Dustbox is a prototype pollution monitoring device created by Citizen Sense.
Led by Dr Jennifer Gabrys and funded through a European Research Council (ERC) The Dustbox kit is part of a larger “Urban Sensing” project of Citizen Sense. It includes a Shinyei optical particulate matter PM 2.5 sensor, as well as an Electric Imp for WiFi connectivity.
The sensors will be used for community monitoring from the autumn of 2016 to spring 2017 in Deptford and New Cross in South London.
The real-time data streamed from the Dustboxes will be available Dustbox Streams platform, where the “raw” particle count data (as a percentage) and “converted” data (as PM2.5 µ/m3) will be available to view.
The Dustbox shape is based on the visualization and magnification of particles when viewed through an electron microscope.
The project ultimately seeks to “generate new interpretive understandings of citizen sensing through an iterative relationship between theory, practice and field-based investigations, and to put forward new models for understanding citizen sensing”.
