ArticleOverview
In this article, DigiKey introduces how to utilizehardcore development tools to achieve the development of environmental sensing systems. The article elaborates on how theGravity series sensors accurately capture environmental data, combined with theFireBeetle2 ESP32-S3-U and theM10 main control board to realize localAI inference and data visualization interaction. The article emphasizes that the open-source platform simplifies the programming and debugging process, allowing ordinary people to build personalized environmental sensing solutions, promoting the widespread implementation ofAI technology in daily life.
Did you know? How many volatile organic compounds are hidden in the air we breathe every day? Does the light intensity in the office quietly affect work efficiency? The soil in the flowerpot has been using “humidity codes” to tell plants when they are thirsty — but these signals are beyond human perception.
But now, a set of “super sensory systems” composed of AI and sensors is helping us unlock these hidden environmental truths. Today, “AI Co-Action, Intelligence Surpassing Now” series episode 4 will take everyone to transform invisible environmental changes into understandable, alerting, and interactive “life guides”.
Main Speaker
Xia Qing (Rockets Xia)
Senior Engineer at DFRobot
Co-founder of Mushroom Cloud Maker Space
Click to watch the video demonstration
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These “environmental detectives” are 100 times more sensitive than human senses 100 times
To crack the environmental code, we first need a group of “detectives” that can “see”, “smell”, and “touch” invisible signals — a complete family of sensors.
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Gravity Capacitive Analog Waterproof Soil MoistureSensor: It acts like a personal doctor for plants, accurately reading moisture data when inserted into the soil. When watering potted plants, it can capture every detail of water penetration in real-time, ensuring you never overwater based on “feel” again, achieving precise irrigation where “every drop counts”.
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Gravity Five-in-One EnvironmentalSensor: One sensor replaces five, capturing temperature, humidity, pressure, light, and UV. What is the most comfortable temperature for the office air conditioning? Will the UV on the balcony sunburn succulents? It handles it all, making it the “all-rounder of environmental data collection”.
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Gravity I2C SGP40 Air QualitySensor: Formaldehyde, benzene, and other volatile organic compounds (VOC) are invisible to the naked eye, but this sensor can capture them with the sensitivity of an “electronic nose”. When spraying floral water, it can instantly detect a spike in VOC concentration, triggering an alert in time — it records air changes that even you might not notice.
If you are a beginner, theArduino Starter Kit is a thoughtful choice. It not only includes basic sensors and actuators but also comes with a friendly learning platform, allowing even those with no programming background to easily learn data reading, laying the foundation for building complex systems.
Two “brains” work together to turn data into reminders that even elders can understand
Having just sensors is not enough; data needs a “brain” to process it —DFRobot‘s two main control boards are the “intelligent core” of this system.
FireBeetle2 ESP32-S3-U is undoubtedly the “data processing center”. As a powerful AIoT microcontroller, it can simultaneously receive signals from multiple sensors, merging scattered humidity, temperature, and VOC data into valuable information. Even more impressive, it comes with an ESP32-S3 processor, supporting local AI inference (edge computing), eliminating the need to upload data to the cloud, reducing latency and protecting privacy. For instance, it can identify plant diseases and analyze water quality changes, providing judgments on the spot, which is 10 times faster than “cloud requests”.
Meanwhile, theHiking Board M10 Python is the “interactive expert”. Its visual interface can transform dull data into dynamic charts: soil moisture changes appear as a fluctuating curve, and air quality indices use color alerts, making it easy for elders to understand. Once data exceeds limits, it can also trigger theFermion DFPlayer PRO MP3 player module, which verbally alerts you, “Air quality is declining, please open the window for ventilation” — 100 times more direct than a mobile pop-up reminder.
More importantly, the Hiking Board is extremely friendly to Python programming. You don’t need to struggle with complex code; just a few simple lines of instructions can achieve data display and alerts, allowing ordinary people to easily get started with AIoT development.
From balconies to cities, how many scenarios can this system unlock?
When sensors and control boards team up, the “super sensory system” will unleash its power in various scenarios:
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Home Planting: Insert a soil moisture sensor into the succulent, and the curve on the Hiking Board will tell you whether the “plant is well-watered” or “about to die of thirst”, eliminating the dilemma of “should I water today”.
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Indoor Health: Place a five-in-one sensor on your desk, and it will remind you to open the curtains when light is insufficient, and automatically alert you to turn on the purifier when VOC levels are high, more practical than a colleague’s “drink more hot water” advice.
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Outdoor Monitoring: Move the system to the balcony or community garden, and it can display temperature, pressure, and UV data in turn. Before a weekend picnic, check its report to know whether to bring sunscreen.
And this is just the beginning. With technological upgrades, this system can also integrate into smart cities (monitoring PM2.5 and guiding traffic diversion), precision agriculture (directing irrigation and fertilization based on soil data), and environmental protection (identifying forest fires or illegal hunting) — it turns out the boundaries of human perception can indeed be infinitely expanded by technology.
Everyone can be an “environmental decoder”
In fact, building such a super sensory system is not difficult at all.DFRobot has long prepared a complete set of tools for you: from sensors to control boards, modular design makes assembly as simple as building blocks; open-source platforms and tutorials allow even those with zero experience to learn programming and debugging step by step.
