Track the Air: Building an Air Quality Monitoring System on the Move with Nordic Thingy:91X.
This workshop will explore the exciting world of cellular IoT and environmental sensing. Over the next 2.5 hours, you’ll gain hands-on experience with the Nordic Thingy:91X, a versatile prototyping platform equipped with advanced sensors and cellular connectivity, and learn how to build a functional air quality monitoring system.
[This is also an asynchronous workshop, where participants can follow this guide and take the steps at their own pace for the workshop once the kit is handed over.]
Air quality has become a critical concern in today’s world:
- Global Health Impact: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution is one of the leading causes of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, affecting millions globally.
- Environmental Relevance: Poor air quality contributes to climate change and deteriorates ecosystems, impacting humans and all living beings.
- Data for Better Decisions: Access to real-time air quality data empowers individuals, communities, and policymakers to make informed decisions, such as protecting health, planning urban spaces, or raising awareness.
Nordic Thingy:91X has in-built environmental sensors for temperature, humidity, air quality, and air pressure, a magnetometer, a low-power 3-axis accelerometer, and a 6-axis IMU with a gyroscope. Plus, it has a rechargeable Li-Po battery with a 1350 mAh capacity.
It supports LTE-M/NB-IoT/NR+, GNSS, and Wi-Fi locations, which the nRF7002 Wi-Fi 6 companion IC enables localization.
Since the Maker Train connects vibrant cities and offers fantastic views and experiences, you can also build a worthwhile project that can be used throughout the trip and beyond for the Fab25 festival and to understand the air quality. For example, you can collect and analyze sensor values in different stations, which will be valuable for the Fab City project later.
Pre-event preparation- Procure 20 + 5 Nordic Thingy:91X kits, supported SIM cards, necessary cables, and peripherals, including spares for contingencies.
- Test the Nordic Thingy:91X devices and pre-load the firmware or software required in advance.
- Create a kit with Nordic Thingy:91X kits and necessary cables.
- Prepare step-by-step guides for each workshop phase and set up demo environments for troubleshooting.
- Share the pre-requisite checklist with participants and confirm attendance while collecting special requirements.
We send a pre-requisite checklist 3 weeks before for those who registered for the workshop in advance.
- Install nRF Connect SDK on laptops - Follow the guide.
- Install nRF Connect for Desktop - Follow the guide.
Our organizer, Nordic Semiconductor, provided all the tools required for the workshop as a kit (except laptop).
Hardware:
- Nordic Thingy:91X devices for participants [Included in the kit]
- Supported SIM [Included in the kit]
- Necessary cables and peripherals. [Included in the kit]
Software:
- nRF Connect SDK installed on participant laptops - [from pre-requisite checklist]
- nRF Connect for Desktop installed on participant laptops - [from pre-requisite checklist]
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Phase 1: Introduction 📚Type: Theory
1. Introduction to Nordic Thingy:91X [10 min]
Learn about the Nordic Thingy:91X and Generic Cellular IoT technologies.
[TODO: Add more Thingy:91X docs. ]
- What is Nordic Thingy:91X?
- Key features (Cellular IoT, onboard sensors, etc.)
2. Introduction to Cellular IoT [10 min]
Learn about the Generic Cellular IoT technologies and Basic terms and architecture.
[TODO: Add more Cellular IoT docs. ]
- Basics of Cellular IoT and its applications.
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Phase 2: Setup 🔧Type: Theory + Practical
3. Setting Up the Nordic Thingy:91X [40 mint]
Set up the Nordic Thingy:91X and ensure all participants can interact with it.
[TODO: Add a guide to the Blink and other hands-on experiments. ]
- Blink an onboard LED in Thingy:91X 💡
- Connect the Thingy:91X to a cellular network 📡
- Send basic data to a cloud platform. ☁️
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Phase 3: Build 🛠️Type: Theory + Practical
4. Read Air Quality sensor data and print locally [30 min]
Learn about the onboard sensors that come with Nordic Thingy:91X. Read the data with APIs and print it locally.
[TODO: Add step-by-step guide on - how to read internal sensors for our project - temperature, humidity, air quality, and air pressure ]
5. Publish Air Quality sensor data to Cloud [20 min]
Publish the locally collected data to the Cloud and visualize the data.
[TODO: Add a step-by-step guide on - how to send data to the Cloud and visualize it.]
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Type: Theory + Practical
6. Address any technical challenges and clarify doubts.
Explain Common issues and their solutions, and open the floor for participant questions afterwards.
[TODO: Document common issues FAQ]
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Phase 5: Extra Credit ⭐️Type: Theory + Practical
Once they finish everything, they can learn more about it and implement extra features, like sending the Air Quality data with the location information. ,Thus, it will be like a decentralized air quality map.
[TODO: Document GNSS + Data billing and vishalizdation guide}
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Type: Theory
Wrap up the workshop and provide resources for further exploration.
Summary of what was learned.
- Resources for Nordic Thingy:91X and Cellular IoT.
- Mention of other potential projects and applications.
[TODO: Create a doc for Nordic Thingy:91X and Cellular IoT Resources .}
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