ELECTRONIC ODOR SENSING SYSTEMS

An odour sensing instrument has been developed and used to classify ma ny different materials, including beers, spirits and alcohols. The nex t stage in development is to begin to relate subjective odour descript ors (e.g. fruity, minty) to quantitative sensor array measurements. Th is task is being approached using both neural network and multivariate statistical techniques. The ultimate goal is to provide a measurement standard for odours. This exciting prospect requires the integration of sensor technology, signal conditioning, data acquisition and patter n recognition.