The sys admin's daily grind – Airsensor
Exactly How Smelly?
If the air in a room smells stale, somebody will get up and open the window to let in some fresh air. Charly, however, wanted to measure its exact staleness, so he set off to find out armed with USB hardware and Linux.
Stale air results from the accumulation of various gases in an enclosed room. Carbon dioxide is the classic case – just imagine 16 people in a small, windowless conference room. Add to this, a mixture of volatile organic compounds, known to the world of science as VOCs. Among other things VOCs are alcohols, volatile deodorant components, aldehydes from furniture, detergent fumes, nicotine, briefly: carbon-based emissions of all kinds.
You could use human noses to sniff VOCs, but sensors in the form of a USB stick are not only more suitable but also immune to attacks of nausea. The Rehau sniffer [1], for example, uses an LED with a color changer to indicate the state of the air in the room.
Pure Air
A tool helps me to read the measured values from the stick. Before you build the software [2], you first need to install the libusb-dev and build-essential packages. After unpacking the zip file to /usr/local/, the change directory to usb-sensors-linux/trunk/airsensor/. When you get there, do this:
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for two weeks.
-
RingReaper Malware Poses Danger to Linux Systems
A new kind of malware exploits modern Linux kernels for I/O operations.
-
Happy Birthday, Linux
On August 25, Linux officially turns 34.
-
VirtualBox 7.2 Has Arrived
With early support for Linux kernel 6.17 and other new additions, VirtualBox 7.2 is a must-update for users.
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.
-
EU Sovereign Tech Fund Gains Traction
OpenForum Europe recently released a report regarding a sovereign tech fund with backing from several significant entities.