Ultra-low power platform for personalised outdoor air quality monitoring

Ozone gas is a significant cause of poor outdoor air quality that poses health risks. Based on Renesas’ new ultra-low power firmware, the enhanced ZMOD4510 can detect specific ozone levels - without reporting on other pollutants - while maintaining power consumption under 200uW.

This selective measurement capability allows devices such as smart watches, phones, and smoke detectors to monitor for harmful ozone gasses typically found outdoors but which can drift indoors through open windows and doors. Optimising the ZMOD4510 for very low power is key to enabling the longer life cycles required for these types of battery-powered devices.

“Measuring outdoor air quality really is about location, location, location, as levels can vary dramatically from street to street and even on opposite sides of the same street,” said Uwe Guenther, Senior Director, Sensing Solutions, IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit at Renesas. “The enhanced ZMOD4510 gives manufacturers the selective high-precision sensing, ultra-small size, and long battery life they need for battery-powered devices like smart watches and phones that offer customers a convenient and customised view of their immediate air quality environment.”

Renesas’ unique software-configurable ZMOD platform provides design flexibility for smart sensing systems, which allows firmware updates in the field to enable new, application-specific capabilities such as selective ozone detection.

The ZMOD4510’s ability to quantify selective Ozone levels in concentrations as low as 20 parts per billion (ppb) coupled with its low power, small size and outstanding flexibility makes it a solution for mobile and wearable devices, as well as industrial applications such as wireless security cameras and parking meters.

The new waterproof packaging allows the sensor to operate in harsh and submersible environments. The IP67-rated sensor maintains accuracy and high performance while eliminating the need for expensive waterproofing systems - all in a tiny 3x3x0.9mm LGA package. The sensor is shipped fully calibrated in the hydrophobic and oleophobic package, and customers can apply a conformal coating on their circuitry rather than adding an external membrane to the module.

Renesas has identified and created Winning Combination system architectures for a variety of applications where the ZMOD4510 family of products adds differentiative value in the system. For example, a new winning combination for smart lighting, 'Building Automation Lighting with Air Quality Sensors Solution', demonstrates a use case in building automation.

The ZMOD4510 sensors also add another dimension to wearables such as watches. Made from mutually compatible devices that work together seamlessly, Renesas’ Winning Combinations are vetted solutions engineered to help customers accelerate designs and get to market faster.

The ZMOD4510 is calibrated to the U.S. Environmental Agency’s (EPA) Air Quality Index for measuring ozone, and is highly resistant to siloxanes, enabling exceptional reliability for use in harsh environments.

The enhanced ZMOD4510 platform is available now in both a standard and IP67-rated sensor package.