1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to a chemical agent detector. More particularly, it relates to a device used for the detection of chemical agents, vapors and gases which utilizes a plurality of surface acoustic wave (SAW) based sensors in a microcontroller circuit for its sensing and detection functions.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Surface Acoustic Wave (or SAW) based sensors are known in the prior art. SAW sensor devices can be used in the detection of chemical agents, vapors and gases, aerosols and fluids. The detection of chemical agents which may be hazardous to the environment and to the health of living organisms has become very important. The safeguarding of workers in a factory or that of military personnel in hazardous environments has become increasingly important.
The use of SAW sensors for the detection of chemical agents are usually included in local oscillator circuits of detection devices. SAW sensors act as a key resonator in the local oscillator circuit. A polymer coating is deposited on the SAW sensor of which has a specific affinity to a specific gas or fluid to be detected. The oscillator circuit (or loop) is allowed to generate a constant frequency periodic wave. A frequency shift, and/or attenuation, in the oscillator output occurs when there is an introduction of the specific gas or fluid. This frequency shift is measured and used to determine that a specific gas or fluid is present in the environment. The frequency shift is a direct result of a decrease in velocity of the acoustic wave crossing over the SAW resonator. The decrease in velocity of the acoustic wave is a direct result of increased mass loading upon the sensor by molecules of the chemical agent, vapor, gas or fluid. In other words, changes to the propagation characteristics of the acoustic wave can be measured to indicate that the sensor has absorbed (or has been loaded with) a particular chemical agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,361,026 to Muller et al. discloses a device and method for sensing fluids wherein a single SAW sensor is employed for detecting a specific targeted fluid. A substrate made of silicon having a piezoelectric film deposited thereon is included on which surface acoustic waves can be propagated. Transmitting and receiving transducers are employed on a top surface of the silicon substrate and piezoelectric film for propagating and receiving the surface acoustic waves. A sensing member is also included along a bottom surface of the silicon substrate to interact with the surface acoustic waves; this causes a variation in the frequency of the wave for measurement by the receiving transducer in response to the presence of the specific targeted fluid. This invention is limited however in its measurement of targeted agents, wherein only one agent, and in particular a fluid, can be measured and detected. A multi-sensor array for the detection of a plurality of different agents is not disclosed or suggested. Further, this prior art invention does not contemplate how to process a high frequency signal that may be generated from the sensing member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,017 to Pyke et al. discloses a device used for the detection of dilute chemical vapors that may be present in the ambient air. This detection device also utilizes SAW based sensors for implementing its detection function. The SAW sensor includes a substrate which is coated with a material selectively absorptive of a group of chemical substances of which the chemical substrate is a member. An electrical signal is produced which is indicative of a change in physical parameters associated with the coated surface in response to the chemical absorption that occurs. An analysis function is connected to the detection circuitry which determines a predicted time constant for diffusion of the detected chemical into the coated substrate and a predicted equilibrium concentration of the detected chemical into the coated substrate as a function of the produced electrical signal. Although this reference does teach the detection of a group of chemicals (that are similar in some way), it does not teach a device which permits the detection of a plurality of chemical agents that are dissimilar and not of the same group which can be detected by cycling a plurality of agent targeted SAW sensors through a multiplexer. Further there is no teaching or disclosure of how a high frequency signal received from the SAW sensor can be rapidly and efficiently processed and measured by a down conversion circuit and mixer. Yet further, there is no mention of utilizing a pressure/differential manifold for its air sampling function.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,704 to Mariani et al. discloses a SAW sensor array used for simultaneously detecting several chemical agents. The sensor array employs a bidirectional SAW transducer on a substrate. The substrate also includes several pairs of identical acoustic sensing and referencing channels, each located on opposite sides of the transducer in a mirror image fashion. Each channel is provided with a thin film for absorbing a chemical vapor or gas to be detected and are separated by an acoustic absorber. Also included in each channel is a metallic SAW grating reflector which receives and reflects surface acoustic waves through the film back to the transducer. The reference channels are shielded from ambient conditions while the sensing channels are exposed to the ambient conditions which may have a chemical agent present. An RF signal is applied to the transducer thereby causing an acoustic signal to be propagated through each channel and reflected back through the thin film to the transducer. These output signals are reflected back to the transducer and then detected and measured to see if certain propagation characteristics have changed which would be indicative of the presence of a targeted chemical agent. The specific characteristics include wave velocity and attenuation. This prior art reference improves upon this known type of SAW sensing device by miniaturizing the housing in which it is enclosed. However, this reference does not disclose, let alone teach or suggest, the use of a power cycling scheme with a plurality of SAW sensors to measure and detect a plurality of different chemical agents wherein a multiplexer is used to pass along the readings of the SAW sensors one at a time to a microprocessor for processing and alarm functioning. There is also no disclosure or suggestion of how to measure high frequency signals which may be generated by the SAW sensing device. Still further, there is no disclosure of mounting the SAW sensors on SAW driver boards directly upon a pressure/differential manifold.
