Airbus gets a new nose from Sacmi

The "electronic noses" developed by Sacmi will soon be used to monitor the interior of the Airbus airliner to detect the presence of dangerous, flammable or explosive substances.

The European consortium that produces these airliners is working together with Sacmi on European project Nanos4 (Nano-structured solid state gas sensors with superior performance), one of the STRP (Strategic Targeted Research Projects) programs financed by the European Union as part of the 6th Research Plan.

The purpose of the 3-year project, launched in 2004, is to develop new gas sensors and electronic olfactory devices to monitor air quality inside airliners. While the focus is on potentially inflammable or dangerous substances, the research is also aimed at the detection of ozone in meteorological applications, the measurement of emissions from industrial plants with a high olfactory impact and the detection of gas emitted by combustion processes.