[LUM#17] The Promise of a New Beginning
Measuring air quality exactly where and when we breathe it—that’s the service Mobil’Air will offer. Modular sensors capable of measuring CO2 levels, particle types, and atmospheric pressure. All housed in a miniaturized unit that can be carried or placed anywhere.
Choosing a jogging route or bike path to get to work while taking air quality into account is just one of the applications that Mobil’Air could enable. “Initially, in the post-COVID context, the goal was to create a module to measure CO2 levels in classrooms, ” explains Maxime Bigot, a workshop facilitator on the OB.i.Lab at the Montpellier-Sète University Institute of Technology (IUT). The project was proposed to Nathan Grau, a student in physical measurements, as part of an internship he completed between April and June 2021. “He ultimately came back with this concept of a modular mobile sensor that can be adapted to specific needs.”
Maxime Bigot and his colleague François Fabre have paired the initial CO₂ sensor with a sensor capable of measuring the diameter of particles ranging from 1 to 10 microns. “This ranges from pollen, dust, and cement to larger particles released mainly by construction sites,” explains the project leader. They then added sensors for weather conditions: temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and even light levels. “The idea is to develop a customizable solution that allows users to choose which sensors they want to include in their device.”
Mobil Mayor
Once activated, each sensor can take a reading every five minutes and link it to the user’s GPS location. The data is then stored on an SD card and downloaded to a computer to generate a map of air quality in the areas traveled through. “The advantage of this mobile sensor is that it can be mounted on a bike or a vehicle, but tracking movements still raises some security concerns that we need to address, ” notes Maxime Bigot. “The slightly crazy challenge we’ve set for ourselves with the students is to get the mayor, Michaël Delafosse, to install one on his bike.”
While waiting to install them on their bikes, policymakers are already taking an interest in this innovation developed at the IUT, as the prototype is currently being tested in the town of Saint Georges d’Orques. A rollout across the Montpellier area is also being considered. “They won’t be used in their mobile version but rather as fixed installations,” explains Maxime Bigot. “Thanks to these sensors, local governments will be able to assess the impact of the environmental measures they’re implementing at a specific location and at a given moment.” And these aren’t just empty words.
Sparking Innovation with OB.i.Lab
Opened in 2016 and modeled after Anglo-Saxon Fab Labs, the OB.i.Lab facility offers students and faculty at the Montpellier-Sète University Institute of Technology (IUT) the opportunity to give free rein to their creativity with the support of two specialized facilitators—Maxime Bigot and François Fabre—and access to a variety of self-service machines, including 3D printers and a laser engraver. Services are also available for businesses. “The name was chosen by Philippe Combette, the project’s founder. ‘OB’ stands for ‘object,’ and ‘-i-’ for ‘intelligent.’ Finally, ‘Obi’ is Japanese for a belt, which at the IUT symbolizes the very close link between the academic and professional worlds, ” explains Maxime Bigot. “That sums up exactly what we do!”
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