Experimental Validation of the Cone-Shaped Remote Gas Sensor Model

Remote gas sensors mounted on mobile robots enable the mapping of gas distributions in large or hardly accessible areas. A challenging task, however, is the generation of three-dimensional distribution maps from these gas measurements. Suitable reconstruction algorithms can be adapted, for instance, from the field of computed tomography (CT), but both their performance and strategies for selecting optimal measuring poses must be evaluated. For this purpose simulations are used, since, in contrast to field tests, they allow repeatable conditions. Although several simulation tools exist, they lack realistic models of remote gas sensors. Recently, we introduced a model for a Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (TDLAS) gas sensor taking into account the conical shape of its laser beam. However, the novel model has not yet been validated with experiments. In this paper, we compare our model with a real sensor device and show that the assumptions made hold.