the air quality egg ( aqe ) is an open source hardware internet of things platform and hobbyist device for crowdsourced citizen monitoring of airborne pollutants .

the device won widespread recognition when it was named a best of kickstarter 2012 project , and has been featured in newspaper , magazine , peer-reviewed scientific journal and prominent blog articles .

crowdsourced data from citizen owners of the devices is uploaded to xively where it becomes publicly accessibly on the air quality egg website .

the device is supported by 3rd party mobile apps such as acculation 's aqcalc .

the aqe grew out of internet of things meetup groups in new york city and amsterdam , led by pachube evangelist ed borden .

wickeddevice llc , the company that manufacturers and sells the aqe off its website , is a tech start-up headquartered in ithaca , ny .

there are two versions of the device : an arduino shield for use by hobbyists , and a more consumer-ready " hobbyist kit " device .

the latter consists of two identical-looking plastic enclosures vaguely resembling white eggs .

one unit , the base unit , is connected to the user 's ethernet lan connection .

the second unit monitors no2 and co levels and reports these readings every few minutes back to the base unit via a custom wireless protocol .

the base unit , in term , reports these readings to xively and the aqe website .

add-ons are available for purchase off the website that add pm2 .5 dust , ozone , and voc sensors .

despite being labelled a not-consumer-ready " hobbyist " device by the manufacturer , the aqe is one of the few de facto commercially available , comprehensive internet of things pollution monitors on the us market .

a number of competing devices have been announced , such as the chemisense wearable in the us or the alima in france , but these do not appear to be commercially available in the us at time of writing .

citizensensor is another us crowdsourced air quality monitoring device , but it is listed an " outgoing project " , " diy " , and apparently not available for purchase .

in terms of a comprehensive internet of things air pollution monitoring solution , the most direct competitor may be china 's ikair ( pronounced " i care " ) , although this uses a closed , proprietary platform rather than the aqe 's open source hardware and open data design .

unfortunately , at time of writing the ikair 's companion smartphone app does not appear to be available in english or for download in the us .

ibm recently announced a partnership with the government of china for analytics software to process data from pollution sensors , so both the software and hardware aspects of this market may be heating up .

a major potential criticism of the aqe is that it is still a hobbyist device despite the appearance of consumer-ready packaging .

in an effort to get these devices to end-users more quickly , the aqe 's sensors have not yet been fully calibrated by the manufacturer .

no doubt these issues will be addressed as more competing devices enter the market .

air quality egg

air quality egg <EOT> use the air quality egg app to configure the egg . available in google play .

you can hear more about the ideas behind the air quality egg in the video below .

a community - led air quality sensing network that gives people a way to participate in the conversation about air quality .

similar community initiatives are underway with the air quality egg in boston and the country of georgia , he said .

# airqualityegg : a community - led air quality sensing network that gives people a way to participate in the conversation about air quality .

the air quality egg project does more than just give localized data though . users can register their egg at urltoken and their data is automatically mapped , creating a real - time source for local , regional and even global air quality .

tell me if i’ve understand all : air quality egg from wicked device is sold for $ 185 ( shipping in eu ? ) and contains the base station ( first egg ) and the sensors ( second egg ) .

from the air quality egg website : “a community - led air quality sensing network that gives people a way to participate in the conversation about air quality . the air quality egg is a sensor system designed to allow anyone to collect very high resolution readings of no2 and co concentrations outside of their home . these two gases are the most indicative elements related to urban air pollution that are sense - able by inexpensive , diy sensors . ”

without commenting specifically on the air quality egg , he said " most of these devices have value for low - cost citizen science . "

air quality sensor arduino shield + shipping costs to any non - us address .

air quality egg on - site workshop for 30 people . we will come to you with parts to build 30 wired air quality sensor boxes and build them with you . travel costs are included to locations in the us and europe .

while those monitors are meant to characterize air quality across a region , air pollution can be different from neighborhood to neighborhood .

air quality egg . fully assembled , plug and play , wireless air quality sensing system . generates no2 , co , temperature and humidity data and displays it on a web - based dashboard accessible from anywhere . shipping to us address included .

air quality egg + o3 , voc , radiation , and dust / particulate sensor upgrades . shipping to us included , add $ 13 for international shipping .

the sensors egg can be updated adding inside the same egg others sensors ( dust \ radiation \ voc \ ozone \ … ) .

way back in march 2012 i backed my first kickstarter project , the air quality egg from wicked device , a project to build a community - led air quality sensing network . it has been a long time coming but despite royal mail’s best efforts it has finally arrived .

the air quality egg ( aqe ) is a collective , diy , air quality sensor and network that emerged in 2012 out of an international collaboration of people involved in exploring aspects of the internet of things . the egg sensors measure concentrations of nitrogen dioxide ( no2 ) and carbon monoxide ( co ) , because as noted on the project’s webpage , “they are the most indicative elements related to urban air pollution that are sense - able by inexpensive diy sensors . ” although the egg can be implemented with other sensors , in this case the aspects of air quality that are measured depend on the technologies available .

