Serial Number should not be a required field

[phuzzie]

Serial Number should not be a required field as some devices do not include a serial number, e.g., the Vitalight BCM01.

[ariccio]

I'll leave this open for comments (I don't know how I missed it lmao), but honestly, if a device doesn't have a serial number at all, it's a sign that it lacks quality control, and not sure I'd want to collect data from it! Are you extra sure there's nothing hidden behind a battery cover or something?

[phuzzie]

So, the Vitalight is relatively common AFAICT thanks to its price point and ruggedness. Having 5 CO2 sensors at this point it is definitely the one I trust the least, but it definitely is better than nothing. AFAICT there are no unique identifiers accessible. Device has no user ingress in to the case.

https://breathesafeair.com/vitalight-mini-co2-detector-review/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B3J3757C/
https://shop.evidencebased.ca/products/cheaper-than-amazon-special-donatemask-ca-mini-co2-monitor

This is a problem I'll run in to with my newest sensor as well if I take it out. I got Sensirion's reference CO2 gadget and it also has no serial AFAICT (not unexpectedly given it's not a production device). So far that device has compared extremely favorably to the Aranet4. I'd probably trust it more than my Qingping's and it's more portable than them as well 🤷

A middle ground might be not requiring S/N, while having a search option that excludes devices without S/N data? Just brainstorming :)

[ariccio]

A middle ground might be not requiring S/N, while having a search option that excludes devices without S/N data? Just brainstorming :)

That's absolutely reasonable, yes! As a matter of fact, it was something I specifically thought about when designing the database structure - I wanted the option to be able to add little bits of other relevant info if needed, and by segregating device I laid out the framework for this at the very beginning. This is, to brag a bit, one of the things that I am way ahead of The Raven App on! They still don't seem to collect this data, to my great disappointment. It makes the data way less useful for science later. I put an awful lot of thought into some of the "simple" things at the very beginning in that month in March 2021.

The thing is that I haven't really had the structure clear time to build out this feature yet. Between constant distractions in my personal life, and wearing several other "hats" of anti-covid work, I've had way less time to work on the software side than I'd like! I will put it on the list though, now that more people are requesting it.

[ariccio]

I put it in, though it looks like GitHub hasn't built out the wonderful UI/UX to auto-link to it:
https://github.com/ariccio/COVID-CO2-tracker/projects/6#card-88062075