The ZMOD4450 gas sensor from Renesas is a unique Refrigeration Air Quality sensor designed to measure gases emitted by food ripening or rotting: ethlyene, amines and volatile sulfur compounds. The sensor can measure Ethylene (C2H4), Trimethylamine (C3H9N) and Dimethy sulfide (C2H6S) in air with up to ±10% repeatability and with additional calibration using a known organic compound can be accurate to ±15%. With the ZMOD4450 you can finally quantify that funky smell coming from your refrigerator.
The ZMOD4450 firmware is closed-source so you will need to create an account with Renesas and agree to their terms prior to accessing any programming information or the firmware. The Renesas ZMOD4450 product page has links to get you started with their firmware.
Since the firmware is closed-source, we will not have any example code available for this breakout but we do have a helper manual with some low-level I2C functions linked in the Documents tab to help users get started.
This board is one of our many Qwiic compatible boards! Simply plug and go. No soldering, no figuring out which is SDA or SCL, and no voltage regulation or translation required!
We do not plan to regularly produce SparkX products so get them while they’re hot!
We welcome your comments and suggestions below. However, if you are looking for solutions to technical questions please see our Technical Assistance page.
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Hi, is there an Arduino example code??
How can one get Renesas proprietary code? I tried to login to Renesas, but on the product page: https://www.renesas.com/us/en/products/sensor-products/gas-sensors/zmod4450-refrigeration-air-quality-sensor-platform the firmware download is still locked. Does one have to provide some specific information to request the access?
When I first saw the name "Refrigeration Gas Sensor" I thought "So, it detects freon leaks? What about ammonia?" (For those not aware, "gas powered" fridges, such as those used in RVs, often use ammonia in the so-called "ammonia absorbtion" cycle, rather than using some variant of freon such as in your kitchen fridge.) Such leaks are rare... unfortunately, rotting food is not, so the sensor is actually more useful than I'd first imagined.
The data sheet talks about the gases it can sense. The thing I didn't understand whether it can provide outputs on specific concentrations.
Skimming through the datasheet... I believe yes, on concentration of volatile organic compounds (VOCs); and no, for specific gases. If you research metal-oxide (MOx) detectors, you'll get a better general idea of how the sensor operates.
This will tell me, quantitatively, how stinky the air inside a fridge is? Technology is incredible.