Inspiration
Growing up in the 2000s and 2010s, we were captivated by tamagotchis. These small digital pets were a significant part of our childhood. This nostalgia sparked an idea:
What if our tamagotchi took care of us? This question led us to create something that focuses on air quality around us. While it may not protect us directly, it can certainly alert us to potential dangers.
What it Does
Carbongatchi monitors air quality by detecting substances like carbon monoxide and natural gas. It sends this data to an app, which then forwards it to an API. The API generates a heatmap showing the latest air quality reports from Carbongatchis in the area. This tool aims to warn city inhabitants about potentially hazardous air quality levels.
How We Built It
The first Carbongatchi prototype was constructed using an ESP32 microcontroller, an OLED display, and an MQ-2 air quality sensor. We coded the device in C++, a language new to us. The companion app was developed with MIT App Inventor, a platform similar to Scratch but designed for mobile app creation. The API, developed in PHP, is hosted on infinityfree.com, a free PHP hosting provider, to keep costs down.
Challenges We Faced
We encountered several challenges:
- The app initially failed to communicate with the API due to misconfigured connection parameters.
- Connecting the OLED display to the ESP32 via I2C took several days because we were using the wrong pins.
- We were afraid of our programming skills, but we managed to pull it off amazingly well! ## Accomplishments We're Proud Of We are proud of several achievements:
- Learning C++ and MIT App Inventor.
- Designing a logo and creating bitmaps.
- Developing an API.
- Successfully integrating these components into a working prototype.
What's Next for Carbongatchi
Our next step is to launch a crowdfunding campaign to support the project. We aim to make Carbongatchis affordable, costing no more than $20 each, and easy to assemble at home.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.