The objective of the project was established during the last four years of detailed consultations, then attempts of collaboration between potential contractors, analysis of global trends in this field and the possibility of implementing the various ideas. It was taken into account not only technological and measuring equipment, but also the actual level of the works carried out and the acceptance of the supreme idea of the project consisting in subordination of all declared actions to implement the main purpose of the project. At the moment, we are ready to provide thoughtful and mature concept to solve the central problem – manufacturing of the sophisticated high level device for precise detection of smells emitted by forest pests. The proposed device is the result of many-years experimental research work carried out by people from WUT. The manufactured electronic system, briefly called the e-NOSE, serves for smells estimate and classification. The instrument was built using broad-band electrochemical sensors, neural network and computer software. This e-NOSE demonstrator was subsequently used to identify the smell of “counterfeit” cigarettes and to distinguish them from original ones. There was a successful attempt to identify food contamination e.g. with salmonella. The smell of pheromones emitted by a few insects in forest-environment was also successfully registered. Our e-NOSE was as well used for the detection of “plastic” mines (grenades). Built by us e-NOSE was patented. Measurement of insect pheromones in the forest was carried out in cooperation of WUT and FRI. The first preparation for implementation and manufacturing of our e-NOSE was made by Leszek Guzy, current President of the Board of CORAS enterprise, which is a member of proposed PROZEL project consortium. Our e-NOSE was shown in details by Polish TV as a first position in the cycle about Warsaw University of Technology inventions. Our e-NOSE was there comprehensively discussed in a spread-out elements’ version. All members of the proposed PROZEL consortium, since four years – with interruptions due to lack of financial support – collaborated with each other on various possibilities of e-NOSE usage. We believe that the experience of teamwork acquired in that period will allow efficient, substantive cooperation aimed to build a new version of e-NOSE with wide- and narrowband sensors, as well as with significantly higher sensitivity and selectivity with respect to the existing version.
