Deployment issues for integrated open-source — Based indoor air quality school Monitoring Box (SKOMOBO)

A low-cost, low power consumption indoor environment monitoring device, called SKOMOBO (SKOol Monitoring Box), was developed. SKOMOBO includes the sensors to monitor temperature/relative humidity, carbon dioxide, particulate matter (PM) and motion (PIR). SKOMOBO was developed using the open source software on Arduino Pro Mini. 165 units of SKOMOBO were manufactured at Massey University (New Zealand) in September 2017. These units were then deployed across New Zealand to monitor the indoor air quality in primary school classrooms. This paper describes the practical deployment issues we faced and lessons learnt prior/during the field study aimed at understanding the connection between the air quality and student performance. We believe that the discussion in this paper is of importance and could potentially save a lot of money and effort for other similar sensor products.