Remote Monitoring Air Quality in Dangerous Environments for Human Activities

This work describes the architecture details of a remote- controlled mobile robot prototype that allows to monitor the real-time concentrations of Sulfur Dioxide (SO₂), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂), Carbon Monoxide (CO), tropospheric Ozone (O₃), carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) that could seriously affect human’s health after a violent natural or human caused phenomena. Parameters such as temperature and humidity will also be monitored in order to understand the conditions of the people to be rescued from dangerous environments. In order to establish the air quality inside a collapsed structure after a disaster and how it could affect the health of rescuers and the people at risk, the measurements will be displayed inside a user-friendly interface which will be able to generate real-time graphics of these parameters and the possible consequences of being exposed to high concentrations of pollution or heat. Additionally, a task model is provided to describe the interaction among the system and the final users. The data acquired by the robot are transmitted through a point to point network based on elements of low consumption and cost. These elements let the robot transmit the information to a computer, which through the graphic user- friendly interface will indicate the parameters of air quality in a friendly way for the end user.