Preliminary Characterization of Bio-inspired Dog-Nose Sampler for Aerosol Detection

TL;DR

This paper introduces a bio-inspired aerosol sampler mimicking a dog's nose, aiming to improve aerosol detection in open environments by enhancing sampling reach and efficiency.

Contribution

It presents a novel dog-nose inspired sampler design with inhalation and exhalation jets, demonstrating preliminary improvements over passive sensing methods.

Findings

Improved detection compared to passive sensors

Effective in small-scale VOC scenarios

Potential for enhanced aerosol sampling reach

Abstract

Before aerosols can be sensed, sampling technologies must capture the particulate matter of interest. To that end, for systems deployed in open environments where the location of the aerosol is unknown, extending the reach of the sampler could lessen the precision required in sensor placement or reduce the number of sensors required for full spatial coverage. Inspired by the sensitivity of the canine olfactory system, this paper presents a rudimentary sampler that mimics the air flow of a dog's nose. The design consists of speed-controlled inhalation jets, as well as exhalation jets that are angled down and to the side. We tested this design on volatile organic compounds (VOC) in a small number of scenarios to validate the concept and understand how the system behaves. We show that in preliminary testing this dog-nose setup provides improvements over passive and solely inhalation sensing.