Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

Procedia Engineering 41 (2012) 1190 1196

International Symposium on Robotics and Intelligent Sensors 2012 (IRIS 2012)

Development of Microcontroller Based Mobile Gas Sensing Robot

Mohd Zaki Ghazalia, Noorhayati Mohamed Noora, Noraziah Ramlya, Sulastri Putitb *
a
Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, University Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia
b
Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Sarawak, Malaysia

Abstract

This paper presents the development of a microcontroller based mobile gas sensing robot. The purpose of the robot is to automatically
detect gas leakage along a gas transporting pipeline. The developed microcontroller based mobile gas sensor robot is also proposed to
reduce the workload of inspection and maintaining gas pipeline. Pipeline gas detection is difficult as it is odourless but very flammable
and the pipeline may run thousand kilometres. The combustible property of LPG gas leads to mass destruction of properties and human
casualties. The developed mobile gas sensing robot has shown it capability to detect the LPG gas upon a leakage using its LPG gas sensor
and also capable of determining the location of leakage from its Ultrasonic sensor. In addition, the robot is capable of traversing the
pipeline back and forth without any human intervention. The experiment has shown that the mobile gas sensing robot can acts as a
precautionary measure from gas leakage along a pipeline.

2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the Centre of
Humanoid Robots and Bio-Sensor (HuRoBs), Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA.
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Keywords: Gas Leakage, Pipeline, Gas Sensor; Ultrasonic Sensor; Mobile Robot

1. Introduction

Lately, many cases gas leakage incidents have been reported in Malaysia. Two such cases in Malaysia were reported in
May and Sept 2011. It involved a luxury condominium and shopping mall where victims were injured and burnt, and the
properties were damage due to explosion and fire. A gas valve was found to have been switched on at the condominium[1]
and a faulty pipeline had caused a LPG to be accidentally release to the shopping mall[2]. The explosion had also
destructed property that was few kilometres away from where the incident took place. Hence, precautionary measure i.e
early detection of leakage to prevent from disastrous events is essential.
Gas tragedies due to gas pipeline are attributed to corrosion which eventually caused the pipeline to rupture. As the
pipeline corroded, gas leaks to the atmosphere. This incident is disastrous as in time explosion may occur which caused
fatalities such as the incident in Ghislenghien, Belgium (2004), Canvey Island, UK (2008) and Pennsylvania, USA(2011).
This has prompted the idea to develop an automated gas sensing microprocessor based system that also has the motion
capability as gas are normally transport using a pipeline from one location to another. A robot has been used in replacing
human for handling various tasks in a hazardous and dangerous workplace where human life may at risk. In our study to
develop mobile gas sensing robot, two kinds of sensor will be used for the gas detection and leakage location information as
the exact location of the leakage is important for maintenance purpose. As pipeline leakage cannot be anticipated, therefore,
our robot will be able to continuously monitor and inspect the pipeline.
In this paper, we proposed to develop our mobile gas sensing robot by using BASIC Stamp Microcontroller, BASIC
Stamp Editor Version 2.3.9 as the platform development, PBasic programming language, Ping))) TM Ultrasonic Distance

* Corresponding author. Tel.:60-03-55211143; fax:60-03-55435501.

E-mail address: mhzaki@tmsk.uitm.edu.my

1877-7058 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2012.07.300
 Mohd Zaki Ghazali et al. / Procedia Engineering 41 (2012) 1190 1196 1191

Sensor, LPG Gas Sensor, Buzzer and LCD. Parallax servos are much recommended for robotic projects. This paper is
organized as follows: Section 2 describes the overall hardware design. The microprocessor based controller design is
described in the Section 3. Section 4 shows the testing and result obtained after the development of the hardware and
software. Overall conclusions are then presented in Section 5.

2. General Design of the Mobile Gas Sensing Robot

The overview of the construction of the mobile gas sensing robot is shown in Fig. 1. The development of the
microprocessor based mobile gas sensing robot begins with the assembling of the hardware. The hardware components are
divided into eight main components; Basic Stamp microcontroller, Parallax Boe-Bot Kit mobile robot, Ping)))) Ultrasonic
sensor, LPG sensor, buzzer, LCD, 433 MHz RF transceiver and a rail rack.
LPG Gas Pipeline

M Servo Motor
LPG Gas Sensor Left Alarm

Ping 433MHz
Distance RF
Sensor Transceiver
LCD Alarm LCD
Microcontroller Microcontroller

433MHz
RF LED
Transceiver

M
Servo Motor
Right

Start End

Rail Track

Fig. 1. Overview of Mobile Gas Sensing Robot.

