Smelldect: affordable, small e-nose that learns different scents

The AI eNose developed by KIT and Smelldect. Photo: Martin Sommer

The  Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is developing an electronic nose together with the industrial partner Smelldect. This AI nose makes it easy to detect olfactory information – namely, whether a scent corresponds to a previously learned reference odor. The smell can then be classified as dangerous or harmless.

The smell-detecting technology will be exhibited at this year’s edition of Hannover Messe in Germany.

The eNose will be scaled down to fit into a smartphone

So…smartphones could learn to smell in the future thanks to this odor detector, aka Kamina (KArlsruher MIcro Nose).

16 sub-sensors absorb odors: The eNose chip (right) and a “demonstrator” in the hands of KIT researcher Dr. Ing. Martin Sommer. Photo: heise.de

The AI nose is only a few inches tall and consists of a chip with nanowires of tin dioxide. If a specific odor pattern is learned in the chip, the odor sensor can recognize it within seconds. Smelldect should be inexpensive is can be taught various odors and thus almost universally applicable. 

Possible application scenarios are intelligent fire detectors, room air monitoring or food control. At the Hannover Messe, KIT and Smelldect will be presenting a ready-to-use demonstrator for the eNase. In the future, the technology will be scaled down so that it fits into a smartphone.

So far, only a few isolated and expensive solutions for specialized applications can be found in the market for odor analysis.

Hannover Messe

Is world’s largest industrial fair and will be open between  01 – 05 April 2019 in Hannover, Germany.

All key technologies and core areas of industry – from research and development, industrial automation, IT, industrial supply, production technologies and services to energy and mobility technologies – can be found in Hannover

HANNOVER MESSE
References: 
https://smelldect.de/
https://www.hannovermesse.de/
https://www.kit.edu/