| Abstract: | A prototype system for detecting hydrogen‐gas leaks in hydrogen filling stations was fabricated. The prototype is composed of a wireless network with 10 sensor nodes for monitoring the spatial distribution of hydrogen‐gas concentration. To make each sensor node to be driven by a battery, field‐effect transistor (FET) sensors and a microprocessor with low power consumption were used. Additionally, two functions were devised and implemented in the microprocessor in each node: one reduces the power consumption of each sensor node and the other controls the transmission to avoid communication congestion when a gas leak occurs. The use of batteries and wireless communications enables the nodes to be placed at optimal sensing locations without regard to the wiring needed with existing gas sensors. Copyright © 2008 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
