Monitor air pollution cheaply and accurately with this matchbox-sized PMSA003 particulate matter (PM) sensor from Plantower! It senses particulates of various sizes (PM1, PM2.5, PM10) from sources like smoke, dust, pollen, metal and organic particles and more.
The sensor has a small fan that sucks air through the sensor and past a laser that can detect both the number (and hence concentration) and size of particles in the surrounding air.
The sensor comes with an adapter board, allowing you to hook it up to a microcontroller with standard jumper wires using VCC/GND/RX/TX.
Here's an example of a similar sensor in the range (pin-compatible so should work the same) hooked up to a Raspberry Pi Zero using just VCC/GND/RX/TX.
PMS5003 vs PMS7003 vs PMSA003
We stock three different models of particulate sensor from Plantower, so the first question you might have is "What's the difference between the PMS5003, the PMS7003 and the PMSA003?".
There's a slight difference in price between the models, and from a technical perspective, here are the differences from Plantower's website - there's not a lot in it - physical size being the main difference along with slight differences in current usage:
Parameter
PMS5003
PMS7003
PMSA003
Unit
Particle Range of measurement
0.3~1.0; 1.0~2.5; 2.5~10
0.3~1.0; 1.0~2.5; 2.5~10
0.3~1.0; 1.0~2.5; 2.5~10
μm
Particle Counting Efficiency
50%@0.3µm 98%@≥0.5µm
50%@0.3µm 98%@≥0.5µm
50%@0.3µm 98%@≥0.5µm
Particle Effective Range (PM2.5 standard)
0~500
0~500
0~500
μg/m³
Particle Maximum Range （PM2.5 standard）*
≥1000
≥1000
≥1000
μg/m³
Particle Resolution
1
1
1
μg/m³
Particle Maximum Consistency Error (PM2.5 standard data)
±10%@100~500µg/m³ ±10µg/m3@0～100µg/m³
±10%@100~500μg/m³ ±10μg/m³@0~100μg/m³
±10%@100~500μg/m³ ±10μg/m³@0~100μg/m³
Particle Standard Volume
0.1
0.1
0.1
Litre（L）
Single Response Time
<1
<1
<1
Second（s）
Total Response Time
<10
<10
<10
Second（s）
DC Power Supply
Typ: 5.0 Min: 4.5 Max :5.5
Typ: 5.0 Min: 4.5 Max :5.5
Typ: 5.0 Min: 4.5 Max :5.5
Volt（V）
Active Current
≤100
≤100
≤100
mA
Standby Current
≤10
≤10
≤2
mA
Interface Level
L<0.8 @3.3 H>2.7@3.3
L<0.8 @3.3 H>2.7@3.3
L<0.8 @3.3 H>2.7@3.3
Volt（V）
Working Temperature Range
-10~+60
-10~+60
-10~+60
℃
Working Humidity Range
0~99
0~99
0~99
Storage Temperature Range
-40~+80
-40~+80
-40~+80
℃
MTTF
≥3
≥3
≥3
Year
Physical Size
50mm×38mm×21mm
48mm×37mm×12mm
38mm×35mm×12mm
mm
Connection differences
The PMS5003's connector is a Molex Picoblade i.e. a direct connection to the included wire.
The PMS7003 and PMSA003 have small 2x5 block connectors which their included adapter board slots into.
This included adapter board only offers VCC/GND/RX/TX on the 2.54mm breakout (fine for Pi projects) and does not break out the SET or RST pins (unless you use the Picoblade header).
Release date
The sensors reduced in size each release, however, as per the table above, technically there's very little difference between them. In order of old to new:
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