Mobile gas sensor and source detector

Abstract

The goal of the project is to develop a program for the navigation of a miniature mobile robot Khepera II (www.k-team.com) towards a gas source. The project would involve programming of existing hardware using any of the following platforms: C, C++, MATLAB, or LabVIEW. Existing hardware to be utilized include the Khepera II robot and a connected gas-sensing module. The robot will be programmed to utilize the gas-sensing module to detect the relative position of a gas source and navigate towards the source. A gas-sensing module will be mounted on top of the Khepera II robot. Data flows from the gas-sensing module to the Khepera II by means of the pin connections between the two. Computations must then be performed upon the data to determine the direction of greatest gas concentration. The motors are then powered to move in the designated direction. The program we will be developing must read the gas sensor values, compute the direction of travel, and provide instructions to the motors to move in this direction. Due to the small size of our robot, we may have trouble detecting the location of a gas source if the source is located at a great height. In addition, any airflow that may be present may also hinder our robot's source detection abilities. Our robot will be of great use for homeowners as a replacement for simple gas detectors such as carbon monoxide detectors. A simple carbon monoxide detector is able to sound an alarm when it finds a large amount of carbon monoxide in the air. Certain detectors may also alert specialists, who will arrive to locate the gas source and fix the leak. In addition to being able to detect when a dangerous amount of lethal gas has collected, our robot will also be able to find the source of the problem, allowing specialists to know before arriving on the scene where the gas originated from and very quickly fix the problem. This solution will protect both homeowners, who will be alerted to leave the gas-filled location, and specialists, who will have to spend less time in a dangerous environment looking for a cause.