2.1. BASIC Stamp Microcontroller (BS2)

The BASIC Stamp Microcontroller acts as a brain to our mobile gas sensor robot. The microcontroller and the hardware
are connected to the Board of Education (BOE) and wire connectors are used to connect the pin of the hardware to the BOE
board. Fig. 2 shows the BOE board and the BASIC Stamp microcontroller.

Fig. 2. BOE and BASIC Stamp microcontroller

2.2. Boe-Bot Kit

The Parallax Boe-Bot Kit are used to mobilize the microprocessor based system. The robot has three wheels, one
powerless at the rear and two servo-powered disk-type wheels at the front. Both motors are control to achieve the forward
and backward motion. Fig. 3 shows the layout of the servo motor which provide the motion function to the sensor to move
along the pipeline.

Fig. 3. Continuous rotation servo motor

1192 Mohd Zaki Ghazali et al. / Procedia Engineering 41 (2012) 1190 1196

2.3. Sensor: LPG Gas Sensor and Ultrasonic Distance Sensor

Two types of sensor required i.e to detect the gas and distance. Fig. 4a is a LPG gas sensor is used to detect the presence
of LPG gases. The LPG gas sensor is used to detect gas presence that escapes the pipelines. The set point and trip level of
the gas sensor is calibrated accordingly during test phase. Fig. 4b shows the Ping))) sensor, an ultrasonic device used with
the BASIC Stamp to measure distance. It can measure a distance within the range of 3cm to 3.3m.

Fig. 4a) LPG Gas sensor b) Ping))) ultrasonic distance sensor

2.4. Notification System: Buzzer and LCD Display

The buzzer shown in Fig. 5a is used as an alarm to inform people if a gas leakage is detected. It will produce a sound to
inform people about a dangerous situation. The LCD as in Fig. 5b is used to display the location of gas leak i.e to locate the
position of the mobile robot. LCD is another way to inform the nearby people about the leakage and area of faulty in the
pipelines.

Fig. 5a) Buzzer b) LCD display

2.5. 433 MHz Transciever

Fig. 6 shows the Parallax 433 MHz RF Transceiver that is capable of sending and receiving serial data wirelessly up to
250 feet.

Fig. 6. Transmit and Receive Data Wirelessly

2.6. Rail Track

The mobile robot requires a track to enable it to move along the pipelines efficiently and prevent the robot from any
damage due to the motion. The rail in Fig. 7 is developed for the robot to traverse along the pipelines while sensing for an
LPG gas presence.

Fig. 7. Track for the robot movement

 Mohd Zaki Ghazali et al. / Procedia Engineering 41 (2012) 1190 1196 1193

3. Microprocessor Based Controller Design

The development of the mobile gas detection system is divided into three phases: main system, motion subsystem and
sensor subsystem. BASIC Stamp Editor v2.3.9 is used to write the source code that defined the operation of the main system
and both the subsystem as shown in Fig. 8.
The Ping))) ultrasonic distance sensor is integrated to the mobile robot. This sensor is programmed to determine the
distance between the mobile robot and obstacle at the end point and to control the motion of the robot. If the Ping))) sensor
determine that the distance between the mobile robot and the obstacle is less or equal two inches, then it will stop moving
for a one minutes and move backward to the start point.
Finally, the Ping))) sensor, gas sensor, continuous rotation servo are integrated to the microcontroller. The robot will
stop at the position as the gas presence is detected and the Ping))) sensor will determine the location where gas leak has
happen. If LPG gas presence is detected, alarm will be activated and LCD will display the information on the leakage and
the location where it happens. If gas leakage is not detected, then this mobile robot will keep moving and monitor the
pipelines all the time.

START

FORWARD
MOTION

YES BACKWARD
DISTANCE
= END? MOTION

NO

NO
DISTANCE YES
GAS DETECTED?
= START ?

YES NO

STOP YES
GAS DETECTED?
MOTION
NO

ALARM
ACTIVATED

DETERMINE
LOCATION

TRANSMIT
DATA $ ALARM

END

Fig. 8. Functional Overview of Mobile Gas Sensing Robot

1194 Mohd Zaki Ghazali et al. / Procedia Engineering 41 (2012) 1190 1196

3.1. Main system

The Parallax Boe-Bot Kit is assembled to form the mobile robot that have the Basic Stamp microcontroller to control its
drive subsystem and carry the sensor subsystems.
1. The Basic Stamp microcontroller and its I/O ports. They are used to run the algorithm which drives the robot.
2. Sensor subsystem: The Ping))) ultrasonic distance sensor sense the distance between the robot and the closest object in
the direction that the sensor is pointing. The LPG gas sensor detect the presence of LPG gas and light on the gas sensor
automatically will turned on when it detect gas leak occured.
3. Alert subsystem: LCD display and buzzer are connected as part system to provide display and notification to user.