shipped from ithaca , new york , by first - class post , an air quality egg has arrived in our citizen sense project lab . written on its cardboard box is the message , “care about your air ? problem solved . ” designed to make the air we breathe more visible , the project consists of a kit that enables the collection of air quality data within our local environments .

once armed with your updated eggs you need to go to the air quality egg website and enter the mac address of your base egg ( on a sticker on the inside lid of the box ) as well as a location and a name and optional description and elevation .

update 2 – i’ve now updated the script to import the air quality egg data into emoncms to use the cosm api instead of scraping the urltoken site which is less likely to be broken by external changes .

configure the egg with the phone app and connect it to your wifi network then it will publish the data to our servers allowing you access to any historical data from your egg .

yes the $ 185 kit is for the base egg with ethernet and the sensor egg with temperature , humidity , co and no2 sensors as stanard with other sensors as an option .

to measure air pollution now , cities use large sensors called municipal air quality monitors , which cost between $ 70 , 000 and $ 150 , 000 , according to hubbard .

in january 2013 , withings announced that its connected scale , called the withings body analyzer measures air quality as well as heart rate and weight . at the time , the company said that co2 can build up in confined spaces like bedrooms , leading to poor air quality that can negatively affect health , so having access to air quality readings can be part of an overall health strategy .

dear nathan just tried to connect to the open energy monitor web site and it doesn’t recognise it . also – wonder if there are any further meetings in the uk to further the aims of the air quality egg ? regards

a project aiming to give citizens a way to participate in the conversation about air quality . it is composed of a sensing device that measures the air quality in the immediate environment and an on - line community that is sharing this information in real - time .

the air quality egg was launched in 2012 , part of what the u . s . environmental protection agency calls the next generation of air monitoring . there are also businesses that have developed small monitors that connect to smart phone applications , providing instant readings of what their users are breathing .

berkeley , california - based chemisense has developed a wristworn wearable air quality monitor that helps people detect chemicals and pollutants in the air around them , according to a report from mit technology review .

place your egg in the desired location and let it run , it automatically uploads data to the internet .

represent diy air quality monitoring with a t - shirt and sticker set that we promise will not be lame . shipping to us address included .

when the base egg is first plugged into a network it will get an ip address via dhcp and attempt to connect to cosm to register itself and obtain a feed number . the base egg also broadcasts its unique mac address for 30 seconds when it is first turned on and waits for a reply from the remote sensor egg , once this has been received the two are paired together . the rgb led in the base egg will light the egg up to indicate what is happening , there is a diagram here showing how that works .

swart acknowledged that their data can ' t match the quality of official government monitors .

all the data will be sent automatically to the air quality egg website , as well as a special website being developed for louisville , which will include other information such as the location where people who are participating in a related project are having asthma attacks .

the wearable device will identify carbon monoxide , sulfur oxides , nitrous oxides , volatile organic compounds , and ozone . the data gathered from the wearable device will be sent to a connected app . the company plans to use air quality data added to the app to crowdsource heat maps of air quality .

a community - led air quality sensing network that gives people a way to participate in the conversation about air quality . it includes pollution sensors , a phone app and a web dashboard . using the app , you can monitor your pollution levels . you can also follow other eggs , and compare them .

the device consists of a sensing system that gets plugged into the wall outside your home and communicates wirelessly to the egg - shaped base station inside , which transmits the data to the internet . the egg also contains the user buttons and lights .

they sample for a variety of pollutants , such as ozone and the smallest of particulates , and have shown that in recent decades , air quality locally has improved .

touillon notes that the alima is different from other air quality sensors because there will be an emphasis on developing predictive algorithms . the idea is that you can tell in advance when you’re going to experience hazardous air levels , and provide you with steps to prevent that from even happening at all . also , it’s designed to be a way for everyone to work together collaboratively to improve their air quality experience .

the air quality egg is developed by a community effort , born out of groups from the internet of things meetups in nyc and amsterdam . we are designers , technologists , developers , architects , students , and artists . read about the history of the development of this project here and here .

dr . james sublettsaid he plans to buy several and put them inside and outside of his family allergy & asthma clinics , to check difference between indoor and outdoor air quality .

smith said he plans to seek advice from the louisville air district and and its health department on where to place the air monitors that people donate .

that way , gordon garner said , they can compare air quality and temperature at an urban and semi - rural location . he ' s especially interested in tracking the temperature differences .

the air quality egg also proposes a material agency for the sensing kits themselves . instead of enhancing an invisible ubiquity of sensors , the project developers attempt to make them visible . both the sensors and the base station have been encased within an egg - shape plexiglass case that is tactile and illuminated , thereby presenting an embodied and distinctly materialized relationship with the sensing process . there have been multiple “design” efforts to make sensors more engaging ( such as the speck project ) , but the aqe aims to gain engagement through the shape of the object and through interactivity : by making the egg glow .

the special louisville website will also compare egg readings to an index , giving people a sense of what the data means , smith said .

both parts of the kit are housed in identical flattened egg shaped cases . the remote egg consists of an smt nanode ( without the ethernet hardware fitted ) with a custom sensor shield containing an attiny88 microprocessor , an i2c multiplexer , mac / eeprom chip , dht22 temperature / humidity sensor , an e2v mics 2710 no2 sensor and a mics 5525 co sensor as well as voltage regulators for the sensors heaters . there are also sockets for up to four more i2c sensors . in the bottom of the egg is a fan to ensure that fresh air is constantly drawn in through the egg to circulate around the sensors . due to the power usage of the fan and heaters for the co and no2 sensors the remote egg is mains powered via a transformer and not battery powered .

