Hella Teams up with BreezoMeter to Develop Cloud-based Air Quality Management System

Hella has entered into a strategic partnership with cloud-based air quality analytics provider, BreezoMeter. The two companies will collaborate on technology to obtain reliable real-time data on the air quality in and around a vehicle and to make this information available to the occupants of the vehicle. In the long run, the objective of the cooperation is to come up with active health management solutions using the cloud-based technology. The two companies joined hands to present the first cloud-based air quality management solution at the IAA 2017.

There has been increasing focus on the importance of air quality in the wake of the Volkswagen emissions scandal. The pollution that is caused by particulate matter having size less than 2.5 micrometres (PM 2.5) is of particularly high importance as these particles are small enough to enter deeply into our lungs and to get deposited on them. This can lead to short- and long-term health risks.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has published an environmental study that predicts that by 2050 about 3.5 million people across the world will die due to particulate matter pollution.

Carsten Peterßen, Strategic Sales Manager at Hella said that it has now become more important than ever to achieve the best possible air quality, both when it comes to the inside of vehicles and the personal environment. He said that owing to the collaboration with BreezoMeter, the company is now able combine its expertise in sensor systems for the automotive industry with competence in cloud data management.

Hella has developed a sensor that can measure the level of particulate matter in the vehicle interior as well as in the ambient air in real time. This data is then enriched with information from BreezoMeter when it comes to additional pollutants like carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and PM10.

Breezometer uses innovative technology and big data analytics, machine learning and pollution dispersion models to optimize data obtained from governmental sensors, satellites, weather, traffic information, and other sources and calculate air quality forecasts for over 67 countries. Using the cloud solution, over 1.6 TB of BreezoMeter data is validated and organized every hour, while 7.1 billion compound calculations are performed and 420 million geographical data points with air quality information are being generated. The projected air quality data is then transmitted to the vehicle through an interface, processed centrally within the vehicle before finally being displayed in the vehicle’s information system.

Ziv Lautman, co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of BreezoMeter  said that as an outcome of the cooperation with Hella, it is now possible to determine air quality information directly in the vehicle and integrate it into the routing.

He added, “In return, the mobile sensor measurements complement our data. This will make it possible to create the most detailed map for air quality in the near future.” Thus, the automatic air quality management system of the vehicle interior can be refined further one that is currently reactive to a system that will proactively improve the protection of the occupants before the vehicle enters a polluted area.