N5 Sensors have teamed up with University of Tennessee, Molecule Works Inc., and Syracuse University Center of Excellence for Environmental and Energy Systems to develop and commercialize a breakthrough digital system-on-chip (SoC) CO2 sensor technology that will satisfy the ARPA-Es SENSOR programs energy saving goal in commercial and residential buildings. This project represent a collaboration between all four organizations bringing together N5s new semiconductor-nanophotocatalyst hybrid sensor with an advanced application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip developed by the University of Tennessee team in one single small innovative package containing a molecular sieve filter developed by Molecule Works Inc. The ASIC chip will not only employ novel circuit schemes for signal conditioning but will also contain machine learning algorithm stack which will provide embedded analytics to completely remove long-term drift from the CO2 sensing element. This concept combines innovations in ultra-low power sensing architecture, semiconductor microfabrication, nanoscale heterogeneous photocatalysis, zeolite based effective gas separation membranes, and novel signal processing together with machine learning to produce an elegant solution for building energy savings need, and will revolutionize the building demand control ventilation (DCV) same way as inertial measurement units such as accelerometers and gyroscopes did for the smart devices. In mass production, the anticipated cost (for a full system) is less than 10 dollars, as the sensor chip (less than 4 dollars) is self-sustained with all the analog and digital functions needed. The goal of this project is to surpass non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) technology in performance, power, while lowering the cost, which can only be possible which can only be possible through new class of sensors, microfabrication methods, and novel signal processing and smart algorithms.
