Implementation of Gas Detection System Using Unmanned Moving Vehicles and Tracking

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are nowadays
largely employed in civil applications. One of the most promising
applications is the environmental monitoring (or risk assessment).
We propose a battery-powered eNose board that can be embedded
with any type of drone. We evaluated the effectiveness of
the sensing method by means of field experiments using the
prototype as payload of a hexacopter. The results show that the
analysis of the target environmental parameters is not perturbed
by the air flow generated by propellers. The system is suitable
for any type of mobile carrier (UAVs or wheeled robots), thanks
to its lightweight and compact form factor. To further extend the
limited flight autonomy of the carrier, we developed an optimal
monitoring algorithm for gas leakage localization, a simulating
framework to evaluate its performance, and we provide a design
space exploration for solar-powered drones.