Store fan automatically activates when airborne particles are present

Store fan automatically activates when airborne particles are present
Arduino Team – September 22, 2022

Even if you're one of the few people in the world who regularly wears a respirator in the store, it's a good idea to run a filtration fan. Not only is it good for your health and comfort, it can help keep your equipment running smoothly - the last thing you want is for something to overheat and catch fire because its cooling ducts are clogged. To avoid running a fan when not needed, Brandon from YouTube channel Honest Brothers designed a system to automatically activate his filtration fan when airborne particles are present.

The first half of this video provides details on the construction of the fan itself, including an explanation of the fundamentals of filtration and what particles the different standards can handle. If you have no interest in building a fan from scratch and would rather buy something off the shelf, you can move on. The important thing to remember before Brandon gets to the low voltage section is that the fan receives mains voltage and you will turn it on via a relay.

An Arduino Leonardo board will activate this relay. It will do this when it detects particles in the air. It is able to do this by using a PMS5003 digital particle sensor which can monitor the concentration of airborne particles using a laser. The sensor beams the laser through a volume of air and has its own built-in microprocessor to calculate the results. It can detect particles as small as 0.3μm in diameter, which is perfect for what you would expect to find in a typical fabricator's workshop. The Arduino displays the results of the PMS5003 on a small LCD screen, but will also activate the fan relay when they exceed a set threshold. Because filtration fans can consume a lot of energy, it will keep both your electricity bills and your future to a minimum.

Technology Sep 26, 2022 0 86 Add to Reading List

Arduino Team – September 22, 2022

Even if you're one of the few people in the world who regularly wears a respirator in the store, it's a good idea to run a filtration fan. Not only is it good for your health and comfort, it can help keep your equipment running smoothly - the last thing you want is for something to overheat and catch fire because its cooling ducts are clogged. To avoid running a fan when not needed, Brandon from YouTube channel Honest Brothers designed a system to automatically activate his filtration fan when airborne particles are present.

The first half of this video provides details on the construction of the fan itself, including an explanation of the fundamentals of filtration and what particles the different standards can handle. If you have no interest in building a fan from scratch and would rather buy something off the shelf, you can move on. The important thing to remember before Brandon gets to the low voltage section is that the fan receives mains voltage and you will turn it on via a relay.

An Arduino Leonardo board will activate this relay. It will do this when it detects particles in the air. It is able to do this by using a PMS5003 digital particle sensor which can monitor the concentration of airborne particles using a laser. The sensor beams the laser through a volume of air and has its own built-in microprocessor to calculate the results. It can detect particles as small as 0.3μm in diameter, which is perfect for what you would expect to find in a typical fabricator's workshop. The Arduino displays the results of the PMS5003 on a small LCD screen, but will also activate the fan relay when they exceed a set threshold. Because filtration fans can consume a lot of energy, it will keep both your electricity bills and your future to a minimum.