Next-generation smart homes: CO2 monitoring with Matter protocol to support indoor air quality

Humans spend most of their time indoors, where air quality and comfort are crucial to health and well-being. Elevated CO 2 levels in buildings can reduce cognitive function, discomfort, and health issues. Indoor CO 2 monitoring has emerged as a key focus in the literature, particularly in residential buildings, as it can play a vital role in helping to maintain adequate ventilation rates. The growing smart home market demands seamless integration and control, which are essential for implementing IAQ sensing devices. However, interoperability barriers between platforms and devices continue to hinder smart home adoption. To address these challenges, Matter protocol is starting to appear in the market. In this work, a wireless CO 2 sensor is developed based on ESP32-C6 and SCD40 and integrated into a created Matter-enabled ecosystem formed with the Home Assistant open-source platform. The utilized hardware and software enable the usage of two different wireless communication technologies, WiFi and Thread, enhancing compatibility. The study highlights the rapid and seamless onboarding of the developed CO 2 monitoring device into smart home ecosystems using the Matter protocol. As a result, once the device is successfully added to the ecosystem, the measurements can be accessed and analyzed through a mobile application, forming an IoT environment. • Wireless CO 2 sensing device development to address the challenge of elevated concentrations of this gas indoors, which is crucial to improve ventilation and subsequent health outcomes. • Utilization of ESP32-C6 to support both WiFi and Thread communications, enhancing interoperability between different wireless technologies. • Device integration into a Matter-enabled smart home ecosystem, overcoming interoperability issues in these environments. • Highlighting the commissioning process of Matter devices, obtaining two commissioning procedures in one single device onboarding. • Deployment of a fully functional IoT CO 2 monitoring system, with real-time data visualization through Home Assistant web and mobile application user interfaces.