Airborne particle monitor

1. An airborne particle collection system comprising:

a monitoring device comprising:

a housing comprising an air-intake slot, the air-intake slot having a length and a width, wherein the length is greater than the width;

a motor; and

a camera sensor including a lens; and

a removable collection cartridge comprising:

a cartridge housing, separate from the housing of the monitoring device;

an adhesive-coated tape contained within the cartridge housing;

a supply reel;

an uptake reel; and

a tape guide comprising a first segment, and a second segment,

wherein the first segment defines a particle intake zone, proximate to the air-intake slot when the removable collection cartridge has been inserted into the housing of the monitoring device, and through which the adhesive-coated tape is exposed to capture airborne particles passing through the air-intake slot,

wherein the second segment defines an inspection zone at which the airborne particles captured at the particle intake zone are transported for optical imaging,

wherein the motor moves the airborne particles captured by the adhesive-coated tape from the particle intake zone to the inspection zone, and

wherein the first and second segments are at an angle to each other and the adhesive-coated tape extends from the supply reel, across the first and second segments of the tape guide, and to the uptake reel.

2. The airborne particle collection system of claim 1 wherein the monitoring device comprises:

a processor; and

a power source, wherein the processor processes information and, based on the processing, directs the motor to move the adhesive-coated tape.

3. The airborne particle collection system of claim 2 wherein the monitoring device comprises:

a network interface controller, coupled to the processor, that receives a plurality of instructions from a remote server over a network, wherein the plurality of instructions comprise:

a first instruction to move the collection media; and

a second instruction to transmit to the remote server an image of the airborne particles that have been captured on the collection media.

4. The airborne particle collection system of claim 1 wherein the monitoring device is powered by an AC power source.

5. The airborne particle collection system of claim 1 comprising:

a light emitting diode (LED) illumination source;

an ultra-violet (UV) LED illumination source; and

an imaging processing module, each of the camera sensor, variable lens, LED illumination source, UV LED illumination source, and imaging processing module being contained within the housing of the monitoring device, and

wherein the LED and UV LED illumination sources illuminate the airborne particles collected onto the collection media for imaging by the camera sensor, the variable lens comprises a lens with an electronically controlled focal length, and the imaging processing module comprises logic to recognize particles of interest imaged by the camera sensor.

6. The airborne particle collection system of claim 1 comprising:

a light emitting diode (LED) illumination source;

an ultra-violet (UV) LED illumination source; and

an imaging processing module, each of the camera sensor, variable lens, LED illumination source, and UV LED illumination source being contained within the housing of the monitoring device,

wherein the imaging processing module is at a cloud server, remote from the monitoring device, and

wherein the LED and UV LED illumination sources illuminate the airborne particles collected onto the collection media for imaging by the camera sensor, the variable lens comprises a lens with an electronically controlled focal length, and the imaging processing module comprises logic to recognize particles of interest imaged by the camera sensor.

7. The airborne particle collection system of claim 1 wherein the monitoring device comprises a processor, wherein the processor receives information from a remote server.

8. The airborne particle collection system of claim 5 wherein the camera sensor comprises a red-green-blue (RGB) camera sensor.

9. The airborne particle collection system of claim 1 wherein the monitoring device comprises a processor identifying a collected particle as being of a particular type of pollen by transmitting to a remote server a geographical location of the monitoring device, and obtaining from the remote server context information based on the geographical location of the monitoring device.

10. The airborne particle collection system of claim 9 wherein the context information comprises at least one of pollen types known to be currently blooming at the geographical location, wind patterns at the geographical location, or a listing of pollen types detected by other monitoring devices.

11. The airborne particle collection system of claim 1 comprising a processor identifying a collected particle as being of a particular type of spore by transmitting to a remote server a geographical location of monitoring device, and obtaining from the remote server context information based on the geographical location of the monitoring device.

12. The airborne particle collection system of claim 1 comprising a processor identifying a collected particle as being of a particular type of biological particle by transmitting to a remote server a geographical location of the monitoring device, and obtaining from the remote server context information based on the geographical location of the monitoring device.

13. The airborne particle collection system of claim 1 wherein the air-intake slot of the housing aligns with the particle intake zone.

14. The airborne particle collection system of claim 1 wherein the air-intake slot of the housing faces the particle intake zone.

15. The airborne particle collection system of claim 1 wherein the first and second segments of the tape guide are orthogonal to each other.

16. The airborne particle collection system of claim 15 wherein the tape guide comprises a third segment, the third segment extending between an end of the first segment and an end of the second segment.

17. The airborne particle collection system of claim 1 wherein airflow in the particle intake zone is turbulent.

18. The airborne particle collection system of claim 5 wherein the LED illumination source comprises quantum-dots.

19. An airborne particle collection system comprising:

a monitoring device comprising:

a housing comprising an air-intake slot, the air-intake slot having a length and a width, wherein the length is greater than the width, and the width varies in a funnel-like fashion from a first value to a second value, less than the first value, through a thickness of the housing;

a motor;

a camera sensor;

one or more illumination sources to identify airborne particles based on optical image characteristics, the one or more illumination sources comprising at least one illumination source emitting visible light; and

a base; and

a removable collection cartridge comprising:

a cartridge housing separate from the housing of the monitoring device;

an adhesive-coated tape contained within the cartridge housing; and

a tape guide comprising a first segment defining a particle intake zone, and a second segment defining an inspection zone, the first and second segments being orthogonal to each other,

wherein the adhesive-coated tape extends across the first and second segments of the tape guide, and the first and second segments of the tape guide are at an angle to each other, and

wherein the removable collection cartridge when inserted into the monitoring device, the camera sensor, and the one or more illumination sources, are positioned such that the camera sensor and the one or more illumination sources are above the removable collection cartridge, the camera sensor and the one or more illumination sources thereby being further from the base than the removable collection cartridge.

20. An airborne particle collection system comprising:

a monitoring device comprising:

a housing comprising an air-intake slot;

a motor;

a camera sensor;

one or more illumination sources to identify airborne particles based on optical image characteristics; and

a base; and

a removable collection cartridge comprising:

a cartridge housing separate from the housing of the monitoring device;

an adhesive-coated tape contained within the cartridge housing; and

a tape guide comprising a first segment defining a particle intake zone, and a second segment defining an inspection zone,

wherein the adhesive-coated tape extends across the first and second segments of the tape guide, and the first and second segments of the tape guide are orthogonal to each other,

wherein the removable collection cartridge when inserted into the monitoring device, the camera sensor, and the one or more illumination sources, are positioned such that the camera sensor and the one or more illumination sources are above the removable collection cartridge, the camera sensor and the one or more illumination sources thereby being further from the base than the removable collection cartridge, and

wherein the air-intake slot faces the particle intake zone and comprises a length, and a width, wherein the length is greater than the width, and the width varies in a funnel-like fashion from a first value to a second value, less than the first value, through a thickness of the housing to provide airflow in the particle intake zone that is turbulent.