2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Development of Drones Equipped with High-Speed Optical Electronic Nose Sensors: Toward High-Precision Atmospheric Environmental Monitoring

Research Project

PDF

Project/Area Number	19H02103
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Review Section	Basic Section 20020:Robotics and intelligent system-related
Research Institution	Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
Principal Investigator	Ishida Hiroshi 東京農工大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 教授 (80293041)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	岩見健太郎東京農工大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (80514710) 田中雄一東京農工大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 准教授 (10547029) 松倉悠電気通信大学, 大学院情報理工学研究科, 助教 (60808757)
Project Period (FY)	2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
Keywords	知能ロボティックス / センサ工学 / 計測工学 / 環境計測 / 機械学習
Outline of Final Research Achievements	Landfill sites are large sources of greenhouse gases including methane produced through biological decomposition of organic waste. In this research project, we have developed elemental technologies toward realizing drones that can detect such greenhouse gases and autonomously locate their sources. In order to detect a gas source on the ground, we have proposed to utilize the airflow field produced by a multi-rotor drone hovering at a low altitude. Experimental results have shown that gas puffs wafting near the ground can be effectively collected to the gas sensor onboard the drone using the airflow produced by its rotors. To realize small infrared gas sensors that fit on a drone, we have developed a miniaturized infrared light emitter by using MEMS technologies. We also have succeeded in high-precision gas-source localization using particle filters and super-resolution gas-distribution measurement using deep learning.
Free Research Field	センサ工学
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	本研究では高耐熱性材料を用い，メタンの吸収波長の赤外線を熱輻射する小型光源を開発した。この技術は，メタン以外にも様々なガスを検出する赤外線吸収式小型センサの開発に応用できる。また，ドローンが作る下降気流を利用し，地表を漂うガスを効率よくセンサに集めて検出する手法を提案した。気流の乱れが大きい屋外環境においても高精度にガス濃度分布を計測し，高い成功率でガス源位置を突き止めることに成功した。これらの技術は，環境計測に幅広く応用が期待される。