How
Nebo Air works?

Not only is the Nebo sensor small and integrates with smart homes via an app, but it also has additional features.

The air flows from the inlet to the inside of the chamber, which is equipped with an air heating function up to +10°C (necessary for accurate measurement in laser technology), allowing Nebo to operate even in fog and at extremely low temperatures down to -40°C. Our heating technology consumes so little power that the sensor is powered via a 5V - 3A USB power supply.

Next, a fan draws the particles into the laser sensor. We're using
an updated version of the current Plantower PMS7003 sensors, which utilizes a new design feature that reduces dust accumulation inside the chamber. The laser beam passes by at a constant flow rate of 0.1 l/min. A photodiode inside the sensor converts the scattered light into a voltage pulse. The number of particles is calculated by counting the pulses of the scattering signal and converting the number of pulses to a mass concentration for six diameters from 0.3 to 10 µm. The microcontroller reads the concentrations of PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 every second and averages the values. This is how pollution in the air is detected based on marker substances - suspended particles.

Also mounted on the outside of the Nebo housing is a miniature, robust Bosch BME 680 sensor for meteorological measurements including relative humidity, barometric pressure and ambient temperature.

All acquired data is immediately transmitted directly to the Nebo screen, via Bluetooth to the app and via Wifi to the server for online publication on the map (when the device is activated).

The Nebo housing is divided into 3 chambers, 2 of which are completely weather sealed, allowing the sensor to operate effectively outdoors even in the harshest weather conditions while maintaining temperature control and protection for the internal components. Due to the rounded shape of the sensor, precipitation and dirt are less likely to accumulate on the sensor, while the shell-like ribs provide rigidity.

The layout of the Nebo electronics board is quite unique. We combined 6 weatherproof RGB LED modules to create a 16x24 resolution display with a physical size of 95x65 mm. This allowed us to place the screen directly on the board on one side and place the control chip, laser sensor, heating chamber and other electronic components on the other side. In this way we achieved a smaller size and no additional connection pins for more reliable operation.

The sensor's power cable is 3 meters long and the copper wire strands have been increased in diameter to ensure a constant supply of the required power. The cable is also securely fixed through a jumper inside the housing and has a nylon braid that will withstand the Nebo hanging in the air, even in strong winds.