STMicroelectronics has partnered with Mobile Physics, a software startup founded in Israel in 2019, to create an application called EnviroMeter that uses a mobile phone's built-in optical sensor to measure home and ambient air quality. This allows the phone to function as a personal air quality monitor and smoke detector using a ToF optical sensor.
Developed specifically for STMicroelectronics' multi-zone ranging sensors, this solution measures particulate matter in the ambient air. Mobile Physics' EnviroMeter application software, with accuracy comparable to dedicated air quality monitors, can be used as a personal portable environmental monitor and smoke detector, protecting human health and improving fire safety.
This solution, using STMicroelectronics' low-power process technology, can be set to an "always-on" long-term operating mode, allowing the phone to continuously monitor air quality and smog with minimal impact on battery life.
At last year's Qualcomm Snapdragon Tech Summit in Hawaii, STMicroelectronics showcased this solution using the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 computing platform, utilizing the STMicroelectronics VL53L8 ToF sensor to demonstrate air quality measurement and smoke detection capabilities.
The air quality monitoring solution developed by the two parties includes additional monitoring data for temperature, wind speed, precipitation, humidity, brightness, UV rays and noise within the EnviroMeter software development kit. It also enables the solution to detect particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns and requires only a standard ToF sensor element and Mobile Physics software to operate.