2 ) egg base station : an egg - shaped base station , which gives this project its name , receives the wirelessly transmitted data from the sensor box outside . it then relays that data to the internet via a wired ethernet connection . the egg also acts as a user interface , so it also has an led light and a button . these are configurable by applications which will be developed in the future by the community .

arnita gadson , executive director of the kentucky environmental quality commission , said officials working on new air - monitoring initiative will have to be careful about how they communicate with the public , because there are many types of air pollution , and the personal monitors only track a few .

you can create aggregations of data from multiple eggs and share them with other egg users , and search the world wide network off eggs and data .

application beta tester . even if you don ' t collect your own data , you can still benefit from applications developed by the community that uses the aggregate open data from air quality eggs around the world .

applications : each egg that comes online contributes data that , in aggregate , will provide what is essentially an " air quality api " . this will be a platform for web developers who want to apply this information in innovative ways via web apps , mobile apps , visualizations , interactive installations , and more . the egg base station also has the ability to convey information through a colored light and also has a button for user feedback . these elements can be programmed and re - programmed for all kinds of interactions .

with accurate , real - time data about beijing ' s air quality , the government will be in a position to address environmental issues rapidly by altering production at specific factories or alerting citizens about developing air quality issues . in addition , the chinese government has established a goal of obtaining 13 percent of its consumable energy from non - fossil fuels by 2017 , while enabling the construction of the world ' s largest renewable grid .

as the sensemaker team says , those two gases " are the most indicative elements related to urban air pollution that are sense - able by inexpensive , diy sensors . " what ' s great about the air quality egg is that it can be used by anyone to get readings right where they are , as opposed to relying on federal data which is collected on a regional level and not very informative for someone wondering what it ' s like outside their home .

90 % of the world ' s population breathes air which exceeds world health organization standards .

the egg ' s sensor system has been prototyped and refined several times . the current iteration which will go to production has been designed by joe saavedra , building on work from a previous project , urltoken . the wireless system has been designed by wickeddevice , who will also be managing the production of the finished egg system .

another successful kickstarter project that has the potential to make huge waves in the clean tech community is the air quality egg . after exceeding their funding goal by $ 100 , 000 back in april , sensemakers , the team behind the device , has been working on developing the compact sensor system that gathers very high resolution readings of no2 and co concentrations from wherever it ' s placed .

update 4 / 12 : you can now upgrade the air quality egg ( including the diy versions ) with sensors for o3 ( $ 25 ) , voc ' s ( $ 25 ) , radiation ( $ 60 ) , and particulates ( $ 40 ) ! add the cost directly to your pledge ( we will confirm your order after the campaign ends ) . see here for more info !

in the aqe , sensing is meant to be configured for participating in a public debate about the environment through the deployment of the sensing kit . by shifting the question from the quality of the data to what it enacts and which worlds and actions it makes possible , it proposes that there are other aspects that matter in air sensing , such as the measuring process itself . measuring the air is a practice of engagement that unfolds through the making of a technical device , and which might be seen to be a contested strategy of dealing with air quality and public infrastructures .

brown announced the program to deploy the first 100 so - called air quality eggs thursday evening at a cocktail supper for 200 guests at her northeast louisville home . they will monitor for nitrogen dioxide , carbon monoxide , particulates , temperature and humidity .

in general , people who live in more polluted cities don ' t live as long , said aruni bhatnagar , a professor of medicine at university of louisville . and there can also be places in cities where air quality is worse , he said , calling them hot spots where air pollution can also damage people ' s bodies and make them sick .

the electronics all seems well designed and well made and the egg hardware and firmware is open source with schematics and board designs available on solderpad and the arduino based firmware available on github .

as expected , people’s rising awareness of air pollution in china is rendering air purifiers a new favorite of chinese households’ . but with the proliferation of air purifiers comes the uncertainty of which manufacturers are reliable and whether they can solve people’s real concerns – to improve health in the long term . ikair wants to answer that .

for those who want to track more pollutants , they may purchase an egg directly from the wicked device website , adding packages that detect ozone and volatile organic compounds , which contribute to smog .

french company and 2014 hardware battlefield contestant alima thinks people want to know what makes up the air they breathe , and they previously launched a successful indiegogo campaign to prove that it is indeed something consumers want . once known as airboxlab , the paris startup ran an indiegogo campaign in 2013 to fund its cylindrical home air quality monitor , which measures and reports on the volume of carbon dioxide , carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds ( voc ) in the air where you live .

looking for air pollution hot spots with micro - monitors louisville is getting ready to monitor air pollution on a micro - level , potentially shedding light on city " hot spots . " check out this story on urltoken urltoken

air district staff are willing to do that , said keith talley sr . , executive director of the agency .

different from an air purifier , ikair is a smart sensor that provides an intelligent readout of indoor environmental factors like air quality and noise level , and then recommends solutions for improvement . in other word , it is not the final solution to indoor pollution but essential to finding the right solution . but what’s the point of a having a smart sensor without actually owning a clean device ?

setting the egg up should be pretty seamless unless like me you have one of the earlier ones with a bug in the automatic cosm provisioning ( caused by a change at cosm ) but there is an update to fix that here . there has also been a bug fix this week for high readings being reported by the sensor egg so it would make sense to update both the base and sensor eggs before starting .

the effort harkens back more than a decade when louisville was gripped in a fight over toxic air from industrial sites .

