Sensors’ overview:

Sensor Operating Operating Port input Measured variable

Voltage current
MQ131 5V 192 - 138 mA ADC Ozone (ppm, ppb, mg/m^3,
ug/m^3)
Multichannel Gas 3-5V 45.54 mA I2C
sensor v1.0

PM10 sensor 5V 20 mA ADC Dust and particles, from 0-600

GP2Y10 (µg/m^3)
Noise Sensor 3.5-10V 26.5 mA ADC Noise – dB (-60~-56dBV/Pa)
v0.9b
DHT11 3 – 5.5V 1mA (avg.) Single-bus Temperature and Humidity:
(GPIO) ±1℃ and ±1% HR

Electrical schematic of the electrical connection of all sensors (On single board)
Alternative design to save power when the re-Mote is in LPM: Power sensors from
GPIO using a transistor. The signal at the gate of the transistor is given by the
microcontroller. This way, there can be control over when the sensors are powered on,
theoretically saving energy when the node is sleeping.

Also, an option to use a latching switch circuit using transistors, so the GPIO doesn’t
need to be on for the whole duration of the sensor sampling (more robustness?).

Also, I would like to step up the robustness of the design and design a PCB once I’ve
verified the circuit and tested the node with all sensors (I’ve got some experience with
it).
Total Power requirements:
284,5 mA at 5V required for all sensor sampling. This translates into a power
requirement of 1.422 W due to powering all sensors in one node.
However, for the DHT11, Noise sensor and GP2Y10 we don’t need any stabilization
time and will only need to power them briefly before the moment of measuring (~10
seconds). This allows for more power savings on the powering of these.
Pre-heat time on sensors:
From the sensors chosen for this project, the sensors used for gas concentration
measurements require from a heating and stabilization time for giving reliable
measurements:
- Multichannel gas sensor: 30 min pre-heat for more accurate readings

- MQ131: 48-hour burn-in time if the device has been in storage for an extended
amount of time. After burn-in, ~30 min until the R0 of the sensor stabilizes are
needed for accurate measurements, just as with the Multichannel gas sensor.

Because of this, we will need to power the sensors for 30 minutes before sampling
accurate readings. This will mean a current of ~237.54 mA at 5V will have to flow
during this preheat time.
This means a power of 1,187 W required for only these two sensors. If we were to
account for the energy required during the 30 minutes preheat, it would be 2137,86 J.
The fact that these two sensors affect the total consumption so much (83.494 % of
sensor power consumption), and also need of a considerable stabilization time before
measurements (~30 min) might justify the implementation of both these sensors in a
specific gas measurement node.

By doing it this way, there would be more flexibility and possibilities for better
efficiency on the deployment of the other sensors in a separate node that runs on
batteries. Also, there’s the possibility of using a smaller solar panel on this separate
node, since the energy required for the sensors would be much lower.

A full node with every sensor should include an energy harvesting circuit suitable to
the power requirements of the ozone sensor. This could be done, but the batteries
used and size of the solar panel would need to be adjusted to the high currents needed
for operation.
Other sensors

- GP2Y10: Optical sensor, very fast response.

- Noise sensor: Very fast response, no preheat or stabilization
Maybe another option to use less power-consuming Ozone sensor? (i.e:
https://www.digikey.es/catalog/es/partgroup/ozone-o3-sensor-0-5-ppm/73799)
Similar sensitivity, price and range, but significantly less power consumption

With a more power efficient ozone sensor we could plug all sensors in one board, and
make more progress in the power efficiency part. Being a power efficiency focused
project, I think it could make sense to go in this direction.