Final Project

X-Breath

X-Breath

X-Breath is a sleek decorative piece equipped with air-sensing capabilities for CO2, TVOC, particulate matter, temperature, and humidity in its ambient environment. Your browser does not support the video tag. License This project is shared under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license. Overview What will it Do? I will develop a device capable of measuring CO2 Levels of the surrounding in addition to (Temperature, Humidity, TVOC, and Particulate Matter) then the device will push these Information to an online platform for monitoring.

1. Ideation

Research and Motivation Crafting a project emerges as a straightforward endeavor when guided by a well-defined plan and meticulous breakdown. However, translating this simplicity into reality proves to be a nuanced challenge, commencing with the inception of an idea – a point where my creative journey encounters a stumbling block. Since the beginning of December 2023, I’ve embarked on a quest to crystallize a concept that resonates with my aspirations. Regrettably, my progress has been impeded by the persistent emergence of technical hurdles, casting shadows on the potential realization of my envisioned accomplishment.

2. Plan

Plan My plan focus on 5 different stages Stage 1 (Spiral 1) Collecting Data AIR -- O2 .-- Co2 .-- Other air particles Small to mid size Made of wood Stage 2 (Spiral 2) Full of RGB’s Having a Screen Try changing the MCU Stage 3 (Spiral 3) Enhance the Shape and the quality of the packaging Build an app or just link it to blynk IOT ESP32 Stage 4 (Spiral 4) Add Speaker “Amplifier circuit is needed” Try make the size smaller Try making the device rechargeable “Stand alone” Charging circuit is required Stage 5 (Spiral 5) Build it using 3D printer Small rounded shape Easy to carry RGB, No Screen, IOT Connected Project Sketch System Diagram Schedule

3. Research

As planned I’m looking to create a device able to monitor the Surrounding air and check the quality of it. Air Quality Is a phrase refers to how clean the Air is and the amount of particles this air carry. When air quality is good, the air is clear and contains only small amounts of solid particle and chemical pollutants. Poor air quality, which contains high levels of pollutants, is often hazy and dangerous to health and the environment.

4. Sensors

As per My previous research I have to collect (CO2 , Particulate Matter (PM), Volatile organic compounds (VOC), Temperature, and Humidity) to obtain the quality of the indoor AIR so below I will list the needed sensors to collect the required data and their primary test. List of sensors. ID Sensor Measured Value LINK Price Datasheet 1 SCD30 CO2, Temp, Hum LINK $51.4 LINK 2 PMS5003 PM1, PM2.5, PM10 LINK $39.

5. IOT Cloud

As for the platform I want to use, I have previously tested two platform in the Interface and Application Programming week and I have decided to use thinger.io because it have more options in terms of data monitoring and data analysis after the data reaches the platform, But unfortunately this platform is not cheap if I want to expand the sensor data im collecting, So I decided to go with Arduino cloud and buy the maker plan So I can push all my data to the cloud and have 90 days of data retention.

6. Embedded Design and Fabrication

I have previously finished all testing for the hardware and the circuit is ready but it’s built using a breadboard now I need to design a new PCB board and make sure all my circuit is fully integrated on this board. As I have shown before my circuit is working 100% as I want and it is pushing data to the IOT platform as I want but I need now to make this complected messy looking circuit to a sleek lovely board with no complication when looking to it.

7. Housing Design and Fabrication

After finalizing all the Electrical requirement and the Board fabrication which the core of my project I need now a good representation for this core which can be a sleek piece on the corner or in the middle of the setting area which can’t go wrong when the person eye come to it and it attract the others attention. Previously I have decided to use ARABISC look on the front of the piece.

8. Wood processing and assembling

NOw After I have finalized the process of fabrication I need to assemble the housing all together with the PCB, But before that I need to make sure that this wood will stay in great shape as long as possible so i decided to give this wood some process to increase its life span and also to protect it from the Humidity and other weather conditions. This Process is the coating process as I will put a chemical liquid on the wood to protect it (This chemical is called Sanding Sealer)

9. Stand Design And Fabrication

After finalizing all the Housing Part and the needed to have every thing working as needed, Now I need to design and fabricate the stand for the housing to sit on and also enclosure for the PM2.5 Sensor –> This Is why I have decided to build this part. This part needs to be simple and compact, able to carry the housing piece and contain the PM2.5 sensor without any complications.

10. Final Product

Alhamdulillah, all our previous efforts have culminated in outstanding results. Every component is meticulously designed and functioning flawlessly. Moreover, the Electronics component, the core of our product, seamlessly transmits data to the Cloud as required. Now I will show Up the final assembly for all the parts together and a brief about what next in the future. This Is the final look of the project To know More about this in a brief LINK.

6. Embedded Design and Fabrication

Posted April 11, 2024

I have previously finished all testing for the hardware and the circuit is ready but it’s built using a breadboard now I need to design a new PCB board and make sure all my circuit is fully integrated on this board.

As I have shown before my circuit is working 100% as I want and it is pushing data to the IOT platform as I want but I need now to make this complected messy looking circuit to a sleek lovely board with no complication when looking to it.

Messy Circuit

Let’s simplify our core project

  • Now I want to design my circuit using KICad.

I have previously clarified how to use KICAD in details please refer to this LINK

Important thing to highlight –> This PCB is gonna be included within the main project housing so its dimension is constrained by the housing so for this reason I have decided to have my housing to be circular with (120 mm) diameter. So my PCB board has not to exceed (100 mm) in diameter to make sure it will fit inside with (20 mm) margin of control for me.

