Atmel states:
“Confined spaces can be a dangerous part of rescue work, especially for miners and firemen. Not only do they have to worry about walls caving in and trapping people, but hazardous gasses. And while there are several expensive robotic devices out there that can take gas sensors deep into these tight areas ahead of rescuers, Eric William has come up with a much cheaper, more efficient alternative to remotely sniff the air before entering. The Maker has developed a $30 gas sensor “grenade” using a basic Arduino and a few other components, which is capable of analyzing the environment and reporting its levels with real voice output.”
Tech Talk Live with Eric Show #28 May 25 2015. This week we cover the weekly news from the #Maker and #Tech world. As well we cover some big news for the MKme Community as a whole.
Here is the live broadcast video:
Here are the show notes/links to the content discussed this week:
Tech News:
Talking to $9 CHIP Computer Creators
$9 Computer
Atlas V AFSPC-05 X-37B LightSail ULA Launch Broadcast Replay
Space Station Supply Ship Returns to Earth
Farthest journey by hoverboard – Guinness World Records
Ocean Tracking Network warns sea goers of rogue robot
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/ocean-tracking-network-warns-sea-goers-of-rogue-robot-1.3086566?cmp=rss
Last week I quickly prototyped my Arduino DIY Gas sensor which monitors smoke, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), and CO (carbon monoxide). I used the MQ2 smoke/gas sensor and an Arduino nano with a simple ASK 433mhz transmitter to transmit the values out to any radio receiver.
Arduino Gas Sensor
It was well received on the Adafruit Show and Tell event as well as Lady Ada mentioned it on the following Ask an Engineer show. Here are the videos. Full build video soon with code.
I have been playing with the MQ2 Smoke, LPG, Carbon Monixide gas sensor for Arduino and electronics projects. I have found this little sensor to work quite well as an indicator for gas/smoke levels but the accuracy of the PPM values is a bit questionable. I expect some calibration could improve the accuracy and reliability greatly.
I made some quick code which adapts the existing code I found online with my basic Nokia 5110 LCD display code for use with any Arduino. This could be quite handy for a home automation project and enable a person to have remote monitoring for danger.
I think for my project I will utilize an existing commercial smoke detector which triggers a micro controller input, but I do have another project in mind where the MQ-2 sensor may be of great benefit. Video on that soon.
