The hardware coming out of [Dr. Peter Jansen]’s lab is the craziest stuff you can imagine. He’s developed a CT scanner out of plywood, as well as an MRI machine out of many, many turns of enamel wire. perhaps his best-known develop is his Tricorder – a real, all-sensing gadget with permission from the estate of [Gene Roddenberry] to utilize the name. [Peter]’s tricorder was one of the finalists for the very first Hackaday Prize, however that doesn’t mean he’s stopped working on it. Sensors are always getting better, as well as by sometime in the 23rd century, he’ll be able to in shape a neutrino detector inside a small hand-held device.
One of the new sensors [Peter] is working with is the MAX30105 air particle sensor. The advertising materials for this chip state it’s designed for smoke detectors as well as terminate alarms, however this is truly one of the smallest dust as well as particle sensors on the market. If you want a handheld gadget that detects dust, this should be the chip you’re looking at.
Unfortunately, Maxim is being very, extremely tight-lipped about exactly how this particle sensor works. There is a method to get gain access to to raw particle counts as well as the underlying algorithms, as well as Maxim is more than willing to offer those algorithms with a third-party distributor. That’s just not exactly how we do things around here, so [Peter] is looking for someone with a elegant particle sensor to gather a few hours of data so he can develop a driver for this chip.
Here’s what we understand about the MAX30105 air particle sensor. There are three LEDs inside this chip (red, IR, as well as green), as well as an optical sensor beneath a piece of glass. The chip drives the LEDs, light shows off smoke particles, as well as enters the optical sensor. From there, magic algorithms turn this into a number corresponding to a particle count. [Peter]’s hackaday.io log for this project has tons of data, math, as well as stats on the data that comes out of this sensor. He’s likewise developed a test rig to compare this sensor with other particle sensors (the DSM501A as well as Sharp sensors). The data from the Maxim sensor looks good, however it’s not great sufficient for a Tricorder. This is where you, o visitor of Hackaday, come in.
[Peter] is looking for somebody with gain access to to a elegant particle sensor to gather a few hours worth of data with this Maxim sensor in a test rig. when that’s done, a few statistical tests should be sufficient to confirm the work done so far as well as develop a driver for this sensor. Then, [Peter] will be able to play around with this sensor as well as ideally make a extremely affordable however extremely precise air particle sensor that should be hanging on the wall of your shop.