Grantee Research Project Results
Final Report: Remote Air Quality Reporting (RAQR) Device
EPA Contract Number: 68HERC20C0056Title: Remote Air Quality Reporting (RAQR) Device
Investigators: Norell, Jeffrey
Small Business: Intellisense Systems, Inc.
EPA Contact: Richards, April
Phase: II
Project Period: June 1, 2020 through May 31, 2022
Project Amount: $300,000
RFA: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) - Phase II (2020) Recipients Lists
Research Category: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) , SBIR - Air , SBIR - Air Monitoring and Remote Sensing
Description:
Intellisense Systems, Inc. (Intellisense) has advanced the development of a new Remote Air Quality Reporting (RAQR) device to measure and track wildland fire pollutants including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulates, in a small, easy-to-use unit capable of data storage and data viewing. As more frequent wildfires are expected to occur near populated areas, air-quality monitoring will be more persistent. The RAQR system is based on Intellisense’s existing TRL-9/MRL-9 remote meshed sensor technology that can harvest solar power and communicate through radio, cellular, or Iridium, coupled with a new innovative, compact air-quality sensor suite. RAQR is small, simple to set up, and does not require hardline power. It will enable the end-user to deploy a robust network of air-quality sensors rapidly and at low cost, which can be used to track air quality around dense population centers at significantly higher resolution than currently possible; it also serves as an early warning system for fire detection. During the Phase II effort, Intellisense enhanced the RAQR system by performing iterative design refinements and long-term testing to further improve performance while reducing system size and cost. User interfaces were also improved by adding more capability to Intellisense’s current AWARE online software to ingest, disseminate, and show air quality measurement trends and alerts, ultimately improving access of relevant, localized air quality data to local, state, and federal government agencies and research teams. Final output from development has demonstrated a compact, easily deployable system with performance demonstrated in laboratory and real-world environments. This technology can be sold as low-cost, rapidly deployed sensors for urban areas where air quality is of concern from both man-made and natural sources including wildfires.
Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):
The refined, prototyped, and validated RAQR device demonstrated during Phase II the feasibility of a remote, low-power, low-cost product capable of monitoring and reporting air quality data and sending alerts in near real-time. Intellisense’s Phase II design can accurately measure carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and particulates, as well as humidity and temperature, from a custom compact, easily installed, self-contained sensing module. This integrated sensor suite leverages industry standard air quality sensors in a compact package and reports the data to an easy-to-use web-based data interface. The RAQR sensing module, coupled with Intellisense’s reporting module and cloud-based software solution, can be integrated into a fully autonomous, wireless meshed network with a simple setup. With low-power sensing technology and built-in solar energy harvesting, RAQR has an indefinite lifetime.
Conclusions:
The RAQR sensing module, when combined with Intellisense’s mature communications module technology already fielded in 600+ locations throughout the United States, has the potential to revolutionize wildland fire monitoring, reporting, and user alerts from a low-cost, compact, easily installed system. At approximately 1/10th the cost of legacy, bulky air quality monitoring systems, a RAQR sensing network will greatly increase sensing resolution of areas at risk of wildfires and general air pollution at significantly lower installation and sustainment cost compared to the current state of the art. This dense sensing network will allow for earlier detection and alerts of potential fires through increased spatial resolution, as well as provide valuable data to enhance existing weather and smoke modelling. The design and path to productization completed in Phase II has resulted in fully functional and fieldable prototypes that are planned to be evaluated indefinitely, using internal R&D funding. In parallel, Intellisense will continue to research additional sources of potential transition funding to finalize system validation and certification and establish the transition to production (TTP) to release the RAQR device as a commercial product leveraging our internal production line. The result of RAQR TTP will culminate in a product with the same demonstrated success as Intellisense’s other weather and environmental sensing technologies that have been deployed and are performing in adverse environments in 60+ countries throughout the world.
Located in Southern California, Intellisense understands the urgent need for rapidly deployable, low- cost, and dependable air quality sensors for early detection of fires, warnings, and health monitoring in dense urban areas such as Greater Los Angeles and views commercialization of the RAQR technology as a strategic initiative. With limited sensors monitoring these parameters currently in the United States, RAQR will provide dense network data inputs to verify and enhance model predictions to support improved situational awareness.
Throughout the Phase II development, Intellisense actively engaged with users in the fire weather community to understand their needs, including representatives from the Bureau of Land Management, Desert Research Institute, National Park Service, and multiple representatives from the USDA. In addition, the USGS has expressed interest in both weather sensing and air quality monitoring at their water monitoring installations. The Southern California Geographical Area Coordination Center Predictive Services Group (part of the USDA) has also expressed interest in our fire weather and air quality offerings and has inquired as to how our sensor data can be integrated into their existing sensor platforms.
While discussions with these users were largely focused on fire weather monitoring, a significant number have expressed interest in air quality and the RAQR device. As Intellisense continues to test and review data from the units beyond this contract, we also plan on lending units to interested parties, not only to obtain reference data, but also to provide user feedback on installation, setup, and overall design of the RAQR system. This feedback will help drive system refinement and lead to a more user-friendly product in the market. The outreach to interested parties will also lend awareness to our product offering and create the potential for our device to be considered for government or county grants in the future, leading to a more rapid adaptation of the fielded technology.
SBIR Phase I:
Remote Air Quality Reporting (RAQR) Device | Final ReportThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.