Grove - Gas Sensor(MQ5)

The Grove - Gas Sensor(MQ5) module is useful for gas leakage detection (in home and
industry). It is suitable for detecting H2, LPG, CH4, CO, Alcohol. Due to its high
sensitivity and fast response time, measurements can be taken as soon as possible.
The sensitivity of the sensor can be adjusted by using the potentiometer.

Note
The sensor value only reflects the approximated trend of gas concentration in a permissible
error range, it DOES NOT represent the exact gas concentration. The detection of certain
components in the air usually requires a more precise and costly instrument, which cannot be
done with a single gas sensor. If your project is aimed at obtaining the gas concentration at a
very precise level, then we do not recommend this gas sensor.

Features

 Wide detecting scope

 Stable and long life
 Fast response and High sensitivity
Specification
Item Parameter Min Typical Max Unit

VCC Working Voltage 4.9 5 5.1 V

PH Heating consumption 0.5 ‐ 800 mW

RL Load resistance adjustable

RH Heater resistance ‐ 31±10% ‐ Ω

Rs Sensing Resistance 10 ‐ 60 kΩ

Scope Detecting Concentration 200 ‐ 10000 ppm

Applications

 Gas leakage detection.

 Toys.

Hardware Overview

This is an Analog output sensor. This needs to be connected to any one Analog socket
in Grove Base Shield. The examples used in this tutorial makes uses of A0 analog pin.
Connect this module to the A0 port of Base Shield.

It is possible to connect the Grove module to Arduino directly by using jumper wires by
using the connection as shown in the table below:

Arduino Gas Sensor

5V VCC

GND GND

NC NC

Analog A0 SIG

The output voltage from the Gas sensor increases when the concentration of gas
increases. Sensitivity can be adjusted by varying the potentiometer. Please note that
the best preheat time for the sensor is above 24 hours. For detailed information about
the MQ-5 sensor, please refer to the data-sheet provided in Resources section.
Platforms Supported
Arduino Raspberry Pi BeagleBone Wio LinkIt ONE

Caution
The platforms mentioned above as supported is/are an indication of the module's
software or theoritical compatibility. We only provide software library or code examples
for Arduino platform in most cases. It is not possible to provide software library / demo
code for all possible MCU platforms. Hence, users have to write their own software
library.
Getting Started
Play With Arduino

Materials required

Seeeduino V4.2 Base Shield Grove ‐ Gas Sensor(MQ5)

Connect the Grove - Gas Sensor(MQ5) to A0 port as shown in the picture above.
Gas Detection : Basic Example

In this example, the sensor is connected to A0 pin. The voltage read from the sensor is
displayed. This value can be used as a threshold to detect any increase/decrease in
gas concentration.

Note
You need an extra tool to find a certain threshold for various air condition. And then set the
threshold in code.

1void setup() {
2 Serial.begin(9600);
3}
4
5void loop() {
6 float sensor_volt;
7 float sensorValue;
8
9 sensorValue = analogRead(A0);
10 sensor_volt = sensorValue/1024*5.0;
11
12 Serial.print("sensor_volt = ");
13 Serial.print(sensor_volt);
14 Serial.println("V");
15 delay(1000);
16}

Measurement : Approximation

This examples demonstrates a way to know the approximate concentration of Gas. As

per the data-sheet of the MQ5 sensors, these equations are tested for standard
conditions and are not calibrated. It may vary based on change in temperature or
humidity.

1. Keep the Gas Sensor in clean air environment. Upload the program below.
1void setup() {
2 Serial.begin(9600);
3}
4
5void loop() {
6 float sensor_volt;
7 float RS_air; // Get the value of RS via in a clear air
8 float R0; // Get the value of R0 via in H2
9 float sensorValue;
10
11 /*--- Get a average data by testing 100 times ---*/
12 for(int x = 0 ; x < 100 ; x++)
13 {
14 sensorValue = sensorValue + analogRead(A0);
15 }
16 sensorValue = sensorValue/100.0;
17 /*-----------------------------------------------*/
18
19 sensor_volt = sensorValue/1024*5.0;
20 RS_air = (5.0-sensor_volt)/sensor_volt; // omit *RL
21 R0 = RS_air/6.5; // The ratio of RS/R0 is 6.5 in a clear air from Graph
22(Found using WebPlotDigitizer)
23
24 Serial.print("sensor_volt = ");
25 Serial.print(sensor_volt);
26 Serial.println("V");
27
28 Serial.print("R0 = ");
29 Serial.println(R0);
30 delay(1000);
}

1. Then, open the serial monitor of Arduino IDE. Write down the value of R0 and this needs to
be used in the next program. Please node down the R0 after the reading stabilizes.

