Does anybody know how they actually do it without a fan and a defined volume around it? The marketing fluff says "It applies sophisticated algorithms to measure the PM2.5 concentration directly in free space, without requiring a fan", so I assume the main difference to traditional PM sensors is the software?
These fanless PM sensors typically use thermal convection to create natural airflow across the sensing area, combined with advanced signal processing to compensate for variable flow rates and environmental conditions.
> Laser light is emitted from the sensor and focused by the sensor lens at approximately 5 mm from the top of the
sensor’s lens surface.
> Particles traveling in free space due to the natural ambient airflow are detected when passing through the laser focal (sensitive) region.
> Due to the interaction between particles and light, the light scatters in different directions; a fraction is back-scattered towards the sensor, where the integrated photo-detectors detect it.
> The back-scattered signal is processed by unique algorithms (based on particle counts, particle relative velocity, probed air volume during measurement) to derive the particulate matter mass concentration.
That's pretty much how all laser particle counters work... except the good ones use a fan and a chamber. Guess we'll have to wait and see how this compares to the reference sensors.
I think there is at least some plausible interpretation of this that points to more than marketing fluff.
You want to count particles per volume of air, so conventional sensors use a fan to have a constant volumetric flow and then count particles per second to infer particles per volume.
The way I interpret the above marketing language is that they use the optical sensor not only to count particles but also to measure the particle movement and infer airflow. So as long as there is some natural movement in the air, they can measure both particle count and volumetric flow, and thus infer particles per volume.
We actually have a sample of the Bosch in our office but haven’t come along to test it yet. Maybe with this call, I will get our team onto it.
The form factor has pros and cons in my opinion. The size and lower energy consumption definitely opens new applications but the problem is that it needs a clear field of view to do the measurements.
This could in turn restrict the applicability, eg as a wearable sensor.
In general I think it’s great to see innovations in the PM sensor field but often minimizations go on costs of accuracy.
We saw that for example with the Sensirion photo acoustic CO2 SCD4x sensor that is tiny but needs more black box algorithms to compensate for certain environmental conditions that then limits the range of applications.
I've been running multiple Sensirion SPS30 PM sensors for years, and I'm honestly amazed how well they've held up. Particularly with respect to, within their spec'd error, how new/unused SPS30s report similar values to my heavily used ones.
Curious if there are any maintenance requirements for the bosch sensor.
Do you actually do anything with the data you collect?
As someone who manages commercial building automation system installations, I have never understood the obsession that HN has with residential IAQ sensors. The number will go up if you cook, burn a candle, use a hairdryer, or if there’s wildfire smoke outside and you have a ducted HVAC installation with an outdoor air intake.
In a commercial BAS, IAQ sensors (CO/NO to be more specific) are used to turn on exhaust and make-up air fans to increase the air quality in a space, but in every single thread about IAQ monitoring on HN, nobody ever seems to use the sensor readings to automate their HVAC equipment to do anything. In fact, almost all commercial BAS systems have zero IAQ sensors (especially in offices), the vast majority of them are use for turning on exhaust fans and make-up air units in buildings where cars are driving inside, like a parking ramp or drive-in warehouse.
I guess my question is, why collect this information and do nothing with it? Maybe you actually do something with it, or you monitor local outdoor air quality as a hobby. I’m asking a more general audience than you specifically.
Lastly, ensuring your house is positively pressurized by paying a testing and balancing contractor to come over and adjust your HVAC system will do more to keep out particulate matter than measuring it ever will.
Many particle sensors are useless in foggy/hazy conditions, which ruins many citizen science projects in terms of data quality. Currently, the best solution is to calculate the dew point and then switching them off once you hit a specified limit.
Fog is condensed water droplets suspended in the air. Radiant heat , especially if it's optically focused, could remove them in the area where the PM sensor is looking.
love this... while the politicians busy angle themselves over stances on whether air filtration is required for public space during a pandemic engineers and companies come up with products and solutions ready to deploy.. it is my dream that our last generation gave us clean-ish water, and we can somehow pass down clean-ish air...
The entire device is tiny: 20mm x 5mm x 5mm approx. It looks to work using a small laser and a lens which focuses the beam about 5mm above the device. The sensor unit contains a photodiode(s), and algorithms count the particulates. It looks to need a heat sink.
I mean this is cool but the size claims are somewhat misleading. They only sell you a sensor element on flatflex PCB, then you need to add own metal cage for thermal dissipation and a lens, so the overall size is significantly larger.
This is great for flexibility but very impractical especially for DIY space. Hopefully small fully integrated modules on something like edgeconnector PCB come out soon enough.
Unless I misread, the lens is integrated, but Bosch recommends an optical window to protect the device. The integration guide is pretty comprehensive. Many fan-based air sensors require some specific enclosure considerations to separate the in/outflow.
