PM2.5 Air Quality Sensor
Using the PM2.5 with Arduino is a simple matter of wiring up it to your Arduino-compatible microcontroller, installing the Adafruit PM25AQI library we’ve written, and running the provided example code.
This code will get you started with any Arduino compatible (e.g. Arduino UNO, Adafruit Metro, ESP8266, Teensy, etc. As long as you have either a hardware serial or software serial port that can run at 9600 baud.
Wiring is simple! Power the sensor with +5V and GND and then connect the data out pin (3.3V logic) to the serial input pin you’ll use. Whether or not you are using hardware or software UART/serial may affect the pin, so adjust that as necessary. This wiring works for ATMega328P-based boards for sure, with Digital #2 as the data pin:
To use this example with the PM2.5 sensor, you’ll need to make some changes.
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/* Test sketch for Adafruit PM2.5 sensor with UART or I2C */
#include "Adafruit_PM25AQI.h"
// If your PM2.5 is UART only, for UNO and others (without hardware serial)
// we must use software serial...
// pin #2 is IN from sensor (TX pin on sensor), leave pin #3 disconnected
// comment these two lines if using hardware serial
//#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
//SoftwareSerial pmSerial(2, 3);
Adafruit_PM25AQI aqi = Adafruit_PM25AQI();
void setup() {
// Wait for serial monitor to open
Serial.begin(115200);
while (!Serial) delay(10);
Serial.println("Adafruit PMSA003I Air Quality Sensor");
// Wait one second for sensor to boot up!
delay(1000);
// If using serial, initialize it and set baudrate before starting!
// Uncomment one of the following
//Serial1.begin(9600);
//pmSerial.begin(9600);
// There are 3 options for connectivity!
if (! aqi.begin_I2C()) { // connect to the sensor over I2C
//if (! aqi.begin_UART(&Serial1)) { // connect to the sensor over hardware serial
//if (! aqi.begin_UART(&pmSerial)) { // connect to the sensor over software serial
Serial.println("Could not find PM 2.5 sensor!");
while (1) delay(10);
}
Serial.println("PM25 found!");
}
void loop() {
PM25_AQI_Data data;
if (! aqi.read(&data)) {
Serial.println("Could not read from AQI");
delay(500); // try again in a bit!
return;
}
Serial.println("AQI reading success");
Serial.println();
Serial.println(F("---------------------------------------"));
Serial.println(F("Concentration Units (standard)"));
Serial.println(F("---------------------------------------"));
Serial.print(F("PM 1.0: ")); Serial.print(data.pm10_standard);
Serial.print(F("\t\tPM 2.5: ")); Serial.print(data.pm25_standard);
Serial.print(F("\t\tPM 10: ")); Serial.println(data.pm100_standard);
Serial.println(F("Concentration Units (environmental)"));
Serial.println(F("---------------------------------------"));
Serial.print(F("PM 1.0: ")); Serial.print(data.pm10_env);
Serial.print(F("\t\tPM 2.5: ")); Serial.print(data.pm25_env);
Serial.print(F("\t\tPM 10: ")); Serial.println(data.pm100_env);
Serial.println(F("---------------------------------------"));
Serial.print(F("Particles > 0.3um / 0.1L air:")); Serial.println(data.particles_03um);
Serial.print(F("Particles > 0.5um / 0.1L air:")); Serial.println(data.particles_05um);
Serial.print(F("Particles > 1.0um / 0.1L air:")); Serial.println(data.particles_10um);
Serial.print(F("Particles > 2.5um / 0.1L air:")); Serial.println(data.particles_25um);
Serial.print(F("Particles > 5.0um / 0.1L air:")); Serial.println(data.particles_50um);
Serial.print(F("Particles > 10 um / 0.1L air:")); Serial.println(data.particles_100um);
Serial.println(F("---------------------------------------"));
delay(1000);
}
/* Test sketch for Adafruit PM2.5 sensor with UART or I2C */
#include "Adafruit_PM25AQI.h"
// If your PM2.5 is UART only, for UNO and others (without hardware serial)
// we must use software serial...
