An application of mobile robotics for olfactory monitoring of hazardous industrial sites

Year: 2009

Authors: Distante C., Indiveri G., Reina G.

Autors Affiliation: Univ Salento, Dept Innovat Engn, Lecce, Italy;
IMM CNR, Lecce, Italy

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present a mobile robot with an olfactory capability for hazardous site survey. Possible applications include detection of gas leaks and dangerous substances along predefined paths, inspection of pipes in factories, and mine sweeping.
Design/methodology/approach – The mobile sentry is equipped with a transducer array of tin oxide chemical sensors, compliant with the standard interface IEEE 1451, which provides odour-sensing capability, and uses differential drive and spring-suspended odometric trackballs to move and localize in the environment. The monitoring strategy comprises two stages. First, a path learning operation is performed where the vehicle is remotely controlled through some potential critical locations of the environment, such as valves, pressure vessels, and pipelines. Then, the robot automatically tracks the prerecorded trajectory while serving as an electronic watch by providing a real-time olfactory map of the environment. Laboratory experiments are described to validate the approach and assess the performance of the proposed system.

Journal/Review: INDUSTRIAL ROBOT-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

Volume: 36      Pages from: 51  to: 59

KeyWords: ELECTRONIC NOSE; GAS SENSOR;
DOI: 10.1108/01439910910924675

Citations: 13
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