Sparkfun sell a module with a ground plane + thermal pad as heat sink. This is suggested as OK by Bosch, though adding a small heatsink is probably a good idea, or just mount the enclosure on a metal surface.
Ah I was looking at the integration guide but just skimmed it and I thought the window was a required lens. Thanks for the correction. (Can no longer storage edit my comment unfortunately)
> Discover the PurpleAir PIXEL, one of the first end devices featuring the BMV080 particulate matter sensor for precise local air quality measurement. This user-friendly device provides real-time PM2.5 readings with a quick response time, clearly displayed via LED indicators. The BMV080‘s fanless design ensures completely silent operation, making it both effective and unobtrusive.
That's the form factor you'd be looking at when its included with the rest of the supporting circuitry and logic.
So... possibly might be able to get it into a smaller package if the data display is externalized (Purple Air uses LEDs).
My parents are interested in this as one of their use cases is to put it on their e-bike so that they can be made aware of worsening air conditions after they've left the house.
Where did you see 30 euros? If so that's quite good I think - I remember (a long time ago when I was researching air sensors) Honeywell's laser sensors were similarly priced. A low price point will absolutely help Bosch drive adoption.
It needs an external lens anyway so you could shove it into the camera assembly, waterproofing is not an issue.
Cost is one, but this isn't something you can measure quickly on demand, you want to keep averaging multiple measurements over time. So unless you want to hold out your phone for minutes to get a measurement it doesn't seem practical.
Does anybody know how they actually do it without a fan and a defined volume around it? The marketing fluff says "It applies sophisticated algorithms to measure the PM2.5 concentration directly in free space, without requiring a fan", so I assume the main difference to traditional PM sensors is the software?
These fanless PM sensors typically use thermal convection to create natural airflow across the sensing area, combined with advanced signal processing to compensate for variable flow rates and environmental conditions.
My guess is they're relying on natural air convection and using a more sensitive optical setup to compensate for the lack of forced airflow
They don’t give lots of heat, so convection is negligible.
Also wonder how the sensor can stay clean without a fan. I suppose mounting upside down would help. Other fanless designs require periodic cleaning.
The integration picture shows an "optical cover" transparent surface. I guess it's not meant to be used in highly contaminated areas.
They have some tech specs: https://www.bosch-sensortec.com/media/boschsensortec/downloa...
> Laser light is emitted from the sensor and focused by the sensor lens at approximately 5 mm from the top of the sensor’s lens surface.
> Particles traveling in free space due to the natural ambient airflow are detected when passing through the laser focal (sensitive) region.
> Due to the interaction between particles and light, the light scatters in different directions; a fraction is back-scattered towards the sensor, where the integrated photo-detectors detect it.
> The back-scattered signal is processed by unique algorithms (based on particle counts, particle relative velocity, probed air volume during measurement) to derive the particulate matter mass concentration.
That's pretty much how all laser particle counters work... except the good ones use a fan and a chamber. Guess we'll have to wait and see how this compares to the reference sensors.
Yep, I suspect this is all marketing fluff and no substance. I see a lot of superlatives but no substantial technical breakthrough here.
I think there is at least some plausible interpretation of this that points to more than marketing fluff.
You want to count particles per volume of air, so conventional sensors use a fan to have a constant volumetric flow and then count particles per second to infer particles per volume.
The way I interpret the above marketing language is that they use the optical sensor not only to count particles but also to measure the particle movement and infer airflow. So as long as there is some natural movement in the air, they can measure both particle count and volumetric flow, and thus infer particles per volume.
I’m pretty pretty sure it is just marketing
Lying?
Waiting for Achim Haug of AirGradient! What’s your thoughts on this?
Hahah. Thanks for calling me!
We actually have a sample of the Bosch in our office but haven’t come along to test it yet. Maybe with this call, I will get our team onto it.
The form factor has pros and cons in my opinion. The size and lower energy consumption definitely opens new applications but the problem is that it needs a clear field of view to do the measurements.
This could in turn restrict the applicability, eg as a wearable sensor.
In general I think it’s great to see innovations in the PM sensor field but often minimizations go on costs of accuracy.
We saw that for example with the Sensirion photo acoustic CO2 SCD4x sensor that is tiny but needs more black box algorithms to compensate for certain environmental conditions that then limits the range of applications.
Airthings View Plus is £250!
I've been running multiple Sensirion SPS30 PM sensors for years, and I'm honestly amazed how well they've held up. Particularly with respect to, within their spec'd error, how new/unused SPS30s report similar values to my heavily used ones.
Curious if there are any maintenance requirements for the bosch sensor.
Do you actually do anything with the data you collect?
As someone who manages commercial building automation system installations, I have never understood the obsession that HN has with residential IAQ sensors. The number will go up if you cook, burn a candle, use a hairdryer, or if there’s wildfire smoke outside and you have a ducted HVAC installation with an outdoor air intake.
