Sensor drone for aerial odor mapping for agriculture and security services

In this work, an electronics nose (E-nose) based on six polymers and functionalized single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) nanocomposite gas sensors was developed and installed on a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) platform for detection of volatile compounds in the air. The efficiency of each gas sensor was tested in a static gas measurement chamber with presence of volatiles. The gas sensors were observed to increase response with increasing concentration of ammonia and toluene. Polyvinyl pyrolidon (PVP)/SWCNT-COOH shows the highest sensor response to both ammonia and toluene. The E-nose drone has then been demonstrated under two situations, i.e., in a closed clean room with presence of ammonia evaporation, and in open air with low wind environment. It was found that the pattern of sensor data obtained from flying the E-nose drone under different situations can be clearly distinguished. It is hoped that the E-nose drone can be a very useful technology for military usage; such as to detect explosives, as well as for farmers; such as to map the malodor emission from their cattle farms or to search for ethylene for fruit ripeness detection, etc.