" air pollution is more than just something that clouds your vision on a sunny day , " founder and cmo will hubbard said in a presentation . " in fact , the world health organization just labeled air pollution as a class 1 carcinogen , in the same ranks as asbestos and cigarette smoke . and so most people don ' t even appreciate the fact that this leads to millions of premature deaths every year , which in turn leads to the reality that billions each year are spent on issues directly related to air quality . "

, which aims to safeguard the health of approximately 700 million people living in urban areas . the city of beijing will invest more than $ 160 billion to improve air quality and deliver on its target of reducing harmful fine particulate matter ( pm 2 . 5 ) by 25 percent by 2017 .

custom air quality sensor shield for arduino with ability to sense no2 , co , temp , humidity . this will allow you to build your own sensor system with your own arduino and participate in the community by generating data with the same sensors as everyone else . shipping to us address included .

it is a community - developed , open source project that is driven by people who care about the air they breathe .

the base egg is a fully populated smt nanode with a small shield containing an rgb led and a dc power socket for connection of the mains adapter . there is also space for a push button but this isn’t fitted .

1 ) outdoor sensors : a small electronic sensing system plug into the wall and sits outside your home taking regular readings . it has an rf transmitter , which sends the data wirelessly to an egg - shaped base station inside .

louisville is getting ready to monitor air pollution on a micro - level , potentially shedding light on city " hot spots . "

. " as the general public demands a better environment and improved quality of life , it is important for the government to respond and adopt a more sustainable approach to economic development . "

while not as reliable as government sensors , the readings do give people an approximate idea of pollution levels immediately nearby , so they can be more informed in seeking better air quality , said dirk swart , a co - founder of the company that makes the monitors , wicked device llc of ithaca , n . y .

there is lots of stuff in the air , and we care about the air , so we want to know what we are breathing . we have many sensors to choose from , currently we have 5 models to choose from measureing a total of 7 different pollutants .

where ' s the data ? look outside your window - - have you ever wondered what the quality of the air is out there ? i mean right . out . there . 12 inches from your face . if so , you are out of luck . the air quality data collected by the government is likely sampled from far , far away and then applied to you on a regional level - - not very useful from the standpoint of trying to understand or change the local dynamics of pollution that affect you . if you ' re interested in joining a community of people who are going to change that , you are in the right place !

the chinese government is taking steps to deal effectively with the country ' s growing air pollution problem by deploying advanced analytics and other tech tools .

gordon garner , a consulting engineer and environmental advocate who attended brown ' s kickoff event , said he purchased two air - quality eggs . he will place one at the home he shares with his wife , joyce garner , in leafy prospect , and the other at joyce garner ' s art studio , garner narrative , on east market near downtown louisville .

step 1 ) 3 - 6 weeks . the current prototype design will be consolidated into a single board by dirk swart and vic aprea of wickeddevice , who have already done customized volume runs of the nanode , the open source microcontroller board which provides the platform for the egg . the egg enclosure / injection molding will also be developed at this time , based on 3d print runs we ' ve done and will iterate on . a small run of completed test units will be produced in - house to verify the compatibility of the design .

" we are living in an extraordinary time . . . with all these new tools we have not had available before , " he told those at thursday ' s event . " you may not understand this egg thing , but go ahead and become a civic entrepreneur . "

the chemisense wearable will help people will asthma identify places where the air is more polluted , which will in turn help them identify triggers and avoid certain places .

louisville is getting ready to monitor air pollution on a micro - level , potentially shedding light on city " hot spots " that could be damaging people ' s health .

but how one is meant to respond to the glowing egg has been left to the user to decide . the egg can be seen as an open design that enhances participation , although it would be interesting to research when deployed whether it achieves these material and political effects . data is also not seen through the object itself , is not inscribed where it has been measured , but it is uploaded to a collective platform of sensor data ( xively , formerly pachube and cosm , one of the most active supporters of the egg ) . this platform has the advantage of making the data public and comparable ( it is in fact this platform that transforms individual measurements into a network ) . however , the measurements can only be compared in real time , since the sensing kits are not building datasets . this opens the question of the purpose of a real - time network of independent sensors , and the kind of socio - political changes they might enable .

wired ( ethernet / power to outside sensor box ) air quality sensor box only , in diy kit form ( parts in a bag with tutorial ) . this will allow you to enjoy the reduced cost of building the sensor system yourself while having all of the necessary parts and instructions delivered to you ready to go . generate the same data as the rest of the community with the same sensor system . shipping to us address included .

the name came from the $ 75 plastic buckets that citizens could use to collect air samples , compared with the several thousands of dollars that the official equipment cost at the time .

