Patent Description:
The electronic nose, which is also referred to as an odor scanner, is a detection instrument which may be applied to fields such as environmental monitoring (such as monitoring toxic and harmful gases), product quality detection (such as quality monitoring of animal and plant products), medical diagnosis, and explosive detection (such as volatile hazard detection). In the related art, the portable electronic nose may be manually operated by a person, but such manner has relatively limited operational scenes.

For odor inspection of enclosed devices such as containers, it is necessary to perform an inhalation inspection by means of an electronic nose after the container is opened. In the case where the container is not opened, it is necessary to force an electronic nose sampler into the door of the container to perform an inhalation inspection. Therefore, the related art has an inspection process which is relatively complicated and consumes a relatively long time, and the sampler is easily damaged during the inspection process.

There have been several patent documents or journal articles issued that cover variations of the electronic nose positioning device and positioning method. For example, the <CIT> discloses a system to test foreign gas in and remove container. The system includes a gas analyzer and a gas removal system. Containers, such as bottles, standing on a conveyor unit are passed under the gas removal system, to take the gas leaving the containers. A measuring system is provided to determine the individual height of the containers upstream from the gas removal system. A height adjusting unit is provided to lower or raise the gas removal system. A control unit controls the height adjusting unit, according to a signal given by the measuring system. The control unit acts such that the distance between the individual containers and the gas removal system is maintained at a constant predetermined value.

Likewise, the conference paper "<NPL> discloses a mobile robot for creating gas concentration gridmaps. The location estimates required for map building were obtained by the external, vision-based absolute positioning system W-CAPS. The experiments were performed with a Koala mobile robot equipped with the Mark III mobile nose, comprising <NUM> tin oxide sensors manufactured by Figaro. To record the position of the robot the vision-based absolute positioning system W-CAPS was applied, which tracks a distinctly colored object mounted on top of the robot.

The conference paper "<NPL> discloses a soil sensing survey robot. The e-nose system equipped on this robot was operated under real situation at four location, namely, inside a floor room, lawn, dry ground, and vineyard row, to identify the different characteristics of each place. The e-nose robot moved slowly along the selection path with a velocity of <NUM> meter/second, while fan number <NUM> and <NUM> were flowing out to make sure that the most of air flow was from the specific ground. The navigation system of the robot is based on the APM rover Mission planer. Two ultrasonic distance-measuring sensors, gyromagnetic, and accelerometer were used to check and avoid the obstacle in the path of robot movement with real time vision from live radio camera sent to the computer using <NUM> radio frequencies.

<CIT> discloses an unmanned aerial vehicle for scent analysis. The unmanned aerial vehicle includes a sensor array to sample ambient air in a location to detect an odor, a pattern recognition unit coupled to a database to identify the odor, wherein the odor is compared to identification information stored in the database, and a mapping unit to estimate an assessment value associated with the odor and to generate an instruction to one or more components of the unmanned aerial vehicle to perform a function when the assessment value exceeds a predetermined threshold value, wherein the function includes activating one or more feedback outputs on the unmanned aerial vehicle.

<CIT> discloses a vehicle guidance system, a method for orientating a vehicle, and an inspection vehicle. The vehicle guidance system includes at least two separate reference devices; a laser scanner device, configured to emit a laser beam signals and scan a sectorial region with the laser beam so as to measure a distance of a straight connection line for connecting the laser scanner device to any of the at least two separate reference devices, and an angle between the corresponding straight connection line and a vehicle body of the vehicle, or an angle between the straight connection lines; a processor, configured to process and store data, and to determine whether the orientation of the vehicle body in real time is deviating from an initial orientation of the vehicle body upon the system starts to operate or not, in accordance with the sensed results by the laser scanner device.

