Various hazardous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are frequently released into environments during accidental events, posing severe risks to ecosystems and human health.
Therefore, fast, sensitive, and onsite detection of these compounds is essential for understanding their presence, characteristics, and distribution in complex environments. However, manual handling of hazardous VOCs is challenging due to inaccessible environments and health risks.
Now, a team of researchers at Jinan University, China, has equipped a dog-like quadruped robot with a mechanized arm capable of collecting air samples from hazardous situations like a fire or abandoned building. This robot then brings the samples to a person who can screen them for potentially hazardous compounds. While further improvements are needed, the demonstrations showcase the system’s potential value in dangerous conditions.
Testing the air for hazardous chemicals in high-risk workplaces or post-accidents, such as fires, is a crucial yet perilous task for scientists and technicians. In an effort to ensure the safety of personnel, Bin Hu and the team are creating mobile detection systems for dangerous gases and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by developing remote-controlled sampling tools like aerial drones and small remotely operated vessels.
The team’s newest addition to this array of devices is a robot resembling a dog, equipped with an articulated testing arm on its back. The arm, independently controlled, is outfitted with three needle trap devices (NTDs) capable of gathering air samples at any stage during the robot’s mission on land.
The team tested their four-legged robotic system in various challenging environments such as a garbage disposal plant, sewer system, gasoline fireground, and chemical warehouse to sample air for hazardous VOCs.
Despite encountering difficulties in rainy and snowy weather, the robot efficiently collected air samples and transferred them to the portable mass spectrometer (MS) for onsite analysis, saving time and eliminating the need to expose technicians to dangerous environments.
According to the researchers, this robot-MS system offers a smart and safer approach to detecting potentially harmful compounds.
Journal reference:
- Ximeng Liu, Qiaoyun Huang, Jiewei Deng, Xuan Liu, and Bin Hu. Portable Mass Spectrometry for On-site Detection of Hazardous Volatile Organic Compounds via Robotic Extractive Sampling. Analytical Chemistry, 2024; DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.4c01555