In a commercial BAS, IAQ sensors (CO/NO to be more specific) are used to turn on exhaust and make-up air fans to increase the air quality in a space, but in every single thread about IAQ monitoring on HN, nobody ever seems to use the sensor readings to automate their HVAC equipment to do anything. In fact, almost all commercial BAS systems have zero IAQ sensors (especially in offices), the vast majority of them are use for turning on exhaust fans and make-up air units in buildings where cars are driving inside, like a parking ramp or drive-in warehouse.
I guess my question is, why collect this information and do nothing with it? Maybe you actually do something with it, or you monitor local outdoor air quality as a hobby. I’m asking a more general audience than you specifically.
Lastly, ensuring your house is positively pressurized by paying a testing and balancing contractor to come over and adjust your HVAC system will do more to keep out particulate matter than measuring it ever will.
Many particle sensors are useless in foggy/hazy conditions, which ruins many citizen science projects in terms of data quality. Currently, the best solution is to calculate the dew point and then switching them off once you hit a specified limit.
How does this model deal with this?
I don't think it would. Data in these instances would have to be ignored.
You can detrend for high humidities, but once water condenses, the only way round this would be to add a drying instrument.
I wonder if a radiant heat source beside the sensor, maybe also somehow focused in the same area, could get rid of the condensed water.
The problem is not condensed water. This can be solved with heating.
It's that fog is being detected as a particle. This distorts the measured values.
Fog is condensed water droplets suspended in the air. Radiant heat , especially if it's optically focused, could remove them in the area where the PM sensor is looking.
I didn't see anything in the article about humidity compensation
love this... while the politicians busy angle themselves over stances on whether air filtration is required for public space during a pandemic engineers and companies come up with products and solutions ready to deploy.. it is my dream that our last generation gave us clean-ish water, and we can somehow pass down clean-ish air...
The entire device is tiny: 20mm x 5mm x 5mm approx. It looks to work using a small laser and a lens which focuses the beam about 5mm above the device. The sensor unit contains a photodiode(s), and algorithms count the particulates. It looks to need a heat sink.
I mean this is cool but the size claims are somewhat misleading. They only sell you a sensor element on flatflex PCB, then you need to add own metal cage for thermal dissipation and a lens, so the overall size is significantly larger.
This is great for flexibility but very impractical especially for DIY space. Hopefully small fully integrated modules on something like edgeconnector PCB come out soon enough.
Unless I misread, the lens is integrated, but Bosch recommends an optical window to protect the device. The integration guide is pretty comprehensive. Many fan-based air sensors require some specific enclosure considerations to separate the in/outflow.
Sparkfun sell a module with a ground plane + thermal pad as heat sink. This is suggested as OK by Bosch, though adding a small heatsink is probably a good idea, or just mount the enclosure on a metal surface.
https://www.sparkfun.com/sparkfun-air-quality-pm1-pm2-5-pm10...
https://www.bosch-sensortec.com/media/boschsensortec/downloa...
Ah I was looking at the integration guide but just skimmed it and I thought the window was a required lens. Thanks for the correction. (Can no longer storage edit my comment unfortunately)
The fact that it's fanless and still works reliably makes me curious how well it handles airflow variability in real-world settings though
Cool. So we could get air quality apps for the phone or smartwatch?
Chasing through to https://www.bosch-sensortec.com/products/environmental-senso...
> Discover the PurpleAir PIXEL, one of the first end devices featuring the BMV080 particulate matter sensor for precise local air quality measurement. This user-friendly device provides real-time PM2.5 readings with a quick response time, clearly displayed via LED indicators. The BMV080‘s fanless design ensures completely silent operation, making it both effective and unobtrusive.
https://www2.purpleair.com/products/purpleair-pixel
That's the form factor you'd be looking at when its included with the rest of the supporting circuitry and logic.
So... possibly might be able to get it into a smaller package if the data display is externalized (Purple Air uses LEDs).
My parents are interested in this as one of their use cases is to put it on their e-bike so that they can be made aware of worsening air conditions after they've left the house.
Might need to wait a few generations. It costs ~30€ for a single unit (maybe half that at volume?). And not waterproof.
Where did you see 30 euros? If so that's quite good I think - I remember (a long time ago when I was researching air sensors) Honeywell's laser sensors were similarly priced. A low price point will absolutely help Bosch drive adoption.
It needs an external lens anyway so you could shove it into the camera assembly, waterproofing is not an issue.
Cost is one, but this isn't something you can measure quickly on demand, you want to keep averaging multiple measurements over time. So unless you want to hold out your phone for minutes to get a measurement it doesn't seem practical.
FYI, it is a "Smallest sensor, for particulate matter", not "sensor, of Smallest particulate matter"