In view of this, the embodiments of the present disclosure provide an electronic nose positioning device and positioning method, which can simplify the inspection process of the electronic nose.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic nose positioning device is provided. The electronic nose positioning device includes: a carrier; an electronic nose disposed on the carrier; an adjusting mechanism configured to adjust the electronic nose to an odor sampling part of an object to be detected; and a laser sensing unit disposed on the carrier, the electronic nose, or the adjusting mechanism, and configured to scan the object to be detected, so as to determine a position of an odor sampling part of the object to be detected, wherein the laser sensing unit includes at least one area laser sensor, and the at least one area laser sensor includes: a first area laser sensor, whose scanning surface is a vertical scanning surface, configured to obtain side profile information of the object to be detected; and a second area laser sensor, whose scanning surface is a horizontal scanning surface, configured to obtain position and motion information of the object to be detected relative to the electronic nose; wherein the electronic nose positioning device further comprises: a controller configured to receive scan data of the first area laser sensor and the second area laser sensor and establish a side profile image of the object to be detected according to the scan data; wherein the controller is configured to calculate a position of the odor sampling part in the side profile image to determine a horizontal distance and a vertical distance of the odor sampling part relative to the object to be detected, and to cause the adjusting mechanism to adjust the electronic nose to the odor sampling part.

In some embodiments, the carrier is movable.

In some embodiments, the electronic nose includes a host and a sampler, the adjusting mechanism includes: a robot arm disposed on the carrier or the host, and the sampler is disposed at a distal end of the robot arm.

In some embodiments, the carrier is movable, the electronic nose includes a host and a sampler, and the adjusting mechanism includes: a robot arm disposed on the carrier or the host, and the sampler is disposed at a distal end of the robot arm; wherein the controller is configured to calculate a position of the odor sampling part of the object to be detected in the side profile image according to the scan data and cause the carrier to move to a position which a motion range of the distal end of the robot arm is capable of covering the odor sampling part.

In some embodiments, the second area laser sensor is located on one side of the object to be detected adjacent to the first area laser sensor or located on one side of the object to be detected away from the first area laser sensor.

In some embodiments, the object to be detected includes a container, wherein the adjusting mechanism is configured to adjust the electronic nose to a vent hole of a container, the laser sensing unit is configured to scan the container, so as to determine a position of the vent hole of the container.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic nose positioning method is provided. The electronic nose positioning method includes the steps of: scanning an object to be detected by a laser sensing unit; determining a position of an odor sampling part of the object to be detected according to scan data of the laser sensing unit; and adjusting an electronic nose to the odor sampling part of the object to be detected by an adjusting mechanism, wherein the laser sensing unit includes a first area laser sensor whose scanning surface is a vertical scanning surface and a second area laser sensor whose scanning surface is a horizontal scanning surface, and the step of scanning the object to be detected by the laser sensing unit includes: obtaining a side profile information of the object to be detected by the first area laser sensor; and obtaining position and motion information of the object to be detected relative to the electronic nose by the second area laser sensor; wherein the step of determining a position of an odor sampling part of the object to be detected comprises: establishing a side profile image of the object to be detected according to the scan data of the first area laser sensor and the second area laser sensor; calculating a position of the odor sampling part in the side profile image to determine a horizontal distance and a vertical distance of the odor sampling part relative to the object to be detected; and causing the adjusting mechanism to adjust the electronic nose to the odor sampling part.

In some embodiments, the electronic nose includes a host and a sampler, the host is disposed on a movable carrier, the adjusting mechanism includes a robot arm disposed on the carrier or the host, and the sampler is disposed at a distal end of the robot arm; the step of adjusting an electronic nose includes: causing the carrier to move to a position which a motion range of the distal end of the robot arm is capable of covering the odor sampling part according to a position of the odor sampling part on the side profile image; determining a target position of the robot arm by transformation of a coordinate system according to the position of the odor sampling part in the side profile image; and causing the distal end of the robot arm to move to the target position according to the target position, so that a sampling range of the sampler covers the odor sampling part.

In some embodiments, the object to be detected includes a container, wherein the odor sampling part is a vent hole of the container.

Therefore, according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the position of the odor sampling part of the object to be detected is determined by scanning the object to be detected through a laser sensing unit, and the electronic nose is adjusted to the odor sampling part by an adjusting mechanism, so that the electronic nose can perform odor sampling at the odor sampling part, thereby meeting the relevant inspection requirements. The scanning of the laser sensing unit and adjustment of the adjusting mechanism can effectively simplify the inspection process of the electronic nose, reduce the time consumed by the inspection process, and improve the inspection efficiency.

