Four-legged, dog-like robot ‘sniffs’ hazardous gases in inaccessible environments

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“Portable Mass Spectrometry for On-site Detection of Hazardous Volatile Organic Compounds via Robotic Extractive Sampling” Analytical Chemistry

Nightmare material or truly man’s best friend? A team of researchers equipped a dog-like quadruped robot with a mechanized arm that takes air samples from potentially treacherous situations, such as an abandoned building or fire. The robot dog walks samples to a person who screens them for potentially hazardous compounds, says the team that published its study in ACS’ Analytical Chemistry. While the system needs further refinement, demonstrations show its potential value in dangerous conditions.

Testing the air for dangerous chemicals in risky workplaces or after an accident, such as a fire, is an important but very dangerous task for scientists and technicians. To keep humans out of harm’s way, Bin Hu and colleagues are developing mobile detection systems for hazardous gases and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by building remote-controlled sampling devices like aerial drones and tiny remotely operated ships. The team’s latest entry into this mechanical menagerie is a dog-like robot with an articulated testing arm mounted on its back. The independently controlled arm is loaded with three needle trap devices (NTDs) that can collect air samples at any point during the robot’s terrestrial mission.

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