Yates, James W. T. (2004) Black box and mechanistic modelling of electronic nose systems. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Electronic nose systems have been in existence for around 20 years or more. The ability to mimic the function of the mammalian olfactory system is a very tempting goal. Such devices would offer the possibility of rapid chemical screening of samples. To gain a detailed insight into the operation of such systems it is proposed to carry out a systems modelling analysis. This thesis reports such an analysis using black box and mechanistic models.

The nature and construction of electronic nose systems are discussed. The challenges presented by these systems in order to produce a truly electronic nose are analysed as a prelude to systems modelling. These may be summarised as time and environmental dependent behaviour, information extraction and computer data handling.

Model building in general is investigated. It is recognised that robust parameter estimation is necessary to build good models of electronic nose systems. A number of optimisation algorithms for parameter estimation are proposed and investigated, these being gradient search, genetic algorithms and the support vector method. It is concluded that the support vector method is most robust, although the genetic algorithm approach shows promise for initial parameter value estimation.

A series of investigations are reported that involve the analysis of biomedical samples. These samples are of blood, urine and bacterial cultures. The findings demonstrate that the nature of such samples, such as bacterial content and type, may be accurately identified using an electronic nose system by careful modelling of the system. These findings also highlight the advantages of data set reduction and feature extraction.

A mechanistic model embodying the operating principles of carbon black-polymer sensors is developed. This is validated experimentally and is used to investigate the environmental dependencies of electronic nose systems. These findings demonstrate a clear influence of environmental conditions on the behaviour of carbon black-polymer sensors and these should be considered when designing future electronic nose systems.

The findings in this thesis demonstrate that careful systems modelling and analysis of electronic nose systems allows a greater understanding of such systems.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Nose -- Computer simulation, Olfactory sensors, Olfactory receptors
Official Date:	September 2004
Dates:	Date Event September 2004 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Engineering
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Chappell, M. J. (Michael J.) ; Gardner, J. W. (Julian W.)
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	284 pages : illustrations, charts
Language:	eng

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