As computing becomes more ubiquitous in our objects, designers need to be more aware of how to design meaningful interactions into electronically enhanced objects. At the University of Washington, a class of junior Interaction Design majors is exploring this question. These pages chronicle their efforts.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Working with the MQ-2 sensor




Breakout Board: http://www.pololu.com/product/1479
Spec Sheet: http://www.pololu.com/file/0J309/MQ2.pdf

The MQ-2 smoke and flammable gas sensor was an essential component to our smoke detector. It gives an analog output which we found was best calibrated with 2- 100k resistors. Initially, we ran into 2 major roadblocks. Because the sensor uses a 5V-powered heater to test the air passing through it, the readings have some inconsistency. The heater reaches a flatline of about 221 (analog input with 2- 100k resistors) after about 10 minutes of running. This can cause an issue because during the first 10 minutes your program is running the sensor, its output is constantly falling from a starting point of around 600-700 analog in. The second roadblock to take into consideration is the soldering of the breakout board to the main heater component. BUY THE BREAKOUT BOARD. The pins off of the heater are reversible but it is much easier to keep tabs 3 pins (ground, 5v and output) than jumping the pins yourself. When soldering, we found the sensors to be reversible. If you fit it in the hole, the results should be good.

 - Ian Fike and Roy Kim
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