Taking the CO sensor out for a spin

I took the CO sensor out into the car and took the car out for a spin, my idea was to attempt to record how much and when the motor vibrated when it detected CO. I tried these in various situations;
with the windows up/down, while revving/changing gear and when smoking in the car. i found that the motor vibrated most vigorously at its peak  when the window was down and when the car was slowing down in traffic.



the video is poorly as i needed to multitask between holding the camera in a good view, focusing the camera and smoke and take note on when it vibrated the most at the same time (if that helps as an excuse), you can see and mostly hear that near the end of the video the motor was vibrating harshly as it was at its peak of the situation i mentioned before. 

Just browsing

I was browsing on Youtube searching for other arduino projects people have made on the topic of smoking and have came across a few funny ideas

Smokers Nightmare (Arduino Sprinkler System)

It Works! :o

The Video displays  how the Arduino Board works.

When the CO sensor detects CO, the motor vibrates. 

I found that the sensor is quite sensitive therefore i would need to change few values in the codes using research figures of when CO intake starts to get harmful.

what i plan to do next is make a cigarette holder that contains the CO sensor and Motor which wires up to the Arduino Board.

if this is successful then i might look into how i could apply wireless connection from the cigarette holder to the arduino board.

The Arduino Codes..

The Aduino Codes on the left were uploaded onto the arduino board in order to make the CO sensor work with the Motor, when CO was sensed more then '0' then it set the motor off, so it vibrated, in order to make this more less sensitive i have to input the correct research data in to the code.

Lets Start Simple..

so, my quick to do list in order;

I plan to set up the technical side of the arduino board first, by wiring up the CO Sensor and Motor to the arduino board and then using codes to program the way it works.

After i am happy with that im going to start neating it up and then find ways to attach the CO sensor with in the Cigarette Holder ( which i shall make ) that should be wired up to the arduino board.

Then i will look into ways i may improve this by allowing a wireless connection between the sensor data and the arduino board in order for it to have less hassle while in use..

Important Note

I have noticed a possibilitly of the system i have planned to encounter a problem. when i mapped out a possible programme i realised that the CO sensor may dysfunction at a certain point, it may not work the way i intend for it to. by monitoring the immediate smoke, there may be a possibility that the smoke already contains very high amount of carbon monoxide that may trigger the alarm constantly, or even when not in use. it may also not consider the pattern one may smoke in, they may continuosly inhale the smoke with out a pause which may cause the CO sensor to read high amounts of CO to then activate the alarm, which may not be so accurate. Therefore i was thinking, if this problem is to possibly exist, i may consider looking into adding an inhaling detector which may be as simple as a suction button, that records the number of drags and then triggers the carbon monoxide sensor to read the level of CO with every drag. I may then set a certain limit on how many times the CO levels may rise high, for example, 5 times, so when it is higher then or equal to 5, the alarm will be set off.

i have come up with a simple order to remind me of this process, using digits as examples only;

if COsensor > 500

count ++

if count >= 5

trigger alarm

on loop

Flow Chart/ Programme And Use

SparkFun

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9403

Wiring Example

Technical Data Sheet

Next steps

I deconstructed how my cigarette holder might look and what parts it may contain;

 - A mouth piece 

- A O-Ring to hold cigarette

- A small hollow tube for sensor

Other things i will need;

•  carbon monoxide sensor
• small vibrating mechanism 

I have to start looking out how i might programme my cigarette holder to vibrate when it senses a high carbon monoxide intake, before this i will have to research levels of carbon monoxide in cigarettes. 

/mq-7-carbon-monoxide-sensor-breakout/

2 counteracting sites

I found two sites that counteract each other in different ways, one mainly tempts smoking and supports smokers through buying smoking accessories and another that promotes quitting by suggesting another alternative that acts similar to smoking however is much safer.

Encouraging smokers to continue  <- this site displays smoking accessories that encourages smoking

promotes quitting    <- the site displays other similar alternatives to smoking such as electronic cigarettes to encourage smokers to quit

I noticed that a majority of smokers disregard information that is given in plain text although a lot of money is spent under campaigns that encourage people to stop smoking.

I believe that smokers are aware of the dangers of smoking however the adverts are not really personal enough to allow some people to see any personal link, with the device i am hoping to make, will allow the personal user to see their personal intake and the harm it is causing by smoking, it may help people to consider making a small change, either by quitting or adjusting the way they smoke. even if this much is not successful in certain smokers, the device simply allows the smoker to be alerted of the damage it is causing to their own health.

My Final Decision...

Right my final decision is to quit smoking.. tomorrow..and when tomorrow comes maybe the next day =)

ok first thing first, second thing second:

I have decided to combine elements and notes from my first idea with my second idea. I plan to keep the subject about smoking and subject of Carbon Monoxide and create a device that holds and allows you to smoke a cigarette and at the same time detects how much carbon monoxide one is inhaling, from this i may decide to add a small vibrating device that vibrates the holder when it senses a high carbon monoxide intake to alert the smoker that they are taking too much carbon monoxide so they are able to stop, rest and adjust. 

carbon monoxide poisoning

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odourless, colourless, non-irritant gas. It is the most common cause of fatal poisoning in Britain today. It causes the accidental deaths of up to 50 people each year in the UK and a much larger number of non-fatal poisonings.
These figures could be just the tip of the iceberg because poisoning by carbon monoxide is almost certainly underdetected. There are two main reasons for this.
Firstly, there is generally little awareness of carbon monoxide poisoning among the general public and the medical profession.
Secondly, the signs and symptoms associated with carbon monoxide poisoning are not easy to diagnose as they often mimic many other conditions.
To overcome this deadly killer requires improved awareness among the public of the risks and dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and increased vigilance on the part of healthcare professionals in its detection.
Children, pregnant women, babies, and individuals with a heart or lung condition are those at most risk – but CO poisoning can affect anyone.
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/carbonmonoxide.htm

Healh effects of carbon monoxide..

