdoor use :?

There are a lot of papers online about the role of particulates in fog formation so it’s also possible you are seeing a real effect.

:dontknow:

Dust is tiny particles of dirt. Fog is VERY tiny droplets of water. I would expect that it would detect the fog droplets as any other airborne particulates, which they actually are.

Steve

Back to this. I’ve been logging data for a while now. Temperatures go down as the Winter is approaching. We went from 10


dust_vs_temp1.png

dust_vs_temp2.png