" focusing on hot spots is a great addition to a larger strategy for reducing our exposures , " said eboni cochran , a leader in the group rubbertown emergency action , which helped press the local air district to adopt a toxic air reduction program in 2005 after the u of l and epa data found excessive health risks from cancer - causing chemicals like 1 , 3 - butadiene .

as china has grown into a global economic powerhouse , air pollution has become a major health problem . smog in major urban areas such as beijing has worsened in recent years , and it now reaches

in addition to louisville ' s six official monitoring stations , indiana and kentucky run several others in the region that are used to determine the community ' s compliance with federal clean - air rules .

3 ) data sent to internet : the air quality data will be sent in real - time to pachube , an open data service , which both stores and provides free access to the data . the service includes embeddable graphs and the ability to generate triggers for tweets and sms alerts ( it looks something like this ) , as well as a robust api which allows for developers in the community to unlock the potential of this new dataset by building mashups , maps , and applications .

another selling point is its personalized user experience . besides flexible module combinations , ikair uses the data gathered to refine its recommended solutions for users . yet , like all “internet of things , ” smart sensors face the question of how effectively they actually work . at the end of the day people want practical and instant solutions whereas environmental problems in china are as vast as the country itself . ikair states that its air quality sensing system was approved by department of building science & technology at tsinghua university .

while the egg shape does seem to make some sense for the sensor unit , the way the two halves fit together does give me some concerns about how it will stand up to the wonderful british weather so i’ve put some insulation tape round the join just to add a little bit more protection and made sure it is as well sheltered as i can , only time will tell how well it fares . the egg shape isn’t as suited for the base station in my mind , it makes it larger than it needs to be and can make it awkward to find a space for but i understand the economical benefits to using identical cases for both units and this is a small complaint . it does look quite nice when it lights up too .

smith said the effort will also involve purchasing 50 air monitors developed by a louisville company , durham labs , for deployment on bikes used by students . details on the bike monitors would be made public in may .

yet , china is turning to more than political discourse and new policies to address its air pollution problem . in july , the chinese government inked a 10 - year deal with ibm to embark on an initiative dubbed "

sensor up a city . let ' s do a big rally to kick it off . we ' ll come with 100 air quality eggs , run a clinic , do some talks about sensing / science / community , have an exchange of ideas . our travel is included to anywhere in us / europe . 100 people will take home eggs . instant critical mass . this is a great way for corporations who want to sponsor this project to get involved , either to give back to the community or engage their own employees in the movement .

at the citizen cyberscience summit in london in january , we were able to deploy a small number of egg sensor boxes and saw our first data collection . we are slowly getting a small run of prototype - level sensor boxes into the hands of beta testers ( example : urltoken ) . we are running workshops in london and amsterdam which will have people building up their own units and bringing them home .

the need to clear the air is apparent to a wide range of observers , including researchers . " china ' s rapid economic development has introduced heavy environmental costs , " states tao wang , resident scholar in the energy and climate program at

the makers are very focused on taking advantage of the internet of things with this project . the data is not just community - sourced and presented , but as the website states " the air quality data will be sent in real - time to pachube , an open data service , which both stores and provides free access to the data . the service includes embeddable graphs and the ability to generate triggers for tweets and sms alerts ( it looks something like this ) , as well as a robust api which allows for developers in the community to unlock the potential of this new dataset by building mashups , maps , and applications . "

one thing to be aware of is that the co and no2 sensors are uncalibrated , the firmware does support calibration but it just isn’t practical at this price point for every individual sensor to be calibrated in a lab when building the kits . out of the box the calibration value is set to a value in the middle of the datasheet range which should be good enough to determine if the air quality in a location is good / ok / bad and how it changes over time and there are people trying to work out a method of diy calibration or ways to use data processing techniques like mean - variance and blind calibration to improve accuracy .

of course , alima’s real value is in the data it collects , so presenting that information to users in a way that’s easy to understand is key . the alima manages to do this with an app - based dashboard that lets you view readings from the sensor in easy - to - understand graphs and charts , complete with warnings and notices that prompt you to act if things are going wrong . it could suggest you open a window , or prescribe more drastic solutions like installing a professional air filter into your home’s air circulation system .

smith said people can donate the eggs so a project team can place them in strategic locations . that way they can search for potential pollution hot spots that may be missed by the louisville metro air pollution control district ' s network of six monitoring stations , he said .

using new technology tied to the internet , louisville philanthropist christy brown is helping to deploy a fleet of micro - monitors about as big as a softball that will continuously sniff the air and provide individuals — as well as the public — a quick view of the pollution surrounding them .

now rebadged as alima , the startup is looking to move from its initial small production run to a much broader wide consumer launch . the alima will refine the design of its hardware somewhat , but the eye - catching cylindrical tower perforated with holes designed functionally to collect air samples and aesthetically to look clean and fresh will remain the same .

the network functions through a multiplicity of nodes , and not necessarily through the quality of the data that each of them provides . such multiplicity of sensors reconfigures the scale and space of a public infrastructural network . however , there is still the assumption that technological devices will be the drivers of a political change into a non - representational democracy by providing the tools to coordinate and decide collectively about environmental concerns , which raises questions about the implicit expectations of relying on technology as the means of social and political change .