Some prior art inventions have addressed power cycling schemes in their use of chemical agent detection devices that employ SAW multi-sensor arrays. This can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 6,321,588 to Bowers et al. In this reference, a multi-sensor array is provided wherein a power multiplexor is employed to selectively provide power to each of the plurality of sensors at a specific time wherein only one sensor is turned on at any given time. This is done to conserve power and to alleviate cross-talk between the plurality of sensors. Since this reference is concerned with providing a compact detection device, power consumption is of great concern wherein a battery is employed to power the detection device. Since the plurality of sensors are exposed to a common ambient air environment, a need exists with this device to “clean” the sensors after they have been exposed to a chemical agent. The device of this reference addresses this problem by “scrubbing” the air and subsequently exposing the scrubbed air to the sensors. The scrubber utilizes a compound such as charcoal to clean the air sample. Nowhere in this reference does it disclose or teach the use of a novel pressure/differential manifold which can support a plurality of SAW sensors thereby providing a mechanism to expose each sensor to the air to be tested such that each sensor, when powered-on, is exposed to the air to be sampled at that given time and allowed to be analyzed, and then have that air sample evacuated by a pressure build up through the use of a valve in communication with an air intake port of the manifold. Further, this, nor any other prior art device, employs a phase tunable circuit for adjusting the frequencies of the SAW sensors to correct any minor, unwanted, yet inherent, differences that may be present on the polymer coated sensor due to manufacturer characteristics.
Clearly a need exists for an improved chemical agent detector which employs SAW sensing devices. Such a detector should utilize a plurality of SAW sensors that can be controlled by their own oscillator circuits. The sensors should be phase tunable to allow the sensors to be tuned to a more exact frequency than that which is set by the manufacturer. A power cycling scheme in combination with a signal multiplexor should also be incorporated to independently select each sensor such that only one sensor is “on” at any given time and its respective signal is processed at that same given time through a multiplexor. A down conversion element would ensure that all high frequency generated signals can be processed by a microprocessor. Finally, a novel approach to mounting the sensors on a pressure/differential manifold with a valve such that each sensor can be exposed to the air sample would alleviate a need to incorporate complex purging and scrubbing systems to clean the sensors after each air sample exposure.
I have invented an improved chemical agent detector which utilizes a plurality of SAW sensors. My detector employs a pressure/differential manifold which supports all of the sensors on the frame of the manifold which equates to lower RF noise within the entire detector system and circuit. A pump draws an ambient air sample into the manifold through an air intake port after a valve has opened and allowed the air sample to be exposed to all of the SAW sensors. The air sample is then expelled from the area around the sensors through an exhaust port after traveling along an air channel of the manifold when the valve is closed. The pump remaining on after the valve has closed builds up a pressure which evacuates the air sample out from the manifold as just described. The valve receives a TTL timing signal from a microprocessor of the detector for instructing the valve when to open and close.
Each SAW sensor is configured on a separate printed circuit board and has a complex arrangement of “vias” formed on each board for proper operation and the formation of a very low noise floor, a desired result of this RF sensing system. The SAW driver boards resonate their respective sensor (a coated SAW device) to create a continuous signal at a given frequency (311.5 MHz in the preferred embodiment). Each SAW sensor is phase tunable. The SAW drivers are supplied power by an RF power tuner and cycler which only applies the needed power-on voltage to one of the plurality of sensors at a time. The phase tuner receives a constant voltage from the RF power tuner and cycler. The RF power tuner and cycler also receives its timing signal from the microprocessor which instructs the RF power tuner and cycler to shut down one SAW sensor and provide power to another such that only one sensor is operating at any given time. There is a very short delay between the time one sensor turns off and the next sensor turns on to ensure charge bleed-off and alleviate unwanted harmonics from occurring as the signals of the two sensors pass. Of course unwanted harmonics can add overall noise to the RF system which can effect the sensitivity and response time of the chemical agent detector. Therefore, attenuation is used on each SAW driver board as well as throughout the entire circuit to help reduce RF noise. The timing signal of RF power tuner and cycler, and that of the valve, is a regularly timed, pre-determined, yet can be a user adjustable, signal. However, it would normally be set at the factory depending on the need of the end user.
An RF multiplexor is also provided and is configured to receive all of the output signals of the SAW sensor driver boards. The timing signal that is sent to the RF power tuner and cycler is also sent to the multiplexor thereby ensuring that the RF multiplexor only allows one SAW driver signal to pass through the multiplexor at any given time. Since the timing signals to the RF power tuner and cycler and the RF multiplexor are the same, this ensures that only the active SAW sensor signal is passed onto the microprocessor for analysis and detection functioning. In other words, the microprocessor always knows which sensor signal it is receiving at any given time based upon the simultaneously timing signal generated by the microprocessor and sent to both the RF power tuner and cycler and to the RF multiplexer. The timing signal of the RF power tuner and cycler and the RF multiplexor has the same start and stop time as that of the valve timing signal. This permits all of the sensors of the detector to take a reading of the air sample and each provide a signal in which can be analyzed within the time that the valve is opened and closed.
