Guido Burger, Adobe Stock-rulizgi
C
oronavirus is an airborne disease, like
tuberculosis, measles, and the common
cold.As of April 30, 2021, the US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) accepted
the science that aerosols were the primary
source of transmission. In other words, it’s in
the air, and not on surfaces, that coronavirus
is mostly spread. Tiny droplets or aerosols are
exhaled by people and can remain suspended
in air for hours and then infect people who have
inhaled them. Larger droplets will fall to the
ground fairly quickly or be trapped by face masks,
but the tiny aerosols (<5µm) are the concern and
we can’t see them.
Proper indoor ventilation will move fresh air
into the room and disperse these aerosols.But
how do we know what is proper and safe? That’s
where carbon dioxide (CO
2
) sensors come in. In a
classroom, for example, filled with students and
a teacher, CO
2
will rise if the doors and windows
are closed and it will drop if they are left open.
CO
2
can be used as a marker for proper air
ventilation.That familiar feeling that “It’s getting
stuffy in here” tells you that not only CO
2
is rising,
but potentially virus-laden aerosols are rising too.
The questions are when to open the windows
and doors, and how long to leave them open?
A CO
2
sensing device can provide a warning
system that allows you to take action to improve
ventilation or reduce the number of people in
the room and thus reduce your risk of exposure
to Covid-19.
While you can buy commercial CO
2
devices,
a DIY CO
2
device is easy to build and you’ll gain
a better understanding of how such a system
works.Plus you can customize it in many
ways.Here we’ll present a basic instruction set
for building a CO
2
device, one in which you can
choose which hardware or software to use, as
well as choose from a variety of CO
2
sensors.
In addition, you can add options to display the
readings, light up LEDs to signal a change of
status, or sound an alarm.
Recently passed legislation in Nevada and
California requires each classroom to have a
CO
2
monitor.Wouldn’t it be great if students built
these monitors for their own schools?
Introducing Guido Burger,
the CO
2
Tech Guru
Our guide for understanding the what, how, and
why of CO
2
devices is Guido Burger, a maker
and engineer from Germany who last year
published the “CO
2
Traffic Light” project in
the German edition of Make: (Figure
A
on the
following page).He’s also the developer of the
IoT Octopus board.
In 2016, Guido began working with students
through a university in Germany.He and
professor Klaus-Uwe Gollmer at Trier University
CO
readings in seven classrooms over one week,
using a DIY CO
monitor.
25
make.co
Making DIY
CO
2
monitors
to reduce
the risk of
coronavirus
GUIDO BURGER is a maker, sailor,
and engineer in Stuttgart, Germany.
A director at Salesforce, he’s also a
founder of the nonprofit IoT-Werkstatt,
runningworkshops on sensors, data, AI,
and IoT; the designer of the IoT Octopus
board; and a contributor to the German
Make: magazine. @guido_burger
DALE DOUGHERTY is publisher
of Make: Magazine and president of
Make: Community. @dalepd
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