Democratising Air Quality: An Open-source Solution to Filling Data Gaps in the Global South

01/15/25 • 24 min

The advancement of low-cost sensors has sparked a boom in air quality monitoring devices. From backpack add-ons to citizen bicycles, air quality devices are enabling citizens to get involved in monitoring local air quality.
When looking at global air quality maps, however, the data for South America and Africa remain scarce. As primarily consumer-based products, these devices remain subject to demand and supply, limiting access to local air quality and air pollution for those who need them the most. Though the number of open-source designs is growing, incomplete and non-standardised documentation renders many viable designs unusable.
In this episode, Colombia-based Engineering Physicist, MSc., Daniel Mauricio Pineda, takes us through the design of a fully documented, open-source air quality monitoring device that allows for remote data gathering and customisation.

This episode is researched, produced and edited by Miriam Gradel, Journalist and Media Editor at HardwareX. The music is provided by Kammerin Hunt via Pixabay.

HardwareX is a peer-reviewed scientific journal about open-source hardware. For more info, visit HardwareX.

This episode is researched, produced and edited by Miriam Gradel, Journalist and Media Editor at HardwareX. The music is provided by Kammerin Hunt via Pixabay.

HardwareX is a peer-reviewed scientific journal about open-source hardware. For more info, visit HardwareX.

Previous Episode

Building A Better Mousetrap: Scaling animal wellbeing with open-source hardware

What if research labs didn't have to reinvent the wheel all the time?
Rodents like mice and rats play a pivotal role in neuroscientific research. Through a process known as 'head fixation', scientists surgically implant cannulas and electrodes to measure neurophysiological activity. As mice share roughly 95% of our DNA, head fixation experiments greatly contribute to advancing our understanding of the human brain and diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
While head-fixation is common in many labs, proprietary systems are often expensive and inconsistent. This leads many labs to create ad hoc DIY systems at the risk of causing harm to the research animals and impeding the results.
In this episode, we sit down with Zack (Isaac) Weaver, PhD, to explore the ethical and design-specific considerations behind his open-source head gear fixation system. With animal well-being in mind, we explore the multi-stakeholder benefits of open-source hardware in research.
Open-source hardware is a collaborative effort. A special thanks to co-authors Michael R. Tadross and S. Aryana Yousefzadeh and all the labs and members who contributed to the design by trying and testing various iterations.

This episode is researched, produced and edited by Miriam Gradel, Journalist and Media Editor at HardwareX. The music is provided by Kammerin Hunt via Pixabay.

HardwareX is a peer-reviewed scientific journal about open-source hardware. For more info, visit HardwareX.

Next Episode

Tagging 6000 Bees: An Open-source System for Species Monitoring

Did you know that honey bees dance?

When honey bees return to the colony from foraging, they share info about their journey with their fellow honey bees by dancing. Besides getting the boogie on, however, little is known about how far honey bees go foraging and what ecological factors impact their journey, e.g. pesticide exposure.

In this episode of HardwareX, Entomologist Margarita López-Uribe, Ph.D., specialised in bee species, together with Doctoral Student of Electrical Engineering, Diego Penaloza Aponte, of Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, explain how open-source technologies and collaboration across scientific fields helped pave the way for an automated low-cost monitoring system - and what it takes to tag 6000 bees without getting stung.

To explore the specifics, check out the hardware on HardwareX.

This episode is researched, produced and edited by Miriam Gradel, Journalist and Media Editor at HardwareX. The music is provided by Kammerin Hunt via Pixabay.

HardwareX is a peer-reviewed scientific journal about open-source hardware. For more info, visit HardwareX.