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Thunderboard Sense board - VOCs sensor

koudelad

Hello,

 

I know that a few people here own a Thunderboard Sense board from Silicon Labs. This board contains (besides other sensors) a CCS811 VOCs gas sensor.

I downloaded the original application for iOS and connected the board to a phone via Bluetooth LE. When I tap on "Environment" menu in the app, I can see values measured by all sensors (temperature, humidity, ambient light, UV index, air pressure and sound level), except the values from the VOCs sensor (there are no tiles for the values from it). I can physically see the sensor mounted on the PCB, but I haven't tried connecting it to an I2C analyzer yet.

 

The manual doesn't say anything special about this sensor, for example how to activate it etc.

 

Am I missing something?

 

Thank you,

David

  • 0

    Hello David,

     

    I can recheck but from what I remember when I used mine it was just there under sensors I didn't have to do anything special for it. I clearly remember this because I have other CO2 sensors (air sensor setups in general) and this one was way off the mark part of why it's back in the box. But I will look into it, especially if I get to Roadtest the Amphoral air quality sensor suit. If I don't get back to you in a few days just ping me and I will do so.

     

    Kas

  • 0 in reply to kas.lewis

    Thank you, that would be great. I will try to test it with a coworker's Android phone meanwhile, the bug could be also in the mobile application. I can't believe I got a faulty device.

  • 0 in reply to koudelad

    Hello David,

     

    I just tested with my devices (I have two) and they both have readings. The issue is that the CO2 will read 400ppm which I know it's not because I'm inside and only clean outdoor air is really around 400 ppm. Just sitting at my desk with my other two units will cause them to jump to 600+ ppm. The VOCs also read 0 ppb which is also not correct I'm pretty sure. Either way I can get the board to register something by breathing on it a few times. Doing this I can get the CO2 to go to 5782 ppm and the VOCs to go to 1187 ppb. I hope this helps if you would like more information or more help just ping me back and I'll see what else I can provide.

     

    Kas

  • 0

    Thank You for you time.

    I finally solved it. I had to install the Simplicity studio, add the board to supported devices, install all the necessary software (board support package, toolchains, ...) to start development and then opening and uploading the application firmware to the board.

    I have the newest HW revision of the board, however, there was some old firmware.

     

    I also bought a Sensor puck, so I will perform the same procedure to make sure I have the latest firmware.

     

    David

  • 0 in reply to koudelad

    And the story continues...

    The firmware version might be the newest, but the board doesn't show the VOC / "CO2" concentration measurement and doesn't allow to control the four RGB LEDs until powered from a USB port.

     

    I searched through the user guide and found only this vague sentence: More demanding applications, such as enabling the RGB LEDs at high intensities, might need a higher capacity external battery or USB power.