Hi all!
It’s been a while since we don’t post news in the forum, but we would like to share with you some exciting things that we have been working on. We have quite a few updates in different fronts coming up, and we will share them in detail little by little soon. For now, here is an starter…
Hardware and firmware 
We have been working on iterations of the hardware after the difficulties we have been facing with SCK2.1 components. There are some new developments, coming with an intermediate version SCK2.2 and the ucoming version SCK 2.3.
The most important change in SCK 2.3 is the introduction of a new particulate matter sensor: the Sensirion SEN5X series, replacing our beloved Plantower PMS5003. This is quite an improvement, as the SEN5X series has better performance (according to our tests), auto-cleaning, a good documentation, and the possibility to have NOx index or NOx+VOC index in the SEN54 or SEN55 versions.
In addition, the new Urban Board SCK will say goodbye to the AMS CCS811 (tVOC and ECO2) as it was discontinued by AMS, and we will say hello to a new UV-A, B, C index sensor by the same manufacturer.
We will share more details in the #dev-insights section soon for both new sensors!
In terms of firmware we are introducing version 0.9.9, featuring new SD-card libraries, a more stable flash memory, and even a configurable led intensity. Sadly, we are running out of space in the MCU to fit everything in, so now we will have to release separate firmware versions depending on the purpose/version: 2.1, 2.2 or 2.3 will have a separate firmware for air quality, and so will the water/soil versions. Not a bit deal, but important to pay attention!
Data platform 
Many changes, including platform upgrades and a lot of bug fixes!
Firstly, we are saying goodbye to the kit blueprints, meaning, that now any device on the platform can have whichever amount of sensors required.
In addition, now we are introducing new data privacy features, such as the possibility to make device locations “non-precise”, as well as the possibility to make devices private (soon for the rest).
The most exciting of them all, we would say, is the introduction of a beta feature called experiments. The idea behind it is that we want a place to share what it’s actually being done with the device(s), what you are experimenting with and what are the outcomes of the experiments! More details coming soon!
Kits availability 
We are finally quite close to be able to have kits back at Seeed Studio, stay tuned for the news!