AirCloudFullDemo.mp4
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Gather your materials
Gather your AirCloud, MicroUSB cord, Smartphone, Laptop or Desktop and WiFi credentials.
Like most IoT devices, AirCloud needs a non-5G network.
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Find the right PurpleAir ID
On a laptop, go to https://www.purpleair.com/map and find the id of the PurpleAir air sensor you want the AirCloud to display.
For my use, I found one in my neighborhood. You can see it here: https://www.purpleair.com/map?opt=1/i/mAQI/a10/cC0&select=35433#14.35/37.7596/-122.37854
Do not select a PurpleAir sensor with a black ring -- those are indoor sensors, and I purposefully don't support them.
Click on the one you want, then copy the URL -- you need to extract the ID of the sensor.
Using the URL above, the sensor ID is
35433-- see it comes after theselect=in the URL.Write this sensor ID number down. You will need it in step 6.
If you have problems, call me -- we will figure it out together.
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Power Up
Connect the USB cable to the AirCloud and to a power source. You may seem some random set of LEDs flash in the cloud. This is normal.
The AirCloud should now light up with 4 purple lights. If it does not -- hit the reset button on the back (see instructions below for how to reset). Most of you will need to hit the reset button.
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Connect to Wifi
Pull out your smartphone, go to the settings and go to where you select your WiFi network.
You want to connect to the WiFi network called "AIRCLOUDWIFI". The password is: aircloud
After connecting, a pop-up dialog should appear. This is where you will select what WiFi network you want to connect the PCB to, and set the which sensor ID.
From the list of Wifi networks you see, select your WiFi network (again -- non-5G) and put in your WiFi password. To be clear you are giving this information to the AirCloud -- not to the AirCloud's servers.
You will input this information twice. (Or you can put in the info for two different WiFi networks).
Then take the PurpleAir sensor ID -- from step 2 -- and type it in in the
purpleair_idfield.Then hit
Save
The pop-up dialog should now dismiss.
The AirCloud will attempt to connect to WiFi and boot up.
If it fails to connect to your WiFi:
The 4 system lights will remain purple. Wait at least 30 seconds before starting over. Most likely, you mistyped your WiFi password. If you need to do a full reset, please see the FAQs below.
If it succeeds, your should see the cloud light up:
AirCloudFullDemo.mp4
See a full video of the setup process on an iPhone here:
AirCloudWifiiPhonev2-small.mp4
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All Done!
The AirCloud will now have the top two lights (Power and Wifi) light up. The data light will later light up. The Cloud will now do it's Setup Dance and walk through some colors. Then, if all things are working, you should see it start to count up to the current AQI from your SensorID.
Note -- if you unplug your AirCloud, the settings you just input will be saved.
Note - the AirCloud shows AQI levels that have been corrected according to the US EPA correction equation. Details below and on the PurpleAir website
US EPA: Courtesy of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and Development, correction equation from their US wide study (updated version from Sept 16 2020) validated for wildfire and woodsmoke. 0-250 ug/m3 range (>250 may underestimate true PM2.5): PM2.5 (µg/m³) = 0.52 x PA(cf_1) - 0.085 x RH + 5.71
https://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_Report.cfm?dirEntryId=350075&Lab=CEMM
The AirCloud updates every 10 minutes.
You will see the Data light turn purple, then the cloud will go black, and then it will count up 1 LED per AQI PM2.5 value. So if the PM2.5 is 50, 50 lights will light up. If AQI is 183, the system will count up light up the entire cloud as there are 183 LEDs in the cloud. If the AQI is > 183 -- it will count up to 183, then start counting again from the bottom. After it finishes and then change colors to the final value.
If the AQI is > 183 the air is already unhealthy!
If your AirCloud is restarting frequently (i.e. goes black, and does the setupDance and then counts up) this means one of two things is happening:
- There is a bug in the firmware and it is crashing. Yikes. Only solution is to tell me.
- The power supplied to the AirCloud is not sufficient. I have seen this a few times when I have not properly connected the USB cord -- so some power is flowing but not a sufficient amount. This can also happen if the power supply is bad (e.g. you are powering it from a battery pack, or a laptop running out of power). Try re-connecting the power cord AND / OR switching power supplies.
AirCloudFullDemo.mp4
The 4 lights on the left hand side indicate the current status.
Power - Green or black/blank.
WiFi - Green or black/blank.
Data - Purple when updating. Green when data has been processed and the AirCloud updated. Yellow if the PurpleId you input is no longer available, and we are pulling data from a nearby (< 10 miles away) sensor. Black/blank when no data. The data light will also flash green every ~1 minute to let you know the board is alive.
Error - Purple when in setup mode. Otherwise, it can be red - indicating an error. The error likely means the data from the server is bad OR that the PurpleAir Id is no longer updating. Or black/blank, meaning no known errors.
When new AQI data is received, the AirCloud will count up, 1 LED per AQI. This should happen every 10 minutes. This way you can get a better idea of the real AQI -- not just the color.
The AirCloud is 183 LEDs. If the AQI is > 183, the board will restart its
After the final cloud color has been set, the AirCloud will "breathe" three times.
Take a look:
breathe.mp4
Generally, the AirCloud follows the colors from the API Chart. However, when the > 300 < 400 the AQI is displayed as a VERY bright purple with a white bottom. And if the AQI > 400 -- the a purple cloud with a white rim. I hope you never see it. Brown (from the AQI chart) is hard to display!
If you see a flashing rainbow cloud it means there is an error! If it goes away after a few seconds or a couple of minutes -- it probably means the server was down and has come back online. You can email me and I can try to remotely debug.
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Plug in your AirCloud
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Hit the reset button ONCE. The reset button is on the back. If it still does not power on, hit the reset button again after waiting 10 seconds.
Reset button in the top right.
Are you changing locations and going to need to connect to a new Wifi network? If so, read about how to Reset your AirCloud.
- Plug in your AirCloud
- Hit the reset button multiple times -- I would say hit it every 5 seconds for 20 seconds (so 4 times).
- Go follow the setup instructions -- starting with step 3
Reset button in the top right.
You know you have succeed in resetting if the 4 status lights on the left hand side are purple.
This repository has the arduino code running on the AirCloud. Please feel free to modify it as you wish! I'd love any and all PRs with improvements.
You will of course need Arudino and then you will need to install the following libraries done through the Library Manager:
Arduino_JSON - 0.1.0
Adafruit BusIO - 1.6.0 # I don't actually think this is needed but I do have it installed
Adafruit Circuit Playground 1.11.2
Adafruit DMA neopixel library 1.2.0
Adafruit GFX Library 1.10.3
Adafruit GPS Library 1.5.3
Adafruit ILI9341 1.5.6
Adafruit LED Backpack Library 1.1.8
Adafruit SleepyDog Library 1.3.2
Adafruit NeoPixel 1.2.0
Adafruit STMPE610 1.1.2
Adafruit TouchScreen 1.1.1
Adafruit Zero DMA Library 1.0.8
Adafruit Zero PDM Library 1.2.0
ArduinoJson 6.18.1
ESP_DoubleResetDetector 1.1.1
ESP_MultiResetDetector 1.1.1
ESPAsync_WiFiManager 1.9.2
FastLED 3.4.0
HttpClient 2.2.0
is31fl3733 1.0.1
LittleFS_esp32 1.0.6
RTClib 1.12.3
WiFiManager 2.0.3-alpha