The accompanying drawings, which constitute part of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with this specification, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure may be more clearly understood from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:.

It should be understood that the dimensions of the various parts shown in the accompanying drawings are not drawn according to the actual scale. In addition, the same or similar reference signs are used to denote the same or similar components.

Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The description of the exemplary embodiments is merely illustrative and is in no way intended as a limitation to the present disclosure and application or use thereof. The present disclosure may be implemented in many different forms, which are not limited to the embodiments described herein. These embodiments are provided to make the present disclosure thorough and complete, and fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the relative arrangements of the components and steps expounded in these embodiments should be construed as merely illustrative, rather than as a delimitation.

The words "first", "second", and similar words used in the present disclosure do not denote any order, quantity or importance, but merely serve to distinguish different parts. Such similar words as "including" or "containing" mean that the element preceding the word encompasses the elements enumerated after the word, and does not exclude the possibility of encompassing other elements as well. The terms "up", "down", "left", "right", or the like are used only to represent a relative positional relationship, and the relative positional relationship may be changed correspondingly if the absolute position of the described object changes.

In the present disclosure, when it is described that a particular device is located between the first device and the second device, there may be an intermediate device between the particular device and the first device or the second device, and alternatively, there may be no intermediate device. When it is described that a particular device is connected to other devices, the particular device may be directly connected to said other devices without an intermediate device, and alternatively, may not be directly connected to said other devices but with an intermediate device.

All the terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the present disclosure have the same meanings as understood by those skilled in the art of the present disclosure unless otherwise defined. It should also be understood that terms as defined in general dictionaries, unless explicitly defined herein, should be interpreted as having meanings that are consistent with their meanings in the context of the relevant art, and not to be interpreted in an idealized or extremely formalized sense.

Techniques, methods, and apparatus known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic nose positioning device is provided. The electronic nose positioning device include: a carrier; an electronic nose disposed on the carrier; an adjusting mechanism configured to adjust the electronic nose to an odor sampling part of an object to be detected; and a laser sensing unit disposed on the carrier, the electronic nose, or the adjusting mechanism, and configured to scan the object to be detected, so as to determine a position of an odor sampling part of the object to be detected.

Referring to <FIG>, the electronic nose positioning device includes: a carrier <NUM>, an electronic nose <NUM>, an adjusting mechanism <NUM>, and a laser sensing unit <NUM>. The carrier <NUM> may carry various functional devices in the electronic nose positioning device. In some embodiments, the carrier <NUM> is movable. For example, a running gear is provided at the bottom of the carrier <NUM> so that it can move on the ground or the surface of a platform, and can implement transition of the device, dynamic scanning of the laser sensor unit <NUM> in motion, and aid to adjust the electronic nose <NUM> to an odor sampling part <NUM> of an object <NUM> to be detected. In other embodiments, the carrier <NUM> can be fixed. The carrier <NUM> can also be a frame adjusted along a track, such as a gantry frame.

The electronic nose <NUM> is disposed on the carrier <NUM>. Referring to <FIG>, in some embodiments, the electronic nose <NUM> can include a host <NUM> and a sampler <NUM>. The host <NUM> can be fixed on the carrier <NUM>. In other embodiments, it can also be integrated with the carrier <NUM>. That is, the host <NUM> also serves as a carrier to carry other functional devices, and a moving gear can be correspondingly provided at the bottom of the host <NUM>.

The adjusting mechanism <NUM> can adjust electronic nose <NUM> to an odor sampling part <NUM> of an object <NUM> to be detected. Referring to <FIG>, in some embodiments, the adjusting mechanism <NUM> can include a robot arm <NUM>. The robot arm <NUM> can be disposed on the carrier <NUM> or the host <NUM>, and the sampler <NUM> is disposed at a distal end of the robot arm <NUM>. The robot <NUM> moves in multiple degrees of freedom so that the spatial position and sampling direction of the sampler <NUM> can be adjusted within a wide range. In other embodiments, the adjusting mechanism <NUM> can also be in other forms. For example, the adjusting mechanism <NUM> includes a lifting mechanism and a horizontal feeding mechanism to adjust the spatial position of the sampler <NUM>.

