Technical requirements
The hardware components that will be needed to develop the gas sensor are as follows:
- One solderless breadboard
- One Blue Pill board
- ST-Link/V2
- One MQ-2 breakout module
- Seven male-to-male jumper wires
- One LED 8x8 matrix
- One 7219 breakout board
- A 5 V power source
These components are widespread, and there will be no problems in getting them easily. On the software side, you will require the Arduino IDE and the GitHub repository for this chapter: https://github.com/PacktPublishing/DIY-Microcontroller-Projects-for-Hobbyists/tree/master/Chapter08
The Code in Action video for this chapter can be found here: https://bit.ly/2UpGDGs
Let's first start by describing the characteristics of the MQ-2 gas sensor.