in july , researchers at germany’s karlsruhe institute of technology announced that they had developed a smartphone - connected tool that can sense dust levels , also developed to test air pollution . when tested , the technology showed a good initial performance , but a paper describing the research explained that future iterations of the tool will offer increased sensitivity so that the device can detect even lower concentrations of dust .

ted smith , the mayor ' s innovation czar , said friday that the party ' s participants purchased as many as 100 of the monitors . when bought from brown ' s new nonprofit institute for healthy air , water and soil , each monitor costs $ 200 a piece . that ' s less than the $ 243 that the company charges for the same package on its wicked device website .

the urltoken website is still pretty rudimentary at the moment , all you can do is see the current reading from the eggs and it is missing some obvious things like units for the measurements ( no2 and co are measured in parts per billion ( ppb ) , temperature in °c and humidity in % ) but hopefully it will improve with time . you can also view graphs of the data over time on urltoken ( here’s my cosm feed ) and i know i’m not the only one also thinking of ways to feed the data into other things like emoncms , this could be done by pulling the json or xml feeds from cosm , modifying the egg base firmware to send to emoncms as well as cosm or perhaps receiving the sensor eggs transmissions on my existing gateway .

the alima is launching on indiegogo to drive that community interest . pricing during the campaign for backers will be $ 199 , and then going up to $ 249 for a single unit , and the retail price after that will be $ 299 , touillon says . turning inside air into the next frontier for quantified self - measurement seems a likely area for potential growth , it’s just a question of whether alima’s take is the right one .

the economical aspect of sensing is prioritised toward the quality of the data . this opens up one of the main controversies between scientific and citizen science , which revolves around accuracy and what counts as valid data . such an approach constructs a distinction between primary ( accurate and technical ) and secondary ( subjective , soft ) data . if , as bruno latour , annemarie mol and other sts - based thinkers propose , there is a need to eliminate this distinction and level the two epistemic modes of knowing , the question that arises is how to evaluate types and modalities of data , as well as the practices that they generate and organise .

the sensor kit , built in parallel or even in opposition to institutional measuring networks , intends to give voice to citizens in environmental issues , thereby raising the environment and its management as a matter of concern . but to make the air matter as an issue of common interest , a whole new assemblage of people , environments and technologies is required , which configures another way of understanding urban infrastructures . this assemblage is articulated around two main differences : the material conditions of the apparatus and who engages in undertaking its deployment .

but there is another level of care , which comes out of the material properties of the sensors . sensors and their assemblage are not stable and need monitoring ( their technology is fragile and requires repair , recalibration and attention ) , so monitoring the air with these sensors implies the monitoring of the sensing kits themselves , thereby producing a new relationship : caring for the environment requires caring for the machine . however at the same time it may reduce the spectrum of citizens that can be implicated in this conversation , as technical and electronic knowledge is needed for this care .

by focusing the sensing process on mattering and its capacity of raising matters of concern , the aqe kit operates in a way that problematises institutional modes of sensing . it does so by making public the deployment of the kit , revealing doubts and uncertainties as a way of opening up science to citizens to produce engagement . as a result , what matters are the normative implications of the kit and the practices that it enables as the spaces for political action . however the sensor kit also challenges some of the presuppositions of the scientific - policy making sensing process , showing how the fact that the object can be touched ( and built ) makes air sensing relevant for a community of practice . it also proves that content and hardware cannot be separated and demonstrates that the material conditions of the apparatus matter . by shifting a few conditions such as the price of the sensors or who deploys the network , a whole sensing process is reconfigured , transforming the type of infrastructure that it constitutes , as well as its effects in relation to environments .

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last march , and the country has announced that it will work with regional and local officials that do not address the issue adequately .

. " its goal is to boost renewable energy and improve energy optimization , while putting systems and data to work in order to better understand the underlying sources of pollution and the steps required to address the challenge .

ibm ' s china research laboratory will spearhead the effort and tap into a network of 12 global research labs to create an ecosystem of partners from across government , academia , industry and private enterprise . green horizon will rely on advanced technologies and computing methods—including weather satellites , next - generation optical sensors , structured databases , big data analytics and the internet of things—to gain deeper insights into weather prediction and climate modeling . cognitive computing systems will analyze and learn from streams of real - time data .

by applying supercomputing processing power , scientists from ibm and the beijing government hope to generate visual maps at street - scale resolution showing the source and dispersion of pollutants across beijing 72 hours in advance . " this project will provide beijing with a much better understanding of how pollution is produced and spread across the city , so the government can address it more effectively , " wang explains . in addition to monitoring real - time data , scientists and researchers will use historical data to better " calibrate " the model , he adds .

" science - based decision support systems combined with sophisticated data analysis are exactly what the chinese government needs to address the country ' s energy and environmental issues , " wang concludes .

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the sensors used are a diy combination of off - the - shelf and cheap components that can be expanded and reconfigured . this approach is meant to allow citizens to deploy the eggs in all their phases ( funding , designing , managing , monitoring , and making data public ) . as a consequence , the spaces for the construction of the prototype have been displaced from high - tech international companies to international media labs and art and technology institutions such as eyebeam , de waag or medialab prado .

the goal , brown said , is to " find a new way to care for each other . " and mayor greg fischer , who frequently speaks about the need for compassion and innovation , is endorsing the effort .

