In this interview, we check in with Aleksei Tertychnyi, the creator of polluSensWeb, to discuss his browser-based solution for environmental monitoring. We discuss the benefits of utilizing the Web Serial API for hardware communication and the utility of driverless sensor plotting.
What does polluSensWeb do? And why is now the time for it to exist?
polluSensWeb is a simple, no-fuss tool for reading and plotting data from UART air quality sensors—like PM2.5, CO2, and similar stuff. It runs straight in your browser, so you don’t need to install anything. Just plug in your sensor, open the page, and go.
You can load custom JSON configs for different sensors, parse raw binary frames (yes, with checksum control), and see live charts update in real time. Everything runs locally; you may not have an internet connection.
Now’s a good time for polluSensWeb to exist because it lowers the barrier to entry for citizen science and education by removing the need for complex driver installations and dedicated software just to visualize sensor data.
What is your traction to date? How many people does polluSensWeb reach?
As for now cca. 100, mostly students, but I see the potential.
Who does your polluSensWeb serve? What’s exciting about your users and customers?
Any environment monitoring enthusiast. You may measure by multiple sensors in parallel, just using several browser tabs, and store the history. Web integration might be easily done via webhooks.
What technologies were used in the making of polluSensWeb? And why did you choose the ones most essential to your techstack?
The project heavily relies on client-side web technologies to function offline and interact directly with hardware ports. Specifically, Chart.js was chosen to handle the real-time data visualization, ensuring that live updates from the sensors are rendered smoothly and responsively within the browser interface.
What is the traction to date for polluSensWeb? Around the web, who’s been noticing?
The project has established a footprint in the open-source community, with its code hosted on GitHub and the application actively deployed via Cloudflare Pages. Usage appears concentrated among developers and students looking for immediate, web-based solutions for connecting UART devices without backend dependencies. The deployment for immediate try: https://pollusensweb.pages.dev/