PIPER - Environmental Sampling Robot

Project by Dr. Stuart Shalat, Adam Stambler, and Harold Osiloke Emoekpere.

Description of PIPER

Render of PIPERThe Pre-toddler Inhalable Particulate Environmental Robotic (PIPER) sampler is a robot which mimics children's floor activities so that exposure data relevant to young children may be safely collected. It was developed at the Environmental and Occupational Health Science Institutes' (EOHSI) Advanced Robotics Environmental Assessment Laboratory (AREAL). PIPER acts as a robotic surrogate for the measurement of young children's exposure to environmental toxins . It mimics their movement patterns and samples the air at their breathing heights. In this manner, the robot measures a child's exposure without putting a child at risk to even the most commonly present household toxins.

The PIPER concept has gone through several iterations. It started out as a little lego robot capable of carrying only the smallest sampling equipment, went through 2 generations of robotics kits, and has matured into a current custom design. The latest generation, PIPER 4.0b, can carry 2 sampling pumps and sample air from 22cm to 100cm off the ground. It has been programmed with the movement and breathing patterns of 1,2, and 3 year old children. These patterns were derived from quantitative analysis of over 50 children at play in and around their homes.

Previous revisions of PIPER

Top Left: 2nd Generation based off of a Lynx Motion Robotics kit, Top Center: 1st Generation constructed out of LEGOs, Top Right: 3rd Generation, Bottom: PIPER 4.0a - Current Design

PIPER 4.0 was custom designed, machined, and programmed at UMDNJ and Rutgers University. The mechanics of PIPER were designed in Solidworks and CNC machined by Adam Stambler. The electronics and programming were done by Adam Stambler and Harold Osiloke Emoekpere. On board, PIPER has an 8-bit microcontroller which handles reading its sensors, motor control, and raising and lowering the sampling tower. This microcontroller communicates wirelessly to a basestation computer which controls its movements.

CAD model of PIPERPhoto of PIPER Left: SolidWorks CAD model of PIPER. Right: PIPER 4.0a completed on on display with sampling pumps and virtual walls

PIPER Goes to Florida

PIPER has also been involved in studying the health effects of red tide in Florida. Red Tide is an algea bloom which produces the toxin Brevotoxin. When inhaled by beach goers, brevotoxin can cause repiratory problems. In 2005, PIPER 2.0 traveled Florida's Siesta Key to help study the exposure in young children. An article describing study can be found here.

After 3 years of no red tide, PIPER 4.0 traveled to Florida on December 12/20/09-12/21/09 to help study childhood exposure. Unforunately, the winds shifted, the weather grew cold, there were very low levels of red tide by the time PIPER arrived from New Jersey for this study. PIPER did not find measurable levels of brevotoxins as it criss crossed the Siesta key beach.

Future Work

The PIPER platform is currently being given an Augmented Reality Upgrade as apart of Adam Stambler's and Harold Osiloke Emoekpere's Capstone Design project. With this upgrade, PIPER will be able to collect environmental data in context. It will build 3 dimensional maps of the environment that it is sampling and will be able to overlay the sampled data on that environment. This will allow researchers to gain new insights by reviewing their data within the world in which it was collected.

Papers, Articles and Patents

Funding for this research was provided by NIEHS through the Center for Environmental Exposures and Disease: P30ES005022, H. Zarbl, PI and NIEHS grant R01ES014717, S. Shalat, PI, The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and Support from EOHSI.