Avnet's New HAT Brings Renesas' High-Accuracy TVOC, eCO₂ Air Quality Sensor to the Raspberry Pi

Pre-calibrated sensor offers TVOC measurement and eCO₂ estimation for air quality monitoring projects, but with proprietary libraries.

Avnet has launched a new HAT accessory for the Raspberry Pi family and compatible single-board computers, designed to make it as easy as possible to build air quality monitoring projects on top of the Renesas ZMOD4410 sensor.

"The Raspberry Pi HAT form factor provides an ideal platform for all rapid prototyping, evaluation, and proof-of-concept products,” explains Jim Beneke, vice president of products and emerging technologies at Avnet, of the company's decision to launch the accessory board. "Potential applications range from air/health monitoring systems, smart home appliances, smart thermostats, smart speakers and smart fans to smoke alarms, vacuum cleaners, garage openers, security systems, HVAC controls, air purifiers and building automation."

"The ZMOD4410 indoor air quality platform is available in four software configurations providing various sensor behaviors targeting unique applications indoors," adds Uwe Guenther at Renesas. "Combining Avnet's market-leading Raspberry PI solution with Renesas' sensing expertise helps customers accelerate time to market for products with highly accurate indoor air quality measurement capabilities."

Built on the HAT standard — which connects directly to the 40-pin general-purpose input/output (GPIO) header on Raspberry Pi and compatible single-board computers, and features an EEPROM chip to allow for automatic configuration — the board is able to measure total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) from parts-per-billion to parts-per-million, and uses its captured data to provide estimated carbon dioxide (eCO₂) level reporting.

What elevates the sensor above the competition is pre-shipping calibration, carried out using electrical and gas-exposure testing in a lab with the data for each sensor stored in onboard non-volatile memory providing maximum accuracy over alternative uncalibrated offerings. There's one small catch, however: The libraries required to operate the sensor aren't open source, but proprietary and contingent on agreeing to a software license agreement written by Renesas.

The HAT, dubbed the AES-RHSEN-ZM44-G, is now available in North America for $49.95, with more information and a link to buy on Avnet's product page.

Gareth Halfacree
Freelance journalist, technical author, hacker, tinkerer, erstwhile sysadmin. For hire: freelance@halfacree.co.uk.
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