As mentioned in the previous episodes of the series, AI innovation has been made accessible by DFRobot, allowing anyone — whether a student, office worker, or tech enthusiast — to create their own environmental monitoring system.
Next time you see the data curve bouncing on the Hiking Board, or hear the voice alerts triggered by the sensors, you might suddenly realize: those once-invisible environmental codes are being decoded by our own hands. And that is the most touching aspect of technology — enabling everyone to understand the world more deeply and actively protect their lives.
This concludes all 4 episodes of this series. Click on the homepage to review all content and try it out yourself!~
Related product information
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DFR0706-EN Hiking Board-M10
The Hiking Board (UNIHIKER) M10 is a highly integrated domestic teaching open-source hardware (with independent intellectual property rights), designed for K12 teachers and students, adapting to the new curriculum standards for interdisciplinary teaching in information technology, physics, biology, and other subjects. It integrates a single-board computer (4-core CPU/512MB RAM/16GB storage), Linux system, complete Python environment, and comes pre-installed with commonly used Python libraries, along with a 2.8-inch color touchscreen and rich sensors, allowing you to start the Python teaching platform in just two steps.
DigiKey Part Number: 1738-DFR0706-EN-ND
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DFR0975-U High-performance main control based on ESP32-S3, suitable for AIOT, image acquisition, and image recognition projects
FireBeetle 2 ESP32-S3-U is a control board designed based on the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1U-N16R8 module. The ESP32-S3-WROOM-1U-N16R8 module has 16MB Flash and 8MB PSRAM, allowing for more code and data storage. The ESP32-S3 chip on the module has powerful neural network computing and signal processing capabilities, suitable for image recognition, voice recognition, and other projects.
DigiKey Part Number: 1738-DFR0975-U-ND
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DFR0100 Maker education starter learning kit, suitable for Arduino UNO R3 development board and electronic product beginners
The Arduino starter kit is designed for beginners in electronic circuit building and programming logic. It covers course content from basic LED control to complex environmental sensing, monitoring, and actuator applications.
DigiKey Part Number: DFR0100-ND
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SEN0308 Gravity Capacitive Analog Waterproof Soil MoistureSensor
This is a newly launched waterproof soil moisture sensor from DFRobot, which has improved waterproof performance compared to the old version. Even if the sensor is fully submerged in water, it can still function normally; it has optimized corrosion resistance, using a multi-layer board design to prevent soil stones from scratching the sensor panel, which could accelerate corrosion; it has increased the electrode length and optimized circuit performance, expanding the measurement range, making the sensor’s measurement values more accurate!
DigiKey Part Number: 1738-SEN0308-ND
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SEN0501 Gravity Five-in-One EnvironmentalSensor
This is a five-in-one environmental sensor that integrates SHTC3 temperature and humidity sensor, BMP280 atmospheric pressure sensor, VEML7700 light sensor, UV sensor (V1.0: ML8511, V2.0: LTR390-UV-01). Each environmental parameter uses professional sensor chips, and the circuit design carefully considers the reasonable layout and thermal conduction of the core chip, effectively ensuring data accuracy.
DigiKey Part Number: 1738-SEN0501-ND
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SEN0394 Gravity I2C SGP40 Air QualitySensor
The SGP40 air quality sensor uses the new generation SGP40 digital VOC sensor chip launched by the well-known Swiss company Sensirion. Based on Sensirion’s CMOSens® technology, the SGP40 provides a complete sensor system on a single chip, including a temperature-controlled micro-heating plate and humidity compensation signals for indoor air quality. Combined with Sensirion’s powerful VOC algorithm, the sensor signal can be directly used to assess indoor air quality. It features low power consumption (2.6mA), fast response (2 seconds), no user calibration required, and output data that can intuitively assess air conditions.
DigiKey Part Number: 1738-SEN0394-ND
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SEN0768 Fermion DF1201S DFPlayer PRO MP3 Player Module
The DFR0768 playback module supports four control methods: Arduino, AT commands, onboard buttons, and AD buttons. Even without a microcontroller, you can play and switch music using the onboard buttons. The module has 128MB of storage space, and you can easily copy your favorite music to the module via USB. This module can also serve as a sound card for computers or Raspberry Pi, connecting the module to the computer via USB data cable allows the computer to output music through this module.
DigiKey Part Number: 1738-DFR0768-ND
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FIT0502Passive Speaker
The new version of the passive speaker FIT0502 has a JST PH2.0 interface, an internal resistance of 8 ohms, and a power of 3 watts. Its elongated shape with mounting holes is suitable for various audio source productions, producing clear and undistorted sound.
DigiKey Part Number: 1738-FIT0502-ND
Welcome to click the end of the article “Read More” to explore the products you need on the DigiKey website~
Editor’s Note
As introduced in the article and video,DFRobot has made the “board + sensor + software” into a plug-and-play environmental sensing kit, transforming the development of AI environmental sensing systems from reinventing the wheel to building with Lego. Through its one-stop sensor combination and edge-side AI inference, you can complete the development of an AI environmental sensing system in one day, all at a cost of just a few hundred yuan. What development resources do you use when developing environmental sensing systems? What experiences or questions do you have regarding resource selection? Feel free to leave a message and share withDigiKey‘s friends!
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