Replace the R0 below with value of R0 tested above . Expose the sensor to any one of
the gas listed above.
1void setup() {
2 Serial.begin(9600);
3}
4
5void loop() {
6
7 float sensor_volt;
8 float RS_gas; // Get value of RS in a GAS
9 float ratio; // Get ratio RS_GAS/RS_air
10 int sensorValue = analogRead(A0);
11 sensor_volt=(float)sensorValue/1024*5.0;
12 RS_gas = (5.0-sensor_volt)/sensor_volt; // omit *RL
13
14 /*-Replace the name "R0" with the value of R0 in the demo of
15First Test -*/
16 ratio = RS_gas/R0; // ratio = RS/R0
17 /*---------------------------------------------------------------
18--------*/
19
20 Serial.print("sensor_volt = ");
21 Serial.println(sensor_volt);
22 Serial.print("RS_ratio = ");
23 Serial.println(RS_gas);
24 Serial.print("Rs/R0 = ");
25 Serial.println(ratio);
26
27 Serial.print("\n\n");
28
29 delay(1000);

}
Now, we can get the concentration of gas from the figure below.

According to the figure, we can see that the minimum concentration we can test is
200ppm and the maximum is 10000ppm, in a other word, we can get a concentration of
gas between 0.02% and 1%. However, we can't provide a formula because the relation
between ratio and concentration is nonlinear.

Play With Raspberry Pi (With Grove Base Hat for Raspberry Pi)
Hardware

 Step 1. Things used in this project:

Raspberry pi Grove Base Hat for RasPi Grove ‐ Gas Sensor(MQ5)
 Step 2. Plug the Grove Base Hat into Raspberry.
 Step 3. Connect the Grove - Gas Sensor(MQ5) to port A0 of the Base Hat.
 Step 4. Connect the Raspberry Pi to PC through USB cable.

Note
For step 3 you are able to connect the Grove - Gas Sensor(MQ5) to any Analog
Port but make sure you change the command with the corresponding port number.

Software

 Step 1. Follow Setting Software to configure the development environment.

 Step 2. Download the source file by cloning the grove.py library.
1cd ~
2git clone https://github.com/Seeed-Studio/grove.py

 Step 3. Excute below commands to write the code.

1cd grove.py/grove
2nano grove_gas_sensor_mq5.py

Then you should copy following code in this file and hit Ctrl + X to quit and save.

1import math
2import sys
3import time
4from grove.adc import ADC
 5
6
7class GroveGasSensorMQ5:
8
9 def __init__(self, channel):
10 self.channel = channel
11 self.adc = ADC()
12
13 @property
14 def MQ5(self):
15 value = self.adc.read(self.channel)
16 return value
17
18Grove = GroveGasSensorMQ5
19
20
21def main():
22 if len(sys.argv) < 2:
23 print('Usage: {} adc_channel'.format(sys.argv[0]))
24 sys.exit(1)
25
26 sensor = GroveGasSensorMQ5(int(sys.argv[1]))
27
28 print('Detecting...')
29 while True:
30 print('Gas value: {0}'.format(sensor.MQ5))
31 time.sleep(.3)
32
33if __name__ == '__main__':
34 main()

 Step 4. Excute below commands to run code.

1python grove_gas_sensor_mq5.py 0

Success
If everything goes well, you will be able to see the following result

1pi@raspberrypi:~/grove.py/grove $ python grove_gas_sensor_mq5.py 0

2Detecting...
3Gas value: 28
4Gas value: 28
5Gas value: 27
6Gas value: 26
7Gas value: 26
8^CTraceback (most recent call last):
9 File "grove_gas_sensor_mq5.py", line 69, in <module>
10 main()
11 File "grove_gas_sensor_mq5.py", line 66, in main
12 time.sleep(.3)
13KeyboardInterrupt
You can quit this program by simply press Ctrl + C .

Notice
You may have noticed that for the analog port, the silkscreen pin number is something
like A0, A1, however in the command we use parameter 0 and 1, just the same as
digital port. So please make sure you plug the module into the correct port, otherwise
there may be pin conflicts.

Resources

Suggest Reading / References

 How to choose a Gas Sensor

 What's LEL

Schematic

 Grove Gas Sensor - EAGLE (Schematic and Board) files

 Grove Gas Sensor - PDF Schematic

Datasheet

 MQ-5 Datasheet

Tech Support

Please submit any technical issue into our forum or drop mail to [email protected].

http://wiki.seeedstudio.com/Grove‐Gas_Sensor‐MQ5/3‐6‐19