Smartphone is about to be equipped with an 'electronic nose' to identify the taste

Sensors are an important component for creating smart phones today, and new sensors dubbed "electronic noses" could become the future of mobile sensors. Dynamic as well as promises to bring many new possibilities for smartphones.

Honeywell recently developed a sensor that allows devices to "smell" the environment, called "electronic noses". Accordingly, the key to creating these special sensors is that they have succeeded in creating a new type of MEMS vacuum pump , which is hundreds of times smaller than before.

Small lithium propeller system on new vacuum pump.(Photo: mobilemag.com)

These "electronic noses" will provide a "sense of smell utility" for all types of mobile devices such as a spectrophotometer, which is most promising on smartphones.

"Electronic nose" developed by Honeywell, located in a high-level research project for use in the US military (DARPA) can help devices detect a specific chemical toxin in carbon or odor monoxide or cigarette smoke. However, research results can be applied in many different areas, not just for the military sector.

Basically, this odor or "electronic nose" sensor on the phone will receive a spectrophotometer of all the elements in a specific gas sample, which will then be brought to Projected with a database with common substance. This will allow you to detect all substances in the air that may be contaminated with dangerous chemicals with just one phone and a micro sensor.

"What we have been trying to do is create the world's smallest vacuum pump system , helping to create a whole new capability for analytical tools , " said Wei Yang in the group. Honeywell's study said. "Now, we have created a vacuum pump system that is only coin-sized and uses only 1 watt of electricity ." To achieve that, Honeywell had to figure out how to mount 100,000 tiny propellers on a 1cm-sized disc, and how they succeeded.

Photo: spectrum.ieee.org

"One of the things that makes us so happy is being able to integrate these smart phones sensors, basically smartphones will have a sense of smell and can feel everything. from toxic chemicals to pollen to assess air quality in general, " Yang said.

Even so, Yang said the new sensor technology will need at least a few more years to become a reality on smartphones. However, it will be the beginning of a period when mobile devices are integrated with more sophisticated and increasingly useful technologies and devices for human life.