Outdoor air quality sensor

Update: December 9, 2023

Outdoor air quality sensor

The enhanced ZMOD4510 claims to be  the industry’s first fully calibrated, miniature digital OAQ sensor solution with selective ozone measurement capabilities, offering visibility into the air quality in users’ immediate environments for a personalized experience.

Ozone gas is a significant cause of poor outdoor air quality that poses health risks. Based on Renesas’ new ultra-low power firmware, the enhanced ZMOD4510 can detect specific ozone levels – without reporting on other pollutants – while maintaining power consumption under 200 uW.

This selective measurement capability allows devices such as smart watches, phones, and smoke detectors to monitor for harmful ozone gasses typically found outdoors but which can drift indoors through open windows and doors.

Optimizing the ZMOD4510 for very low power is key to enabling the longer life cycles required for these types of battery-powered devices.

Renesas’ software-configurable ZMOD platform provides design flexibility for smart sensing systems, which allows firmware updates in the field to enable new, application-specific capabilities such as selective ozone detection.

The ZMOD4510’s ability to quantify selective Ozone levels in concentrations as low as 20 parts per billion (ppb) coupled with its low power, small size and outstanding flexibility makes it an ideal solution for mobile and wearable devices, as well as industrial applications such as wireless security cameras and parking meters.

The new waterproof packaging allows the sensor to operate in harsh and submersible environments.

The IP67-rated sensor maintains superior accuracy and high performance while eliminating the need for expensive waterproofing systems – all in a tiny 3mm x 3mm x 0.9mm LGA package.

The sensor is shipped fully calibrated in the hydrophobic and oleophobic package, and customers can apply a conformal coating on their circuitry rather than adding an external membrane to the module.