// pin #2 is IN from sensor (TX pin on sensor), leave pin #3 disconnected
// comment these two lines if using hardware serial
//#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
//SoftwareSerial pmSerial(2, 3);
Adafruit_PM25AQI aqi = Adafruit_PM25AQI();
void setup() {
// Wait for serial monitor to open
Serial.begin(115200);
while (!Serial) delay(10);
Serial.println("Adafruit PMSA003I Air Quality Sensor");
// Wait one second for sensor to boot up!
delay(1000);
// If using serial, initialize it and set baudrate before starting!
// Uncomment one of the following
//Serial1.begin(9600);
//pmSerial.begin(9600);
// There are 3 options for connectivity!
if (! aqi.begin_I2C()) { // connect to the sensor over I2C
//if (! aqi.begin_UART(&Serial1)) { // connect to the sensor over hardware serial
//if (! aqi.begin_UART(&pmSerial)) { // connect to the sensor over software serial
Serial.println("Could not find PM 2.5 sensor!");
while (1) delay(10);
}
Serial.println("PM25 found!");
}
void loop() {
PM25_AQI_Data data;
if (! aqi.read(&data)) {
Serial.println("Could not read from AQI");
delay(500); // try again in a bit!
return;
}
Serial.println("AQI reading success");
Serial.println();
Serial.println(F("---------------------------------------"));
Serial.println(F("Concentration Units (standard)"));
Serial.println(F("---------------------------------------"));
Serial.print(F("PM 1.0: ")); Serial.print(data.pm10_standard);
Serial.print(F("\t\tPM 2.5: ")); Serial.print(data.pm25_standard);
Serial.print(F("\t\tPM 10: ")); Serial.println(data.pm100_standard);
Serial.println(F("Concentration Units (environmental)"));
Serial.println(F("---------------------------------------"));
Serial.print(F("PM 1.0: ")); Serial.print(data.pm10_env);
Serial.print(F("\t\tPM 2.5: ")); Serial.print(data.pm25_env);
Serial.print(F("\t\tPM 10: ")); Serial.println(data.pm100_env);
Serial.println(F("---------------------------------------"));
Serial.print(F("Particles > 0.3um / 0.1L air:")); Serial.println(data.particles_03um);
Serial.print(F("Particles > 0.5um / 0.1L air:")); Serial.println(data.particles_05um);
Serial.print(F("Particles > 1.0um / 0.1L air:")); Serial.println(data.particles_10um);
Serial.print(F("Particles > 2.5um / 0.1L air:")); Serial.println(data.particles_25um);
Serial.print(F("Particles > 5.0um / 0.1L air:")); Serial.println(data.particles_50um);
Serial.print(F("Particles > 10 um / 0.1L air:")); Serial.println(data.particles_100um);
Serial.println(F("---------------------------------------"));
delay(1000);
}
Comment out the following line by adding “//” before it:
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if (! aqi.begin_I2C()) { // connect to the sensor over I2C
if (! aqi.begin_I2C()) { // connect to the sensor over I2C
Uncomment the following lines by removing the “//” from the beginning:
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//#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
//SoftwareSerial pmSerial(2, 3);
//pmSerial.begin(9600);
//if (! aqi.begin_UART(&pmSerial)) { // connect to the sensor over software serial
//#include <SoftwareSerial.h>
//SoftwareSerial pmSerial(2, 3);
//pmSerial.begin(9600);
//if (! aqi.begin_UART(&pmSerial)) { // connect to the sensor over software serial
Once the changes are made, upload this code to your board, and open up the serial console at 115200 baud. You’ll see data printed out once a second, with all the measurements. For a clean-air indoor room you’ll see something like this:
If you hold up a smoking soldering iron or something else that creates a lot of dust, you’ll see much higher numbers!
Note that the numbers are very precise looking but we don’t believe that they’re going to be perfectly accurate, calibration may be necessary!
