Low-cost Real-time IoT-Based Air Quality Monitoring and Forecasting

Abstract

The ultimate goal of a “smart city” is improving the quality of life of citizens, optimizing city functions and promote economic growth, through the use of technologies and data analysis. Attention should be placed in how the technology is used rather than on how much technology is available. The “smartness” of a city is measured using a set of characteristics, which includes environmental initiatives. Air pollution, in particular, has a great impact on the quality of life. Here, we will present a low-cost, real-time, compact, lightweight and robust prototype device (hardware and software) capable of measuring, monitoring and forecasting the indoor (closed spaces) air quality. This device produces an Indoor Air Quality Index (IAQI), which is calculated based on the CO2 and Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC) parameters. The IAQI is used to activate two RGB LED lights, where people can very intuitively be aware of the current and predicted air quality: excellent (green); good (light green); moderate (yellow); poor (orange); and unhealthy (red). The results achieved by the set of conducted tests proved that the device and IAQI are reliable.