3.2. Drive Subsystem

Two Parallax continuous rotation servo motor are connected to the disk wheels to drive the wheels according to the
pulses sent by the Basic Stamp microcontroller. The two servos are driven by a Vdd source of 6 volts, and controlled by a
pulse width modulation command (PWM), from an I/O pin. Basic movement i.e forward, backward and turns is achieved
by controlling the servo.

3.3. Sensor Subsystems

The sensor subsystem is divided into two components: gas detection and location detection. The gas sensor is always on
as mobile robot starts moving along the pipelines. If no gas is detected, the status of detection is 0. However, when there is a
presence of LPG gas, status of detection will change to 1. This indicates that there is gas escapes from the pipelines. At the
same time, the buzzer will be activated.
For the location detector, the Basic Stamp microcontroller will send the Ping ))) sensor a pulse to start the measurement.
Ping ))) sensor sends a brief chirp with its ultrasonic speaker An ultrasonic pulse is sent out by the Ping))) distance sensor,
which then waits for it pulse to return as depicted in Fig. 9. Location is determine by measuring the time taken for the echo
to return to its ultrasonic microphone.

Fig. 9. Ping))) ultrasonic distance sensor at work

3.4. Alert Subsystems

Upon detected of leakage, the microcontroller will send a notification via the LCD display and buzzer. The LCD
displays the location as calculated by the microcontroller with the help of the ultrasonic sensor once gas leakage is detected
by the gas sensor.

4. Testing/Result

The result is based on the test conducted on the design and development of functional unit of the mobile gas sensing
robot. At this point, all hardware including microcontroller has been combined together and attached to the BOE board. The
program written on the BASIC Stamp Editor has been stored into the microcontroller.
The testing of this prototype is divided into assembling the mobile robot, robot movement LPG gas detection, location
detection, and LCD and buzzer functionality. The result of the testing is represented as below.

4.1. Assembling of Mobile Robot

ig. 10 shows the assembled structure of the mobile gas sensing robot. It shows the locations of the ultrasonic sensor and
the gas sensor mounted on the Parallax Boe-Bot Kit with an LCD display and buzzer. The prototype system is operated by
 Mohd Zaki Ghazali et al. / Procedia Engineering 41 (2012) 1190 1196 1195

battery. The movement of the robot is tested for its forward, backward, rotate, turn to left and turn to right motion. Then the
robot is mounted on the rail rack constructed for the purpose of this project. The robot has successfully moved forward and
upon reaching the end of the rail, it reversed to the start point. The stop distance between the robot and any obstacle is 2
inches as programmed. Fig. 11 shows the robot in stop position upon reaching end of track.

Fig. 10. Top and Front View of the Assembled Mobile Gas Sensing Robot

Fig. 11. Front and Side View of Mobile Gas Sensing Robot

4.2. Functionality of Sensors and Alert subsystem(LCD and Buzzer)

The gas sensor is tested by spraying a LPG gas from a portable can towards the sensor. The range of detection of the gas
sensor is calibrated to increase and decrease the sensitivitity level of the detection. As the gas sensing robot detects an LPG
gas, the robot stops and LED on the LPG sensor is turned on. At the same time, the LCD display shows a message
regarding the gas leakage. Simultaneously, the buzzer produced a sound to the surrounding. Then the calculated distance is
displayed on the LCD display. The distance is calculated as the mobile robot moved as shown in Fig. 12. The LCD display
in Fig. 12 show that a gas leakage has been detected at location 18 inches from the starting point. It proved that the sensors
and the alert subsystems are functioning as design.

Fig. 12. LCD displays the location and detection status

As the gas sensor no longer sense any gas, the alarm light on the LPG gas sensor is off, then the mobile gas sensor robot
resumes moving on the rail until to the end point. Fig. 13 below shows the location of the mobile robot is 11 inches and
detection status is 0.

