sensors

Fires in the Republic of Croatia are a big problem for forests, given that fire brigades have about 3.000 interventions per year. Average burned area per year is 14.278 ha of forest land. DetectIT provides information of the current situation in the forest area (level of temperature, humidity, carbon monoxide). Device secures fast information about the occurrence of a fire and provides all important data. Devices are located 100-300 meters away in the forest area and communicate with each other via radio waves. Communication between devices can reach even several kilometers so it is possible to cover very large area. Each device has one or more sensors. When the device receives an icreased concentration of flammable gas or smoke, it sends a signal to the other device about occurrence of a fire.

Currently, for sending notification about occurrence of fire, device uses 4G network. In the future for notification sending, it is planned to use the 5G network which can send notification in a shorter time period. Also, it is planed to spread the use of device i.e. setting device in households. Prototype of device is installed and tested on the forest area. Device is developed by high school students of Gymnasium Velika Gorica, Croatia. Group of students signed up on international competition and won 2nd place. 

The threat of forests by various harmful microorganisms is growing due to changing climate conditions and spreading of non-native pathogens and pests.. Simultaneously the relevance of biological methods of monitoring and preventing forest degradation is increasing in the face of the chemical’s use restrictions. The main aim of the project is the development of an innovative device (electronic nose/ e-NOS), based on a matrix of broad-band electrochemical sensors and neural networks that would detect and analyse the odor-based signals e.g. pheromones of certain insect species. The examples of pathogens and pests addressed in the project include Dendrolimus Pini (L.) and Phytophthora oomycetes.
The developed system delivers comprehensive and complex information which allows to create a neural classifier (using artificial intelligence). The dedicated software was developed to perform the analysis of the data and create a database – library of signals, which will allow to detect the analytes sought in the field. For each application foreseen in the project (analysis of specific smells), dedicated sensory matrices were prepared.