We empower communities around the world
to monitor their environment.
Flatburn is an open-source, 3D printed environmental sensor developed as part of the
City Scanner project.
Designed for mobile deployment Flatburn attaches to vehicles through magnetic pads and is powered by a solar panel.
The core module contains the electronics, antenna, and data storage board.
The sensing module measures heat, noise, and air quality.
Compact, modular, and easy to assemble. Flatburn is designed to support environmental monitoring in different urban contexts.
Build your own Flatburn and support community-led environmental monitoring.
Build
Overview
Fabrication Handbook
Explore
Calibration Handbook
Datasets
Why the asterisk?
Flatburn*
When we were developing the first City Scanner, we were also reflecting about the importance of female leadership in science. While doing research on women in science at MIT for Mind the Gap, we came across the story of Kathryn A. Burns, the first woman to graduate from the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography. Coincidentally, the designer of the device, Tom Benson, is from an industrial town in England called Blackburn. The first fully autonomous City Scanner, 3D-printed in black nylon, was named Blackburn, and ended up receiving a honorable mention at the Fast Company Innovation by Design Award. The following versions were named Whiteburn and Flatburn.