After a SAW sensor signal is allowed to pass through the RF multiplexor, it is first directed through a mixer for down conversion before it is sent onto the microprocessor. The mixer down converts the raw high frequency signal generated by the SAW driver board to a lower frequency which is suitable for the microprocessor to accept and process. The mixer also provides A/D conversion and digitization of the down converted signal for the microprocessor.
The down conversion is accomplished with the assistance of a local oscillator coupled to the mixer. The local oscillator, acting as a signal generator, outputs a signal whose frequency is slightly higher than that of the SAW sensors. The mixer receives the SAW signal that has passed through the multiplexor and mixes it with the local oscillator frequency to arrive at a predetermined and known down converted signal using super heterodyne architecture. This new down converted signal still contains the same information as the original SAW sensor signal. If one of the SAW sensors has reacted to a chemical agent which it is coated for, it will change the resonance of that SAW driver board and hence change it's signal (i.e., a frequency shift will occur). Once that frequency shifted signal is processed through the multiplexor and the down convertor (i.e., the mixer), the microprocessor will measure this frequency shift and alert the user that the targeted agent has been detected and is present within the air sample. A periphery device, such as a personal computer or laptop, can be used for the alert and alarm functions.
It is therefore a first object of the present invention to provide a SAW based sensor system for detecting a variety of chemical agents, vapors and gases.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a SAW based sensor system for detecting a variety of chemical agents, vapors and gases which has a fast response time, a high sensitivity, a lower power usage, a compact size and reduced weight all the while inducing as little nosie as possible into the circuit of the system.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a SAW based sensor system for detecting a variety of chemical agents, vapors and gases which has ample bandwidth and tuning capabilities to allow for a wide variety of SAW coatings to be utilized such that a multitude of different chemical agents can be detected.
The invention can be best understood by those having ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Throughout the following detailed description, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements in all figures.
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Each SAW driver board 16 resonates its respective SAW sensor 18 to create a continuos high frequency signal when powered-on. In the preferred embodiment, a frequency of about 311.5 MHz is used for each SAW sensor 18. A complex set of “vias” are arranged (formed through) on each SAW driver board 16 to ensure a very low noise floor. Although the “vias” are not necessarily shown in
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Pump 46 is powered by 12 VDC from main power board 32. Pump 46 remains “on” at all times and is responsible for drawing an air sample into manifold 10 through intake port 12 when valve 42 is open. Pump 46 is also responsible for expelling the drawn-in air sample out of manifold 10 through exhaust port 14 after it has been tested by sensors 18 by building up a pressure within manifold 10 when valve 42 closes and prohibits any more ambient air from entering manifold 10 through intake port 12.
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Additional attenuation is used through out the circuitry of the chemical agent detector of the present invention. In this RF system, lowering the noise floor is highly desirable. In the chemical agent detector of the present invention, lowering the noise floor throughout the system is balanced with sensitivity and response time for the device. In the preferred embodiment, this chemical agent detector has a very high sensitivity to any agent that it is programmed to detect along with a very fast response time. To achieve such, noise inherent in the RF system must be balanced against these two functions. Accordingly, the amount nosie, the sensitivity of the detector and the response time to which it reacts must be balanced against the amount of attenuation that must be placed between the signal line and that of the input of the controller (the digital engine 28) to achieve a so-called “sweat-spot”. Increasing attenuation can lower the amplitude of an incoming wave of a signal being directed to the digital engine. This can lead to decreasing the “Valuable Signal Amplitude”, which can lead to less counting by the controller (digital engine 28) which in turn results in waiting longer to react to the sensing of an agent present in the ambient air (a reduction in response time). Also, by reducing the “Valuable Signal Amplitude”, small frequency shifts may be missed which may lead to missing small amounts of chemical agents being present in the ambient air (a decrease in sensitivity). On the other hand, allowing a lot of noise to be added to the signal being processed, results in an overall degradation of the frequency of the signal that is being analyzed by digital engine 28. This can also lead to a decrease in sensitivity and a reduction in response time. Accordingly, the preferred embodiment of the present invention utilizes a proper amount of attenuation to achieve a high level of sensitivity and a very fast response time with an acceptable noise floor.
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Mixer 30 accomplishes this downconversion through the assistance of a local oscillator 36. Local oscillator 36, acting as a signal generator, outputs a signal whose frequency is slightly higher than that of the SAW driver board 16. In the preferred embodiment, local oscillator outputs a 312 MHz signal. Mixer 30 takes the SAW driver board signal it has received at a frequency of 311.5 MHz and subtracts the local oscillator signal of 312 MHz to arrive at a new signal of 500 kHz (super heterodyne architecture). Local oscillator 36 receives 15 VDC directly from main power supply 32.
This new downconverted 500 kHz signal still contains the same information that the original 311.5 MHz signal that a given SAW driver board 16 contained (i.e., information relating to the detection of any chemical agents that may be present in the air of the environment being sampled). The down converted frequency signal (shown as DOWN SIG in
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Equivalent elements can be substituted for the ones set forth above such that they perform in the same manner in the same way for achieving the same result.
This invention was made with U.S. Government support under contract or grant DTRA02-99-C-0187 awarded by the Defense Treat Reduction Agency. The U.S. Government has certain rights in the invention.