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This project was done as a response to the RSA design awards brief, right to breathe. The focused brief which I interpreted was to design a product that would allow users to monitor the quality of the air they breathe and track its PM2.5 levels. I chose to add some modularity to the design, allowing users to upgrade and swap components in the future as technological innovations occurred. The main research for this project was a study ran by Harvard in 2020 which stated that an increase of only 1 μg/m3 in PM2.5 is associated with an 8% increase in the COVID-19 death rate.

 

The project continued with some concept generation which evolved into picking a design and developing it. Through this development, I added this clip which would allow users to easily attach this to their person. Along with two screens. One on the front and one on the top which allows users to view air quality readers when it's clipped inside a pocket. I utilised 3D printing to test different clip designs and evaluate their tensions. I also used Solidworks simulations to test different casing materials against typical forces which the product might encounter, like being squashed in a pocket or being sat on. This enabled me to make informed choices around my design. The outcome of this project was a modular air quality sensor which enabled users to track the quality of air they encounter. 

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