Self-Powered and Cost-Effective Wireless Sensor Node for Air Quality Monitoring With an Optically Transparent Smart Antenna System

Contamination events worldwide have brought air quality to the forefront of environmental monitoring. The currently employed fixed weather stations (FWSs) for this task are bulky and expensive as well as require complex installation because of which only a few monitored stations exist citywide. Some Internet of Things (IoT)-based methods for resolving this issue have been proposed earlier, but these methods remain in the early research phase and do not resolve all the issues for a comprehensive and field-deployable solution. In addition, most of the proposed devices utilize omnidirectional antennas that radiate all around the wireless sensor node. With the projected growth of wireless technologies, such designs will considerably increase electromagnetic (EM) pollution. To address the above-mentioned problems, this study presents a dodecahedron-shaped, cost-effective wireless sensor node that can be mass-produced and dispersed across a city to provide high-resolution air quality data. By employing smart antenna reconfiguration, the emitted radiation is focused in the direction of communication, reducing EM pollution. The antennas, designed using a meshing strategy, achieve 87% optical transparency and can be placed atop solar panels, creating a self-powered node that is 80% smaller than an equivalent planar array. Field testing showed comparable performance to an expensive FWS when placed nearby and the ability to detect localized contamination events overlooked by the FWS at a distance of 1 km, as well as high adaptability to different deployment scenarios such as urban, industrial, and rural environments. This technology enables widespread deployment, providing comprehensive air quality data for informed decisions to protect public health and advance sustainability goals.