" the goal is to make information actionable , " by making it immediate and personal , he said .

" the best possible outcome is a closer connection between health and well - being and our environment , " he said .

" in the last two years , we have seen an explosion around these technologies , " said ron williams , a research chemist with the epa ' s office of research and development .

he said epa has been conducting laboratory and field tests to determine how accurate the personal monitors are , and said " that has yet to be determined . it ' s certainly not regulatory grade . "

that ' s where the micro - level reporting may be especially helpful — helping to identify potential hot spots and their sources .

he said he believes louisville ' s west end and downtown are such hot spots , and said the new monitors could help researchers investigate them as a screening tool .

u of l can attempt to confirm any elevated readings with more sophisticated monitors , he said .

even as university of louisville was operating its own network of monitors specially designed to detect dozens of toxic chemicals and heavy metals that are not tracked by the city , citizen volunteers working with the late rev . louis coleman ' s justice resource center operated a " bucket brigade " in 2003 .

" my hope is that it brings us many steps closer to full disclosure about what we are being exposed to , and sparks an interest in the use of safer chemicals from sources like rubbertown , " she said .

he said it ' s too soon to evaluate the citizen monitoring program but said it " could point out some stuff we need to look at . "

the biggest impact , he said , may be " the community awareness it will bring . "

" for heat - island research , it could be amazing , " he said .

brown is also asking people to contribute money to pay for more of the special inhalers , too , which have sensors on them , and transmit that data to a wisconsin company that is working with louisville .

the specialized louisville website should go live in about a month , said smith , who is volunteering his time with brown ' s new institute . southern indiana residents may also participate , he said .

reach reporter james bruggers at ( 502 ) 582 - 4645 or on twitter @ jbruggers .

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the company ' s product has been in the works for two years and as of march the company planned to sell it for $ 150 . hubbard says they have developed breakthrough technology , called chemiresistors , to sense pollutants while keeping costs low .

chemisense first plans to target younger people with asthma , which the company estimates is a population of 2 . 49 million children .

" our product adds a lot of value when children are trying to learn to avoid their triggers , " hubbard explains . " and second , the parents of these children are emotionally invested in preventing their attacks . something our market research shown has greatly affected their willingness to pay . "

eventually the company wants to expand into other industries outside of healthcare including mining , oil and gas , defense , agriculture , and research labs .

a similar dust - sensing system was developed in 2012 . doctoral students from the university of california san diego developed an app in 2012 that connected to pollution sensing wearable devices . the group used to tool to conduct a study in which 16 people who used different methods of transport but all had a 20 minute daily commute measured pollution while traveling . the study found that the participants’ measurements varied significantly from those provided by official regional pollution monitoring stations .

choose the pollutants you wish to track , realtime backlite lcd displays current readings or download published data from the cloud .

monitor , manage eggs and data collections from your phone as well as a convienent webpage .

joining the worldwide network of eggs is easy . see your data , and compare it with other eggs .

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aurora casket company is one of the larger manufacturers of caskets and urns .

the company has over 1500 employees , and is based in aurora , indiana .

as of 2005 , it sold over 38 % of the caskets used in the united states .

the company traces its roots back to 1890 , when john backman began making wooden caskets by hand .

at the time he employed 20 people .

in the 1920s , john 's son william backman , and his son-in-law william barrott joined the company .

since that time the company has been controlled by the backman and barrott families .

the current president and ceo is michael r. quinn today the company makes both wooden and metal caskets .

the company also produces urns for holding cremated remains .

the company also provides supplies and consulting services for funeral homes .

in 2012 , the company was acquired by private equity firm kohlberg & co .

aurora casket company

aurora casket company <EOT> glassdoor has 24 aurora casket reviews submitted anonymously by aurora casket employees . read employee reviews and ratings on glassdoor to decide if aurora casket is right for you .

batesville® is a registered trademark of batesville casket company . aurora® is a registered trademark of aurora® casket company . york® is a registered trademark of york® casket company . respectful® is a registered trademark of the respectful® casket company . casket urltoken is licensed , owned , and operated by mountain high funeral home , an authorized aurora , york , and respectful dealer .

feel confident standing behind the aurora products you offer , and know you provide each and every family with the quality casket their loved one deserves .

aurora caskets are brand name funeral caskets made in the united states . as aurora puts quality as one of its most important goals , see the following quote of aurora ' s : " in an age of high - tech manufacturing automation , many people don ' t realize that much of aurora caskets are still partially done by hand . aurora could automate these processes to save money , but it would be at the expense of our products and our customers . each component of an aurora casket is crafted as one might create a family heirloom—an achievement that lasts , protects and pays tribute . much of aurora ' s care is invested in the little things that you might not notice . but these little things can make all the difference for offering quality and lasting value . the aurora difference ! "

out of business , company sold to venture cap . group then to another firm

the new user - friendly aurora essentials catalog features new standard designs and product line extensions .

