A new method to find a gas/odor source is proposed. A portable homogeneous
gas sensor array is used to visualize the flow of a target gas. The directi
on of a gas source is estimated using a real-time image processing algorith
m, and the source is located by following the estimated direction. The desi
gn of the sensor array has been performed using the simulation technique de
veloped in the previous study. In the designing process, a virtual sensor a
rray with an arbitrary time constant is placed in a dynamic gas distributio
n field visualized using a tracer such as smoke of joss sticks. The virtual
sensor array behavior, which is much slower than the gas concentration cha
nge, is then calculated by inputting the optical data, captured by a video
camera, to the sensor dynamics model. As a result, the designed system has
been found effective through the simulation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A.
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