Robots may someday be able to tell you if the air in your house or office is polluted. Researchers at the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science (PLOTS), in conjunction with the Rhode Island School of Design, attached a battery pack (in black, above), circuit boards, and a chemical sensor (next to the light) to a floor-cleaning Roomba robot. The robot’s light would change slowly from yellow to blue if it detected an increasing amount of airborne alcohol. The group plans to add sensors for other volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), such as formaldehyde, which is present in a lot of wood furniture and can cause dizziness and nausea and may be linked to asthma. “There are not any good tools for the average consumer to use to monitor indoor air pollutants,” says Gennet Paauwe, spokeswoman for the California Air Resources Board.
Credit: all images courtesy of PLOTS
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