Loads of personal initiative and innovative spirit at INP

Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, compliance with hygiene measures has been strictly observed at INP. An essential part of these measures includes frequent ventilation of the office and business premises. But when you are hard at work, it is easy to sometimes forget to do it. Therefore, the INP coronavirus team suggested that people should buy CO₂ meters, because the CO₂ content of the air is a great indicator of when the air is “used up”.

When Joel Lehmann, a master student at INP, heard about this idea, he spoke with Günter Sauer, the QA/QC manager and a member of the coronavirus team, and offered to build the devices himself. He had worked on a similar item before and already had the sensors.

No sooner said than done! Over the Christmas holidays, Joel built the first prototype of the INP Smart CO2 Sensor, which can also measure temperature and humidity. He then designed a housing for it, printed it on his home-built 3D printer, installed circuit boards and measurement sensors, and programmed the interfaces and visualization so that the collected data can be monitored by any computer on the INP network.

Since then, five CO₂ meters have been built. They are currently being tested.

The goal is to equip each office room with a CO₂ warning device and to install a warning app for employees in the respective rooms that indicates when the air is getting too “thick”.

At this year’s digital INP New Year’s reception, Lehmann presented his Smart CO₂ Sensor to great applause. We are all proud and excited to have such innovative co-workers as part of our team.