Importance and Utility of Environmental Monitoring

Environmental monitoring plays a crucial role in various industries and applications. It allows us to gather data about the surrounding environment, such as temperature, humidity, air quality, and more. This data is essential for making informed decisions, optimizing processes, and ensuring the well-being of individuals and the environment.

By using Arduino, a popular open-source electronics platform, we can easily create environmental monitoring systems. Arduino provides a wide range of sensors and modules that can be integrated into our projects, allowing us to measure and monitor different environmental parameters.

Project: Arduino-based Environmental Monitoring System

In this example project, we will create an Arduino-based environmental monitoring system that measures temperature, humidity, and air quality. The system will display the data on an LCD screen and send it to a computer for further analysis.

List of Components:

1. Arduino Uno - 1x
2. DHT11 Temperature and Humidity Sensor - 1x
3. MQ-135 Air Quality Sensor - 1x
4. LCD Display (16x2) - 1x
5. Breadboard - 1x
6. Jumper Wires - As required

Examples:

Example 1: Temperature and Humidity Monitoring

#include <dht.h>

#define DHTPIN 2
#define DHTTYPE DHT11

dht DHT;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  delay(2000);
}

void loop() {
  int chk = DHT.read11(DHTPIN);
  Serial.print("Temperature: ");
  Serial.print(DHT.temperature);
  Serial.print(" °C\t");
  Serial.print("Humidity: ");
  Serial.print(DHT.humidity);
  Serial.println(" %");

  delay(2000);
}

This code uses the DHT library to read temperature and humidity values from the DHT11 sensor. The measured values are then printed on the serial monitor.

Example 2: Air Quality Monitoring

int MQ135_PIN = A0;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  delay(2000);
}

void loop() {
  int airQuality = analogRead(MQ135_PIN);
  Serial.print("Air Quality: ");
  Serial.println(airQuality);

  delay(2000);
}

This code reads the analog value from the MQ-135 air quality sensor and prints it on the serial monitor.

Example 3: Displaying Data on LCD

#include <LiquidCrystal_I2C.h>

LiquidCrystal_I2C lcd(0x27, 16, 2);

void setup() {
  lcd.begin(16, 2);
  lcd.print("Temp: 25.0C");
  lcd.setCursor(0, 1);
  lcd.print("Humidity: 50%");
}

void loop() {
  // Update temperature and humidity values
  // Read sensor data and update LCD display

  delay(2000);
}

This code initializes the LCD display and shows sample temperature and humidity values. In the loop function, you can update the display with real-time data from the sensors.