Design and Implementation of a Particulate Matter Measurement System for Energy-Efficient Searching of Air Pollution Sources Using a Multirotor Robot

Abstract

Analyzing air pollutants is of key importance for the environmental protection goals. High concentrations of particulate matter (PM) have a particularly negative impact on human life and health. The use of an autonomous multirotor flying robot (drone) for the purposes of locating PM sources requires the design of a dedicated measurement system from scratch. The aim of this study was to make the most important design decision, which is the correct localization of the inlet of the measurement system, taking into account disturbances in the flow field caused by the rotors. To achieve this, a computational model was built with the use of a finite-volume method in Ansys Fluent software. Based on its results, a novel criterion was proposed and applied. In addition to the trivial position outside the rotors on the extended arm, it gave the second location in the space limited by the rotors below the robot. Finally, a robot prototype was built, and a series of verification experiments were carried out, first indoors and then outdoors, at different levels of ambient PM concentrations with and without a pollution source. The field results were compiled as histograms and scatter plots and clearly demonstrated the validity of the adopted criterion. The determination coefficient between measured concentrations showed a stronger relationship when the rotors were operating. Furthermore, in cases with a present pollution source, higher concentrations were observed around the internal sensor, making it more suitable for the studied application.

Flight Experiments and Numerical Simulations for Investigating Multicopter Flow Field and Structure Deformation

“…Although a few publications have addressed the numerical simulation of flow around multicopters, their focus is mostly on demonstrating modelling capabilities and flight performance [28,29]. Notable studies by Ghirardelli et al [30] and Suchanik et al [31] simulated the flow around quadcopters to optimally place an ultrasonic anemometer for wind speed measurements [30] and for placement of a particulate matter sensor [31]. While these studies are a promising step towards proper sensor placement on multicopter platforms for atmospheric measurements, they both lack a detailed validation with experimental data and used simplified geometries for the simulations, e.g., actuator disks for the propellers or a neglected drone body.…”