The laser sensing unit <NUM> can be disposed on the carrier <NUM>, the electronic nose <NUM>, or the adjusting mechanism <NUM>. In order to improve scanning efficiency, the laser sensing unit <NUM> includes at least one area laser sensor. The laser sensing unit <NUM> can be fixed relative to the carrier <NUM>, or can move on the carrier <NUM> along a set direction to achieve the scanning function in a certain range. The laser sensing unit <NUM> can scan the object <NUM> to be detected to determine a position of the odor sampling part <NUM> of the object <NUM> to be detected. Here, the object <NUM> to be detected can be various large or medium-and-small objects or areas, such as containers, trunks, parcels, vehicles and warehouses. The odor sampling part <NUM> is an area on the surface of the object <NUM> to be detected that communicates an internal odor space, such as a vent hole of a container, a zipper of a trunk or a transom of a warehouse.

In the present embodiments, the position of the odor sampling part of the object to be detected is determined by scanning the object to be detected through a laser sensing unit, and the electronic nose is adjusted to odor sampling part by an adjusting mechanism, so that the electronic nose can perform odor sampling at the odor sampling part, thereby meeting the relevant inspection requirements. Compared with the inspection process in the related art, the scanning of the laser sensing unit and adjustment of the adjusting mechanism can effectively simplify the inspection process of the electronic nose, reduce the time consumed by the inspection process, and improve the inspection efficiency.

<FIG> is a schematic structural view according to the electronic nose positioning device of the present disclosure. The electronic nose positioning device according to the present embodiment further includes a controller <NUM>. The controller <NUM> can be configured to receive the scan data of the laser sensing unit <NUM> and cause the adjusting mechanism <NUM> to adjust the electronic nose <NUM> to the odor sampling part <NUM> of the object to be detected <NUM> based on the scan data.

Referring to <FIG>, the at least one area laser sensor includes a first area laser sensor <NUM> and a second area laser sensor <NUM>. In <FIG>, a rectangular coordinate system can be established with reference to a side surface of the object to be detected <NUM>, wherein the direction parallel to the side surface of the object to be detected <NUM> and the horizontal plane is the x direction, the direction perpendicular to the side surface of the object to be detected <NUM> and parallel to the horizontal plane is the y direction, and the direction perpendicular to both the x and y directions is the z direction. In this way, the scanning surface of the first area laser sensor <NUM> is a vertical scanning surface parallel to the zy plane, which can be used to collect the side profile information of the object <NUM> to be detected. The scanning area of the second area laser sensor <NUM> is a horizontal scanning plane parallel to the xy plane, which can be used to collect the position and motion information of the object <NUM> to be detected relative to the laser sensing unit <NUM>, for example, to obtain a real-time position of the object <NUM> to be detected, and accordingly further calculate a speed or acceleration of the laser sensing unit <NUM> or the carrier <NUM> fixedly provided with the laser sensing unit <NUM> relative to the object <NUM> to be detected.

The dynamic scanning process of the first area laser sensor <NUM> and the second area laser sensor <NUM> can be realized by movement of the carrier relative to the object <NUM> to be detected, and can be realized by movement of the first area laser sensor <NUM> and the second area laser sensor <NUM> on the carrier <NUM>.

In <FIG>, the first area laser sensor <NUM> and the second area laser sensor <NUM> are located on the same side of the object <NUM> to be detected. That is, the second area laser sensor <NUM> is located on one side of the object <NUM> to be detected adjacent to the first area laser sensor <NUM>. In other embodiments, referring to <FIG>, the second area laser sensor <NUM> can also be located on one side of the object <NUM> to be detected away from the first area laser sensor <NUM>. Correspondingly, the carrier <NUM> can be a gantry frame moving along the track, which can move on both sides of and over the object <NUM> to be detected (for example, a container), and the first area laser sensor <NUM> and the second area laser sensor <NUM> can be respectively disposed on the frame bodies of the gantry frame located on both sides of the object <NUM> to be detected. Correspondingly, the electronic nose <NUM> and the adjusting mechanism <NUM> can be provided on the gantry frame.