Health effects of carbon monoxide

It doesn’t take much CO to cause problems. Below is a table outlining the general effects of carbon monoxide on healthy adults. Individual susceptibility will vary.

PPM CO in air	Percent CO in air	Symptoms experienced by healthy adults	Comments
Less than 35 ppm	0.0035%	No effect in healthy adults	35 ppm is WISHA 8-hour average permissible limit
100 ppm	0.01 %	Slight headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, errors in judgment
200 ppm	0.02%	Headache, fatigue, nausea, dizziness	200 ppm is Short Term Exposure Limit (STEL)
400 ppm	0.04%	Severe headache, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, confusion, can be life-threatening after 3 hours of exposure
800 ppm	0.08%	Headache, confusion, collapse, death if exposure is prolonged
1500 ppm	0.15%	Headache, dizziness, nausea, convulsions, collapse, death within 1 hour	Levels greater than 1500 ppm are considered “immediately dangerous to life or health” (IDLH). This is the ceiling limit.
3000 ppm	0.3%	Death within 30 minutes
6000 ppm	0.6%	Death within 10-15 minutes
12,000 ppm	1.2%	Nearly instant death

ppm = parts per million

http://www.lni.wa.gov/Safety/Topics/AtoZ/CarbonMonoxide/

Maybe Not..

Well First of all what is stress? and how can i measure it? and Carbon Monoxide doesnt only come from cigarettes, its polluted in the air aswell cars and other machines, so other then recording the CO in the body, i came to a point where i find recording CO intake from various situations more relying, from this i may decide o make a gadget for measuring CO capacity, i may then look into where it could be applied, which could be to a wide range of things from adjusting ones breathing to deciding not to smoke while driving in a car with other passengers.
with data that i collect i figure that il be able to find various ways to use it, for example i may use the data to create a graphic visualisation of CO intake in several different places and situations, i may also be able to add a LED the gadge to indicate a higher level of CO intake.

Possible Inputs

Out of the three main chemicals stated on a cigarette pack, i found that there is a sensor that is able to detect the amount of carbon monoxide there is in the lungs, i find that this is most efficient for this project. so with this i have a few things that i can start to record; carbon monoxide, stress levels, time

I can then look for a relationship between these three.

Does carbon monoxide affect stress in any way?

Does smoking affect a stress at a certain time of the day?

Are stress levels higher at a certain point in a smoker compared to a non smoker? e.t.c

Benson&Hedges 20

On a cigarette packet, recently the amount of Tar, Nicotine and Carbon Monoxide that the cigarette pack contains, is written on the box. suggesting that it is important to take into consideration. a box of 20 B&H Gold contains:

Tar: 10mg

Nicotine: 0.9mg

Carbon Monoxide: 10mg

I Should also consider  how much one smokes, as this will be an individual prototype, i will work on a personal base...i have not recorded how much i personally smoke in a day however i shall upload an image describing roughly how much i smoke in a week (image of my bin, shall upload later today) For those who dislike cigarettes and everything about them, consider not viewing the image.. i shall take note on how many i smoke roughly in a day.

Take A Break Have A Fag..Joke

So Eagle Eye is too far off, no navigation system that gives you direction on route, no flashing arrowed LEDs on the road time lapsed with your journey,  taking you to your destination, ... stressful..what do i personally do when i am stressed? have a cigarette? (its bad i know)..can i work on the lines of cigarettes? it doesn't really help my stress, just an excuse i make..(yes i know again..its bad ) but how confident am i on the fact that cigarettes doesn't  help with stress?...i can certainly set out to find out !

For Drivers..

As i mentioned earlier about the idea of driving in areas with speed limits and the use of speed cameras and average speed cameras, this was a good idea..could i possible develope this? i would need access to a lot of things, do i have the time? and will i be able to do this?..how about something along the lines of navigation? hmm..

Sensors & Detectors

Im going to record the sensors and detectors and programs that i go through or witness day-to-day that benefit me and/or others, some examples;

 i drive around a lot and noticed that my car has a reversing sensor that beeps when the car is reversing too close to another car or object. another sensor i found while driving, (and the one i dislike most) are speed cameras, good for road saftey...but for the days you feel a bit too brave and feel like hitting the gas and then get flashed (not a good feeling when you get flashed), camera takes your registration number and through that they find the address the car is registered to and then you get your ticket..abit like barcodes, you scan it and find a whole load of information.
you can get barcode detectors as a app now...phones have sensors too, touch screen? accelometer?

other arduino projects I found

http://cbjamo.hubpages.com/hub/CBJamosArduinos

the laser one is pretty cool but looks too complicated, it doesnt mention using Arduino Program though

http://www.stephenhobley.com/blog/laser-harp-2009/

Previous Lesson..

In the previous lesson, we went through the basics of the Arduino Programme software and hardware, the functions had certain codes and language, for example, the one i remember that happens once to start;

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

we used codes to function a Red LED light, might be interesting to check out morse code?

then we moved on to circuits, which i slightly remember being taught in secondary science...enjoyed it because its hands on and i picked up quick so might think about revisitng and sharing some previous notes and knowledge on circuits!

Whats All This About..

As far as i know, il be involved in designing a project that uses electronically controlled sensors to harvest environmental information.

right...interesting..(thumbs up)