every day , we are proud to be americans . today we thank all u . s . active service members and veterans for their commitment to our military . happy fourth of july from all of us at aurora casket company ! we hope you have a safe day with family and friends .

at aurora ' s indiana headquarters , 200 sets of hands touch every one of the 160 , 000 caskets that go through the assembly line each year . cnbc ' s tyler mathisen explores a company that thinks inside the box .

aurora was recently bought out or " merged " with matthews funeral solutions . we are now publicly traded . looking for good things to happen

windjammer capital investors has acquired global claims services , a jacksonville , fla . - based company that helps insurance companies determine fair market replacement value of damaged flooring and exterior building materials , from the riverside company . no financial terms were disclosed , although riverside reported a 2 . 8x gross cash - on - cash return and a 29 % gross irr on its investment . urltoken

good place to work . out of business now . worked with a lot of great people . got bought out and closed down . company ' s management fought hard to keep our jobs .

hr - time to stop feathering your own nest . go to work for the people that make your company successful . management - stop patting your " a " players on the back with words of praise . time for promoting and compensating . matthews change the culture of this company . there are many good people here . you have a great chance to be successful if promote change and reward excellence !

i manage a service center 1 1 / 2 hours from company headquarters . my only job is to assign the routes for my drivers , then i am done for the day , usually by 8am . i take a 4 hour nap , shave my legs , eat lunch , then go home . on occasion , i will get up early from my nap and use the company van to go shopping or watch the local youths play tennis at a nearby park .

matthews international offers a wide array of opportunities and working environments as diverse as our individual divisions . we recognize that the efforts of employees past and present have made the company what it is today and that employees are vital to our continued success .

confie seguros , a new york - based provider of auto insurance with an emphasis on serving hispanic consumers , has acquired three new insurance agencies : bradley insurance agency ( las vegas ) , a auto insurance world ( west palm beach ) and westside auto ( ontario , calif . ) . no financial terms were disclosed . confieseguros is a portfolio company of genstar capital , and now has made 13 acquisitions in 2012 . urltoken

one equity partners has agreed to acquire m * modal inc . ( nasdaq : modl ) , a franklin , tenn . –based provider of clinical documentation and speech recognition solutions , for approximately $ 1 . 1 billion . the $ 14 per share deal represents an 8 . 3 % premium to yesterday’s closing price for m * modal shares . macquarie capital is managing the process for m * modal . urltoken

gennx360 capital partners has acquired schramm inc . , a west chester , penn . - based maker of mobile land - based drilling rigs . no financial terms were disclosed . urltoken

gs capital partners has acquired drayer physical therapy institute , a provider of outpatient physical rehabilitation services , from linden llc . no financial terms were disclosed . urltoken

roark capital group has acquired qualawash holdings llc , a tampa , fla . –based provider of environmental services to the bulk transportation industry , from klh capital . no financial terms were disclosed . harris williams & co . managed the process . urltoken

the weather channel has agreed to acquire weather underground , an ann arbor , mich . –based provider of web - based weather data . no financial terms were disclosed . the weather channel is owned by nbc universal , the blackstone group and bain capital . urltoken

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industrials and consumer stocks in the blitz . plus , what ' s brewing at starbucks

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your trust is our top concern , so companies can ' t alter or remove reviews .

the only con to my job is someday they might catch me or shut down my service center . but after 20 years of service , i ' m sure i have them fooled !

keep up your yearly audits , i can handle your sour moods , trashed cars , and your little detective work for 1 day per year .

work environment is clean and co - workers are friendly . since the matthews purchase several of the senior vp ' s are gone . this gave a huge boost to morale . this former execs were known for being task masters and had little to no ethics . the hope was that matthews would clean up the good ole boy network at play here .

over the past four years raises and bonuses have been unimpressive despite solid savings and earnings from both sales and manufacturing . they do not promote from within . if you are in hr , or sales and marketing things are good . any other positions are step children and not treated very well .

the people , the compensation , the proximity , . . . . did i mention the people

great tradition , great culture and fantastic people . all the tools for success are there . always willing to help the field reps in any way possible .

new ownership may have challenges . there is an uncertain sense of direction moving forward in a very challenging industry .

stay focused on the people and never let the traditional customers lose sight of existing unique product lines and solutions .

no strategic direction . long term planning = month to month . total lack of quality systems ( no quality manager / director on staff .

this will replace the current featured review for targeted profile . are you sure you want to replace it ?

copyright © 2008–2018 , glassdoor , inc . " glassdoor " and logo are proprietary trademarks of glassdoor , inc .

matthews is dedicated to the philosophy of promotion from within . to fulfill this commitment , we hire people who are able to grow in responsibility and capability . to those who meet our high standards , we offer a competitive total compensation and benefit package . additional information concerning employee benefit programs is available through local management .

benefits are offered to all regular full - time , non - union employees who complete the required eligibility period . matthews is pleased to offer the following benefits package :

the above applies to u . s . locations only , and benefit packages vary by location .

all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race , color , religion , sex , sexual orientation , gender identity , national origin or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability .

i really liked my job there , i was important to our department , i was in a bad car wreck and during my time off they hired 5 temps to do my job that i did by myself daily .