Summer time is correct across the nook as soon as once more, and with it come days on the seaside, picnics within the park, and plenty of different alternatives to take in the solar. However not too a lot solar, in fact. Not solely are sunburns painful, however in addition they elevate one’s threat of creating pores and skin most cancers sooner or later.
Most individuals would simply placed on some sunscreen, put on applicable clothes, search out some shade because the day wears on, and name it good. However that isn’t sufficient to fulfill Michael Baisch, who insists on having some arduous knowledge. As Baisch factors out, there may be extra than simply the UV-B radiation that causes sunburns on the market. UV-A, for instance, doesn’t trigger burns, however can result in the event of melanoma.
Moreover, hanging out on the seaside isn’t the one time we’re uncovered to UV gentle. Sitting at residence or work subsequent to a window additionally exposes us to loads of radiation — however you most likely don’t rub on any sunscreen earlier than sitting by a window, now do you? Possibly you need to? Or maybe the quantity of radiation making it via to you isn’t sufficient to warrant that? Now you see why Baisch desires knowledge. With out it, one can solely guess.
To be actually helpful, any UV monitoring system must be transportable in order that it could actually go the place its proprietor goes. Because of this, Baisch determined to construct a UV monitoring system right into a Flipper Zero. That gave him entry to a microcontroller for knowledge processing, a show for a person interface, and GPIO pins to work together with a sensor multi function little transportable package deal.
So far as the sensor is anxious, an AS7331 Spectral UV Sensor on a SparkFun breakout board was chosen. It’s able to independently measuring UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C radiation, so it’s a fairly complete resolution. A customized PCB was designed to neatly join the sensor breakout board to the Flipper Zero’s GPIO pins.
The sensor communicates through I²C, so interfacing it with the Flipper Zero was straightforward sufficient. However quite a lot of configuration was essential to get helpful knowledge from it. Furthermore, many calculations needed to be carried out to show the sensor measurements into one thing we are able to make sense of. So earlier than the undertaking was completed, Baisch had written a customized library for interfacing with the sensor to satisfy all the undertaking’s necessities.
After placing the ending touches on the system and constructing a slick person interface, Baisch put it to make use of. And the outcomes? Effectively, it isn’t one of the best information — you’re most likely far much less protected than you assume. You may wish to take into account upping your solar safety this summer season — or perhaps constructing your personal copy of the Flipper Zero UV meter.This Flipper Zero has been changed into a UV radiation monitor (📷: Michael Baisch)
A better have a look at the sensor (📷: Michael Baisch)
The adapter board (📷: Michael Baisch)