The controller <NUM> receives scan data of the first area laser sensor <NUM> and the second area laser sensor <NUM> and establishes a side profile image of the object <NUM> to be detected according to the scan data. The controller <NUM> also calculates a position of the odor sampling part <NUM> of the object <NUM> to be detected in the side profile image according to the scan data, for example, determines the horizontal distance and vertical distance from the odor sampling part <NUM> to the edge of the side surface of the object <NUM> to be detected, and then causes the adjusting mechanism <NUM> to adjust the electronic nose <NUM> to the odor sampling part <NUM>.

If the current position of the electronic nose <NUM> is far from the odor sampling part <NUM>, the controller <NUM> can calculate a position of the odor sampling part <NUM> of the object <NUM> to be detected on the side profile image based on the scan data, so that the motion range of the carrier <NUM> moving to the distal end of the robot arm <NUM> can cover a position of the odor sampling part <NUM>. In this way, the controller <NUM> can further cause the robot arm <NUM> to adjust the sampler of the electronic nose <NUM> to the odor sampling part <NUM>, for example, to make the sampler directly face towards the odor sampling part <NUM>.

With reference to the above-described embodiments of the electronic nose positioning device, the present disclosure also provides a plurality of embodiments of the electronic nose positioning method. <FIG> is a schematic flow chart of the electronic nose positioning method of the present disclosure. In <FIG>, the electronic nose positioning method includes the steps of:.

Still taking as an example that the object to be detected <NUM> includes a container and the odor sampling part <NUM> is a vent hole of the container, when there is a need to inspect the container, it is possible to first scan the side surface of the container by the laser sensing unit <NUM>, and determine the specific position of the vent hole of the container on the side surface. Then, the electronic nose can be adjusted to the vent hole according to the specific position, so that the electronic nose can collect the odor in the vent hole, thereby realizing the relevant inspection of the container.

In the above-described steps <NUM> to <NUM>, the control of the laser sensing unit <NUM>, the adjusting mechanism <NUM> and the electronic nose <NUM> can be implemented by the controller within the electronic nose positioning device, the remote controller of the operator or the remote-control platform.

Referring to <FIG>, the laser sensing unit <NUM> comprises a first area laser sensor <NUM> whose scanning surface is a vertical scanning surface and a second area laser sensor <NUM> whose scanning surface is a horizontal scanning surface, and the step <NUM> includes steps <NUM> and <NUM>. In step <NUM>, the side profile information of the object <NUM> to be detected is collected by the first area laser sensor <NUM>. In step <NUM>, the position and motion information of the object to be detected <NUM> relative to the electronic nose <NUM> is collected by the second area laser sensor <NUM>. The step <NUM> and the step <NUM> can be interchanged in sequence and can be performed simultaneously.

Referring to <FIG>, the step <NUM> includes step <NUM> and step <NUM>. In step <NUM>, a side profile image of the object <NUM> to be detected is established according to the scan data of the first area laser sensor <NUM> and the second area laser sensor <NUM>. In step <NUM>, a position of the odor sampling part <NUM> in the side profile image is calculated to determine a horizontal distance and a vertical distance of the odor sampling part <NUM> relative to an edge of the object <NUM> to be detected.

For example, a rectangular profile image of the side surface of the container is established, and the edge position of the side surface of the container and the specific position of the vent hole on the side surface of the container can be clearly identified from the image. This position can be defined by the distance from the edge position of the side surface of the container. For example, the position of the vent hole is defined by a horizontal distance L between the vent hole and the edges on both sides in a vertical direction, as well as a vertical distance H between the vent hole and the bottom edge of the side surface of the container or the flat surface or ground where the container is placed.

In addition, the first area laser sensor <NUM> and the second area laser sensor <NUM> can also be used to determine the distance of the carrier <NUM> relative to the object <NUM> to be detected, so that the controller causes the carrier <NUM> to move to a position closer to the object <NUM> to be detected, thereby facilitating adjusting the sampling position of the electronic nose <NUM> by the adjusting mechanism <NUM>.

