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Air Lab

A playful and portable air quality measuring device

$14,444 raised

of $30,000 goal

48% Funded

Back this project to help bring it into existence.
Funding ends on Jun 05, 2025 at 04:59 PM PDT.

$229

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Using its high-quality sensors, Air Lab measures CO2, temperature, relative humidity, air pollutants (VOC, NOx), and atmospheric pressure. The device can record measurements for multiple days, which you can analyze directly on-device—no computer or smartphone required.

Place it on a shelf, hang it on a wall, or keep it by your side—Air Lab helps you know more about the air quality around you. But don’t stop there, join the community, customize the open-source firmware and attach other sensors and components to the Air Lab.

Playful, Portable, and Powerful

Whether you are a beginner, enthusiast, or professional, Air Lab provides an easy-to-use interface and extensive capabilities for measuring, analyzing and exporting air quality data.

The main screen features Professor Robin in his Air Lab. This character guides users through the device and occasionally shares his thoughts on the current air quality, making it an entertaining and approachable experience for anyone.

Air Lab packs high quality components in a compact form factor, protected by an aluminum enclosure. The sleek design makes Air Lab blend perfectly in your home or workspace and you can carry it with you, wherever you go.

Internally, the device is powered by the popular ESP32S3 microcontroller, and equipped with a precise CO2, temperature and relative humidity sensor (SCD41) as well as a VOC/NOx (SGP41) and atmospheric pressure sensor (LPS22). The support circuitry provides built-in battery charging, a real-time clock, an RGB LED, buzzer, an accelerometer and capacitive touch which makes Air Lab a powerful stand-alone device.

On-device Capabilities

Air Lab’s open-source firmware comes loaded with practical features to suit a wide range of needs:

Connectivity = Flexibility

Connect Air Lab to existing software and services to collect real-time air quality data in your office, workshop, factory floor or space station.

Keep an eye on our campaign updates for more information on the mentioned and future connectivity features.

Design, but Hackable

We crafted a device that feels just right. From the integrated stand on the back to the tactile click of its buttons, Air Lab is built to be robust and durable for everyday use. Its design is fully thought out to be as convenient as possible without compromising hackability:

Features & Specifications

Main Components

Support Circuit

Connectivity

Weight & Size

Power Usage†

† Stated battery life is an estimate and subject to ongoing firmware optimizations

Storage

Comparison Table

ProductAir Lab Aranet 4 Pro Indoor Monitor Wave Enhance VINDSTYRKA AirVisual Pro
ManufacturerNetworked Artifacts Aranet Airgradient Airthings IKEA IQAir
PortableYes Yes No Yes No Yes
StandaloneYes Yes Limited No Yes Yes
T+RH SensorsYes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
CO2 SensorYes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
VOC SensorYes No Yes Yes Yes No
NOx SensorYes No Yes No No No
hPa SensorYes Yes No Yes No No
PM SensorAttachable No Yes No Yes Yes
BluetoothYes Yes Yes Yes No No
WiFiYes No Yes No No Yes
Display TypeE-Paper E-Paper OLED n/a LCD LCD
Display Size2.9” 1.2” 1.3” n/a 3.5” 5”
Power TypeLiPo + USB 2x AA Wall Adapter 2x AA USB Wall Adapter Li-Ion + USB
Battery Capacity1500 mAh ~4000 mAh n/a ~4000 mAh n/a 1900 mAh
Battery Life¹21 days² 1+ year n/a 1+ year n/a 4 hours
Open SourceYes No Yes No No No
MicrocontrollerESP32-S3 n/a ESP32-C3-MINI n/a n/a n/a
Exposed InterfacesProg, I2C, 2x GPIOs n/a I2C, 3x GPIOs, 2x UART n/a n/a n/a
EnclosureAluminum Polycarbonate ASA Plastic Plastic Plastic Plastic
Size155 × 65 × 10 mm 71 × 71 × 24 mm 130 × 130 × 35 mm 115 × 105 × 36 mm 52 × 59 × 87 mm 184 × 82 × 100 mm
Weight110 g 104 g 350 g 98 g 230 g 381 g
Price$229 $290 $195 $149 $49 $299

¹: When using a sample rate of 1min.
²: Subject to ongoing firmware improvements.

Support & Documentation

Our product website will become the main place for high-level information on the Air Lab. We are working on an extensive manual section with various guides that outline how the Air Lab can be used for certain tasks and how it can be integrated with other systems. Adding to that, we will also keep producing YouTube videos in the form of product updates and step-by-step tutorials.

The official firmware will be open-sourced on GitHub before the first devices are shipped to backers. With that we also plan to document the code and write further guides on firmware development with the Air Lab.

Manufacturing Plan

The Air Lab consists of various parts, the main PCB, a display, a battery, the enclosure as well as smaller components like the display interface flex, metal bracket and various screws. We already found manufacturers and suppliers for all of these either locally and/or overseas.

It has always been important to use to stay as close to the production as possible. That’s why we decided to perform the final assembly of the device ourselves in our workshop in Zurich. This not only allows us to make sure that every Air Lab is perfect, it also ensures that we can keep iterating on simplifying the assembly.

Fulfillment & Logistics

We’ll send the assembled Air Lab batches from Zurich to Crowd Supply’s fulfillment partner, Mouser Electronics, who will handle distribution to all backers. You can learn more about Crowd Supply’s fulfillment service under Ordering, Paying, and Shipping in their guide.

Risks & Challenges

We’re confident, after two years of development, that the current Air Lab design is stable and ready to be manufactured in higher quantities. We’ve successfully produced smaller quantities ourselves and are currently planning a bigger batch with our PCBA partner.

We took great care to select standard components and fabrication processes. However, we may incur delays in the process due to components going out of stock suddenly or because procuring larger quantities require us to talk to manufacturers directly. Furthermore, the current international tariff conflict may change the landscape quickly forcing us to find new suppliers to keep the offered price.

In the Press

Hackster News

"Th[is] attractive device can hang on the wall, sit on a shelf, or use its integrated stand to sit on your desk, offering a clear view of the crisp ePaper display."

Geeky Gadgets

"Air Lab [is] a sleek, portable device designed to do more than just measure air quality—it enables you to understand and improve it."

Notebookcheck

"If you are looking for a portable, open-source gadget with a DIY look, you should take a look at Air Lab from Network Artifacts. [trans.]"


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Produced by Networked Artifacts in Zürich, Switzerland.

Sold and shipped by Crowd Supply.

Air Lab

One Air Lab with internal battery and enclosure (no USB-C cable included)

$229 $8 US Shipping / $18 Worldwide

About the Team

Networked Artifacts

 ·   · 

Makers of technology that lets you create, connect, and explore.

Joël Gähwiler
 256dpi
Juan Garcia
 thebraunfox

See Also

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