But to make things a bit more complicated and a bit more challenging for me I decided to build my PCB only using (80 mm) circle.

So let’s go Ahead and start building the schematic first

  • For the schematic I will go very fast and show only the main part I have built in the schematic.

  • I will start by adding the parts I’m gonna use.

  1. The XIAO ESP32c3.

Xiao esp32c3

  1. SCD30 (CO2 Sensor)

SCD30

  1. DHT22.

DHT

  1. TVOC sensor

TVOC Sensor

  1. Particulate Matter –> I will use normal headers as I’m using an adapter to convert from 2.5 mm to 1.25 mm headers.

Particulate Matter

  1. RGB Ring

RGB Ring

  1. External power jack and battery –> I will need just for the circuit demonstration

External Jack

  • Those are gonna be the main component I’m going to use the rest are just resistors and LED.

Now Let me move to the connection of each component with the XIAOESP32C.

XIAO Pin-Out

Xiao Connection

  • I will use PIN D0 to check the battery connected (charge level).

Battery charging connection

Here as seen the battery is connected to a jack then this jack is pulled to another pin to check the battery level.

Battery check

  • Then I will use the D1 pin to control the RGB Ring.

RING Connection

  • Here the data in pin is connected with the D1 on the Xiao.

  • Then PIN D4 and D5 are going to be connected to the pull-up resistor for the I2C bus.

I2C pullups

These resistor are going to be 10K ohm and pulled up to 3.3 volt.

  • Then from these pins I will connect the (SCD30 sensor and the TVOC sensor)

SCD30 Sensor

TVOC Sensor

These two sensors are connected to the I2C Bus.

  • Then I will connect two LED’s on the UART pins (D6 and D7).

  • Then I will take extension to connect the Particulate Matter sensor to the RX pin of the Xiao.

Particulate matter sensor

  • Then I will connect the DHT data pin to PIN 8 on the XIAO and I will pull up this pin using 10K resistor.

DHT 22 connection

  • Finally this is the final schematic.

Schematic

Now lets move to the board design.

Annotate before board

  • Now I will RUN the ERC which will show me what errors I have after connecting the schematic.

ERC

I have many errors (33) this is because I have many pins unconnected.

  • Then I will Annotate the circuit and then move to Board design.

Annotate

  • Then When we move to the board design (PCB file) –> The file is empty and we need to start with updating the PCB from the schematic and then we start the sorting of the component and then connect them all together as needed.

PCB Board

  • Then we press on update board and we place the component.

Place Component

  • Then I will Draw a circle demonstrating My PCB dimension (Its gonna be 40 mm in radius).

Drawing circle

Here I can assign on which layer I want the circle and its dimension.

circle Dimension

Locking the shape means you can’t select it if the selection filter at the right side of the screen is not checked.

Selection filter

  • Then I will start sorting the component within the circle.

Placing component within the circle

  • Now I will just continue sorting the component in a way that satisfy my needs and all the VIAS are connected.

  • Then I will Route the board and prepare the needed files for the fabrication process.

PCB Done

RAW FILES

KICAD FILES
Gerbers and drilling files

Fabrication

Now I will prepare the files for the milling using Flatcam software then I will use the SRM20 to fabricate my board.

  • I will start by importing my file to flatcam (Gerber + Drill).

Importing files flatcam

  • Then I will start selecting my tool I want to use (0.4 mm end mil) then I will add my settings.

Tool selection

  • Now Putting my settings for this BIT.

Tool Settings

  • Then I will Save the Job to be sent to printer.

route cnc code

  • Then I will generate the drilling file.

Drilling files

  • Then the settings for the drilling.

Drilling settings

  • Then Saving the drill CNC code.

CNC Drilling FILE

Now both the route and the drill file are ready so I need to generate the Cutout file to get the PCB out from the Entire board.

Cutout

  • THen I will add the settings for the cutout like the gab size and the number of gabs in addition to the margin offset of the Cutout from the board.

Cutout settings

  • Now I can add the settings for the bit of CUTOUT.

Cutout BIT settings

  • Then I will save the CNC Job.

Cutout CNC job

Now All my files to cut the board are ready I only need to prepare the SRM20 and import the Files to V-panel.

More Information about how to prepare the machine and how to setup the bed, Please refer to this LINK

  • Now after importing the files to V-panel and setting the tool I need only to hit start and watch my board getting ready.
  • And here we go the PCB is ready, we only need to cutout the Board.

Board on bed

  • NOw after cutting the board.

Board is Done

Now We only need to solder the board.

  • The solder process is very simple I will start by connecting the small component to large ones.

Small Component done

  • Then I will connect the RGB as it is gonna be connected on the backside of the board.

RGB connected

  • Then I will connect the large component and test the board.

Board Is done

Board Is done

  • Then I only need to connect the External USB C connector.

USB C

  • After I solder it with the board and testing it.

USB C Connected

This is gonna be only for powering purposes so if the board needs to be re-programed we need to connect the XIOA.

NOw I can say the Embedded part of the project is fully done and it has a great system integration from a very messy look breadboard to a sleek lovely brownish board with no wires hanging over the other.

System Integration

Now My next step is to finalize the Housing Design and start the process of fabricating it.