In <FIG>, the carrier <NUM> is movable. The electronic nose <NUM> includes a host <NUM> and a sampler <NUM>. The host <NUM> is disposed on the carrier, and the adjusting mechanism <NUM> includes a robot arm <NUM>, which is disposed on the carrier <NUM> or the host <NUM>, wherein the sampler <NUM> is disposed at a distal end of the robot arm <NUM>. On such basis, referring to <FIG>, in some embodiments, the step <NUM> can include step <NUM> to step <NUM>.

In step <NUM>, according to the position of the odor sampling part <NUM> in the side profile image, the carrier is caused to move to a position that the motion range of the distal end of the robot arm <NUM> can cover the odor sampling part <NUM>. In such step, there is just need for causing the carrier to move to the position that the motion range of the distal end of the robot arm <NUM> can cover the odor sampling part <NUM>, and no need to make accurate movement of the carrier in place. Thus, it is equivalent to a fuzzy positioning process. A more accurate positioning process of the electronic nose sampler can be implemented by the steps <NUM> and <NUM>.

Of course, if the carrier is in a short distance from the odor sampling part <NUM>, even if the carrier does not move, the motion range of the distal end of the robot arm <NUM> can also cover the position of the odor sampling part <NUM>, and thus the step <NUM> can be omitted.

In step <NUM>, the target position of the robot arm <NUM> can be determined by transformation of the coordinate system according to the position of the odor sampling part <NUM> in the side profile image. For example, it is possible to set the o point of the foregoing coordinate system on the second area laser sensor <NUM>, and determine the x-coordinate value and the z-coordinate value in the foregoing coordinate system according to the distances between the odor sampling part <NUM> and the side edge and between the odor sampling part <NUM> and the bottom surface measured by the second area laser sensor <NUM> and the first area laser sensor <NUM>, thereby further determining the coordinate position of the odor sampling part <NUM> relative to the second area laser sensor <NUM>. Then, according to a positional relationship between the second area laser sensor <NUM> and the robot arm <NUM>, the coordinate position of the odor sampling part <NUM> relative to the second area laser sensor <NUM> is converted to the coordinate system of the robot arm <NUM>, to determine the target position of a distal end of the robot arm <NUM>.

After the target position of a distal end of the robot arm <NUM> is determined, in step <NUM>, the distal end of the robot arm <NUM> can be caused to move to the target position according to the target position, so that the sampling range of the sampler <NUM> covers the odor sampling part <NUM>. In this process, it can be determined whether the sampler of the electronic nose is in place according to the feedback information of the detection switch, and after it is determined to be in place, the gas sampling process is maintained for a preset time until the end of the sampling.

Claim 1:
An electronic nose positioning device, comprising:
a carrier (<NUM>);
an electronic nose (<NUM>) disposed on the carrier (<NUM>);
an adjusting mechanism (<NUM>) configured to adjust the electronic nose (<NUM>) to an odor sampling part (<NUM>) of an object (<NUM>) to be detected;
wherein the electronic nose positioning device further comprises a laser sensing unit (<NUM>) disposed on the carrier (<NUM>), the electronic nose (<NUM>), or the adjusting mechanism (<NUM>), and configured to scan the object (<NUM>) to be detected, so as to determine a position of an odor sampling part (<NUM>) of the object (<NUM>) to be detected,
wherein the laser sensing unit (<NUM>) comprises at least one area laser sensor, and the at least one area laser sensor comprises:
a first area laser sensor (<NUM>), whose scanning surface is a vertical scanning surface, configured to obtain side profile information of the object (<NUM>) to be detected; and
a second area laser sensor (<NUM>), whose scanning surface is a horizontal scanning surface, configured to obtain position and motion information of the object (<NUM>) to be detected relative to the electronic nose (<NUM>);
wherein the electronic nose positioning device further comprises:
a controller (<NUM>) configured to receive scan data of the first area laser sensor (<NUM>) and the second area laser sensor (<NUM>) and establish a side profile image of the object (<NUM>) to be detected according to the scan data;
wherein the controller (<NUM>) is configured to calculate a position of the odor sampling part (<NUM>) in the side profile image to determine a horizontal distance and a vertical distance of the odor sampling part (<NUM>) relative to the object (<NUM>) to be detected, and to cause the adjusting mechanism (<NUM>) to adjust the electronic nose (<NUM>) to the odor sampling part (<NUM>).