Bosch Sensortech BME690 8x shuttle board is a sensor board comprised of eight identical BM690 4-in-1 gas/temperature/humidity/pressure sensors capable of monitoring indoor air quality and detecting Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Volatile Sulfur Compounds (VSCs), and other gases.
The obvious question is “What’s going on? Why would a board need 8 identical sensors?”. The board flyer isn’t overly specific:
… the shuttle board can be used to evaluate the signal outputs provided by the sensor itself as well as the additional outputs generated by the BSEC library for BME690
So let’s try to understand, starting with the specification from the BME690 sensor.
Bosch Sensortech BME690 specifications:
- Gas sensor
- Sensor-to-sensor deviation (IAQ) – ± 15% ± 15 IAQ
- IAQ Operating modes – 3 sec (LP) and 300 sec (ULP)
- Major sensor outputs – Index for Air Quality (IAQ), bVOC- & CO2-equivalents (ppm)
- Humidity sensor
- Range – 0…100%
- Response time – 1 s (τ0-63%)
- Accuracy tolerance – ± 3 % relative humidity
- Hysteresis – ± 1 % relative humidity
- Pressure sensor
- Range – 300…1100 hPa
- Relative Accuracy – ± 0.05 hPa
- Absolute Accuracy – ± 0.5 hPa
- Temperature coefficient offset – ±1.3 Pa/K (equiv. to ±10.9 cm at 1°C temperature change)
- Temperature sensor
- Range – -40…85°C
- Absolute accuracy – ±0.5 °C (0-65°C)
- Host interface – I²C (up to 3.4 MHz) and SPI (3 and 4 wire, up to 10 MHz)
- Supply voltage
- VDDIO – 1.2 … 3.6 V
- VDD – 1.71 … 3.6 V
- Current consumption (typical, average) @ 3.3V
- 2.2 µA at 1 Hz for h/T
- 3.1 µA at 1 Hz for p/T
- 4.2 µA at 1 Hz for h/p/T
- 50 µA at ULP mode for p/h/T/air quality
- 0.5 mA at LP mode for p/h/T/air quality
- 3.1 mA in standard gas scan mode
- Dimensions – 3.0 x 3.0 x 0.93 mm; 8-Pin LGA with metal
One potential reason to use multiple sensors could be to get better accuracy, as there’s some sensor-to-sensor deviation of ± 15% ± 15 for IAQ data. Getting multiple sensors would generate additional data points, which could be averaged to improve accuracy.
Another reason is that the BME690 sensors can be configured with different settings, such as gas heater profiles, sampling rates, or sensitivity levels, to classify different gas compositions at different temperatures. Having eight sensors enables developers to test multiple configurations concurrently on the same board to reduce the development time.
But the most important thing is probably that this data can be used to train AI models. The BME690 8x shuttle board is installed on the Application Board 3.1, which itself connects to a host through a USB cable. The board shows as a USB storage device, and you can retrieve the files and import them into the BME AI-Studio Desktop or Mobile app for further processing, notably to train the (BSEC) algorithm, and evaluate it before deploying it to the board. The documentation has the full details.
The BME690 is the new version of the BME688 sensor, which also had its own 8x shuttle board. If you prefer visual content, the video embedded below explains how to get started with the BME688 8x shuttle board, and I understand the instructions should be the same for the new model. It shows how to detect coffee beans, or more exactly, the gas emitted by coffee beans.
I expected the BME690 8x Shuttle board to be fairly expensive, but it only sells for $24.89 on Mouser and 29.28 Euros on Rukotronics. Double-check the product name before purchasing the board because Bosch Sensotec also offers the BME690 Shuttle board with a single sensor. The Application Board 3.1 adds another $87 on Mouser. Further information about the BME690 sensor and development tools can also be found on the product page.
Via Will Whang on X
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Curious design lol. If it was meant to sample multiple air streams, you’d expect them to be laid out in a row. The only other use case beyond those in the article that I can think of for 8 identical sensors in that configuration would be if it’s meant for an environment where it’s exposed to conditions which lead to atrittion of the sensors and they want to increase the time to failure either through sheer numbers, or through putting tape over them and taking it off to expose new ones as others die. So maybe a testing environment that’s pushing the survivability limits of the sensors, vs a production environment where you wouldn’t want to keep investing the labour esp in what’s probably a hazard pay area.
I have a BME688. It and the BME690 have a programmable interface for custom heating and sensing profiles and a special library (BSEC) that lets you train them to recognize certain “scents”. The idea of these boards is to have each programmed with a different profile. You then place them in the “scents” that you want to recognize. This allows you to rapidly gather the sensor’s measurements for different profiles.
You then take all this data and put it in their AI Studio software to develop a ML model for recognizing the scents. Then you can deploy the model on a device with only a single sensor.
They have an example for the BME688 x8 board to build a model that recognizes if there’s coffee or fresh air nearby. IIRC the sensor supports a max of “4” scents at a time.
I think it is mainly for evaluation and training, trying out different settings in parallel in the same environment to compare the results or to help make AI models more resilient to variability between the sensors.
As far as I know from looking into similar sensors before this is meant as an evaluation and training board, you can try out different settings but due to the variability between sensors it can help with AI training to improve the chances that it works with all sensors and not just your specific one that you trained it on.
We need 262 8×BME690 shuttle board for our science project. Could you told me where I can buy it before October 2025.
Thank you
You’d need to contact Bosch Sensortech or a reseller in your country to find out if they can make it happen.
I can see there’s plenty of stock on websites like Mouser and Arrow. You’d have to order very soon as leadtime may become an issue for October delivery.