Fig. 13. Mobile Gas Sensing Robot shows location message as it moves

Besides providing the input for location detection, the ultrasonic sensor is also responsible to prevent the robot from
crashing into an obstacle. Fig. 14 shows the robot stops as it detects an obstruction within its 2 inches range.
1196 Mohd Zaki Ghazali et al. / Procedia Engineering 41 (2012) 1190 1196

Fig. 14. Mobile robot stops upon detection of obstruction

5. Conclusion

Overall, the developed microprocessor based gas sensing mobile robot has been successfully implemented. The Parallax
Boe-Bot Kit has been chosen as the mobile robot and connected to Basic Stamp microcontroller for its movement, sensing
and notification functions. The movement of the robot is achieved by controlling the Parallax continuous rotation servo
motor. The gas sensing function is achieved by the gas sensor and the location detection is realized through the Ping)))
ultrasonic sensor. Lastly the notification is implemented using the LCD display and a buzzer.
The functionality of the mobile gas sensing robot has been tested and successfully verified. The robot is capable of
detecting gas presence and calculates the robot location as it transverse on the rail. The robot can automatically return to it
the start point and stops as it detects an obstruction in front of it. In the presence of gas, the alarm on the gas sensor, the
LCD display and buzzer are activated to notify the leakage.
Currently, the constraint of this robot is the power supply which currently from one source that provide current to the
main and all subsystems. This has cause an impact the motion of the robot. The mobile gas sensing robot is useful to
monitor gas pipeline from any gas leakage that may lead to catastrophe.

Acknowledgements

We wish to express our gratitude to En Ramly for his contribution in constructing the rail system for the robot.

References
[1] C.Steven. and R.Rahim, Briton hurt in gas leak explosion, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/9/nation/8645263&sec=nation (9 May
2011) . Last accessed 10 October 2011.
[2] R.Charles, W. Pauline, and A.Alyaaim, 4 hurt, 40 shops damaged in blast at Subang Jaya mall, http://www.thesundaily.my/news/158893 (28
September 2011. Last accessed 10 October 2011.
[3] B. Richard, Basic activities with the BOE-BOT mobile robot, http://arxiv.org/ftp/cs/papers/0411/0411042.pdf, Institute of Control and Industrial
Informatics FEI, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, 2008. Last accessed 15 October 2011.
[4] N.Norkharziana, Design of microcontroller-based converter for 3-phase brushless DC motor drives, http://eprints.usm.my/15495/, Universiti Sains
Malaysia (2009). Last accessed 15 October 2011.
[5] O. Jegede, O. Awodele, A. Ayodele, and M.A. Ndong, Development of a microcontroller based robotic arm, Proceedings of the 2007 Computer
Science and IT Education Conference, 2007.
[6] M. Carolyn, The five Senses of Sensors - Sound, http://www.digikey.com/us/en/techzone/sensors/resources/articles/five-senses-of-sensors-
sound.html, News and articles of interest from the sensor solutions industry. Last accessed15 October 2011.
[7] Parallax Inc. LPG (Propane) Gas Sensor Module, http://www.parallax.com. Last accessed 15 October 2011.
[8] SHV Energy, What is LPG?, http://www.shvenergy.com/products_and_services/what_is_lpg. Last accessed 15 October 2011.
[9] Everyday Chemistry Why do we detect an odour when LPG leaks, http://www.humantouchofchemistry.com/why-do-we-detect-an-odour-when-lpg-
leaks.htm. Last accessed 15 October 2011.
[10] Parallax Inc., PBasic Programming Language, http://a.parsons.edu/~traviss/cc/lab/propeller/PBASICProg.pdf. Last accessed 15 October 2011.
[11] Servo Motors Information, Usage and Control, http://www.lirtex.co. Last accessed 15 October 2011.
[12] H.H. Chu, E. Samir, and S. Milutin, Mobile Gas Sensor and Source Detector, in Proceedings of The 2010 Long Island Systems Applications and
Technology(LISAT), 2010.
[13] L. Fraiwan, K. Lweesy, A. Bani-Salma, N. Mani, A Wireless Home Safety Gas Leakage Detection System, in Proceeding of First Middle East
Conference on Biomedical Engineering , pp11-14, 2011.
[14] Y. Jin and A. Eydgahi, Monitoring of distributed pipeline systems by wireless sensor networks, in Proceedings of The 2008 IJAC-IJME
International Conference, Nashville, TN, USA, 2008.
[15] K. Shilpa and S.S. Shriramwar, FPGA-based Controller for a Mobile Robot, , (IJCSIS) International Journal of Computer Science
and Information Security, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2009.
[16] B. Richard, Robotics course with the Acrob Robot, http://www.innoc.at/fileadmin/user_upload/_temp_/RiE/Proceedings/15.pdf . Last accessed 15
October 2011.
[17] Robotics with Boe-Bot, http://www.parallax.com/dl/docs/books/edu/roboticsv2_2.pdf (2010). Last accessed 15 October 2011.
[18] Student Guide Version 2.2, What is Microcontroller? http://www.parallax.com/dl/docs/books/edu/wamv2_2.pdf(2003-2004) Last accessed 15
October 2011.