Arduino UV Index Meter - Working with Ultraviolet Light

Build a UV Index meter and stay safe in the sunshine. Also, experiment with UV LEDs. Article with code at More articles and tutorials: Join the conversation on the forum: Subscribe to the newsletter and stay in touch: Ultraviolet light is the band of energy just above the violet end of the visible light spectrum. There are many commercial uses for UV light, such as water and air purification, counterfeit money and artwork detectors, lighting effects, sun tanning booths, and even forensics. UV light also has effects on human health, both positive and negative. Although a small amount of ultraviolet light can be good for you (it creates vitamin D and serotonin) excessive exposure can lead to eye damage, sunburns, and even skin cancer. Today in the workshop we will look at UV light and see how to create it and how to accurately measure it. We’ll learn how to safely use UV light and we’ll also have some fun seeing how common household objects fluoresce under ultraviolet light. We will then take our knowledge and construct a very accurate UV Index Meter that you can use to measure the amount of ultraviolet light that you are being exposed to. There are actually two versions, a basic one that just measures UV index and a more advanced design that also displays temperature and humidity. An Arduino project you can bring to the beach! Here is what is covered in this “enlightening” video: 00:00 - Introduction 02:58 - Understanding UV Light 07:05 - Working with UV LEDs 11:13 - Things that Fluoresce under UV 14:03 - SENS-43UV Analog UV Sensor 20:56 - SI1145 UV IR Visible Sensor 23:39 - Using the SI1145 with Arduino 29:55 - Basic Arduino UV Meter 34:25 - Arduino UV Meter with Temp & Humid As the only way to accurately test our Arduino UV Index Meter is to expose it to sunshine this is a rare episode of the DroneBot Workshop in that I needed to actually take the project outdoors! Thanks to my UV Index Meter I didn’t get a sunburn doing it. BTW, our UV Index Meter uses an LCD display. While this works great and is very easy to use I actually am looking at an even better display that would work great with this sensor. So if you haven’t subscribed to the channel yet please do, that way you’ll be among the first to know when I release new videos. Stay safe in the Sun!