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Intelligent Unmanned Monitoring of Remediated Sites--Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc., 2520 West 237th Street, Torrance, CA  90505-5217; 310-530-7130

Dr. Emile Fiesler, Principal Investigator

Dr. Robert A. Lieberman, Business Official

DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-00ER83023

Amount:  $99,995

 

Hazardous waste characterization is a key mission of DOE.  The conventional approach to monitoring contaminants in the environment involves collection of field samples, transportation to a  laboratory,  preparation and analysis, and  finally analytical data interpretation by experts.  This approach is slow and resource intensive, and an affordable, automatic, real-time, and on-site field screening technology is not available.  Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc. (IOS) proposes to develop a smart cost effective system for autonomous real-time characterization and analysis of hazardous chemicals in a variety of matrices.  The compact and lightweight device can be operated by untrained personnel due to its smart spectral interpretation capability.  During the Phase I project, IOS will develop a modular smart spectral analyzer and a real-time  interface to link  it to a portable Raman spectrometer.  Together with Dr. Joe Rossati at Westinghouse Savannah River Company, we will collect spectral data with the integrated system, and use this data to train our smart analyzer to automatically characterize chemicals based on their spectral data.  We will then blind test and validate the system on new unseen samples.  We will design a prototype system for hazardous materials characterization, guided by the results of these tests. 

 

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:  The proposed technology will be invaluable for identifying and monitoring a wide variety of substances, creating an enormous opportunity in environmental protection and remediation, pollution and contamination control, various kinds of process quality control (like turbine oil condition monitoring), and a broad range of medical, industrial, and scientific analysis applications.