SBIR Phase I: Air Quality Analysis by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）计划的广泛影响/商业潜力，将是为市场带来一种更快速和更便宜的方法，以收集高度准确的本地空气质素。这将通过使用无人机携带的化学传感器的小型化来实现。通过实施这种收集数据的手段，不仅会克服技术障碍，而且以这种方式使用无人机将以前所未有的方式推动其在城市地区的使用界限。社会和商业影响将是减少在时间和空间的某一点上获得空气质量的成本和时间，从而减少空气质量测量对政府、组织和公司的财政和技术负担。这一进展将有助于确保社区能够通过收集的数据解决空气质量问题。该STTR第一阶段项目提出了一种新的方法，将低成本技术与无人机结合起来，以检测空气中化学成分何时达到给定阈值，并将传感器运送到指定位置。传感器技术利用比色法检测化学物质。现成的比色传感器，结合独特的算法，生成有毒工业化学品在其允许暴露水平（PEL）浓度下的色差图。研究的目的是确定所提出的方法是否允许对精确位置进行精确的化学传感。预计所利用的技术将能够准确地捕获各种污染物和化合物及其浓度水平。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project will be to bring to the market a faster and cheaper means of gathering highly accurate local air quality. This will be done through the use of miniaturization of chemical sensors that are carried by UAVs. Not only will there be technical hurdles that will be overcome through the implementation of this means of gathering data, the use of UAVs in this manner pushes the boundaries of their use in urban areas in a way that has not been done before. The societal and commercial impact will be to reduce cost and time in obtaining air quality at a point in time and space, thereby making air quality measurements less of a financial and technical burden to governments, organizations and corporations. This progress will help ensure that communities can address air quality concerns through the data gathered.This STTR Phase I project proposes to implement a novel means to couple a low-cost technology to detect when chemical components reach a given threshold in the air with the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles as a means of delivering the sensors to a specified location. The sensor technology utilizes colorimetric detection of chemicals. Off-the-shelf colorimetric sensors, combined with a unique algorithm, produce color difference maps for toxic industrial chemicals at their permissible exposure level (PEL) concentrations. The objective of the research is to determine if the proposed approach will allow for accurate chemical sensing for a precise location. It is anticipated that the technology to be utilized will allow for an accurate capture of a broad range of pollutants and chemical compounds along with concentration levels.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.