The Pico W Air is a great board if you want to get into environment data logging. It comes with a connection for a PMS5003 particulate matter sensor and Qwiic/QT connector that allows you to connect any Qwiic/QT (I2C) sensor. All powered by the excellent Raspberry Pi Pico W.

This listing does not include the PMS5003 sensor. I'm trying to source some to offer them as a combo in the future.

Monitor the air quality in your home or outside. Send data through MQTT or poll the data using the board's built-in JSON web API.

Perfect for integrating with your home automation setup. The firmware is compatible with any MQTT broker, including Home Assistant and Node-RED.

Features

• Raspberry Pi Pico W Onboard.
• Connector for PMS5003 Particulate Matter sensor.
• Qwiic/QT Connector for I2C sensors/peripherals.
• 1 Red and 1 Green LED for status or other blinking business.
• 8 Pin header exposing ADC (A1), and 4 other GPIO (GP10, GP11, GP12, GP13), 3.3V, and GND.
• Built-in MQTT client
• Built-in HTML server and JSON API
• Footprint for reset button (fits Omron B3FS-100xP button, button not placed)

Easy to Use Firmware

The board ships with CircuitPython firmware baked into the board. All you have to do is connect to a computer and edit the settings.toml file with Wifi credentials and edit any other settings you might want to change. Comprehensive documentation in the Github repository and beginner-friendly code documentation.  

Parts you'll need

This listing does not include the PMS5003 particulate sensor, you have to buy it separately but I have lots of resources for where to buy the sensor here.

You will also need a power source. Most micro USB wall adapters or power banks will work. If using a power bank, keep in mind that this device pulls very little power when idle and some power banks go into sleep mode. Typical power draw is 70mA to 90mA with the PMS6003 PM sensor and the AHT20 temp/hum sensors connected.

A temperature/humidity sensor is not required but is highly recommended. Adafruit's AHT20 Qwiic/QT sensor is the one I personally use but any Qwiic/QT sensor with a suitable CircuitPython library will work. The firmware has options for the AHT20 sensor if that's the sensor you choose to add to the board.

In summary, this is what you need: - The Pico W Air board (this listing) - PMS5003 particulate matter sensor (not included) - Power Source (not included) - Temperature and Humidity sensor not required but recommended (not included)