Comment by biotinker

I was laid off in early June (was a staff software eng at Viam writing motion planning software for robots) and have been fiddling with electronics.

Most recently I made a portable AQI meter, since the air quality here in Central Oregon can quickly get bad.

It's a small 3d printed box containing a rpi pico, an 18650 battery, an e-ink display, and a SEN66 sensor.

I hit a button, it turns on, runs the sensor for ~40 seconds to get a good reading, displays on the e-ink, and then turns off. So there's zero power draw when it's off, and the battery lasts for ~1500 readings. Accuracy seems fine, the AQI, temp, and CO2 readings all match my permanently placed sensors inside and outdoors.

Other projects include using some of the old leftover robot scrap to automate irrigation in my apple orchard.