- Quadruped robot combines mobility and odor detection to identify gas leaks and environmental hazards in real time
- Demonstration highlights efforts to give robots a new sensory capability beyond vision, sound and navigation
DEEP Robotics (云深处科技), a leading quadrupedal robotics developer, has demonstrated a quadruped robot equipped with an AI-powered electronic nose system at a technology exhibition hosted by Dresden University of Technology in Germany.
This marks what the company described as the first integration of electronic-nose, or e-nose, technology with an embodied AI robotic platform.
The demonstration took place at the university’s “Die Zukunft des Riechens — von Nase zu Riechenden Maschinen” (“The Future of Smell — From Biological Nose to Electronic Nose”) exhibition, where the company’s Jueying Lite3 robot navigated a crowded indoor environment filled with equipment and visitors before autonomously positioning itself at inspection points.
Identify gas leaks
Once in place, the onboard e-nose captured airborne odor signals while AI algorithms analyzed the data in real time to identify gas leaks and measure concentrations.
The system completed the process from gas sampling to results generation within seconds, according to demonstration data presented at the event.
The solution combines DEEP Robotics’ Jueying Lite3 quadruped robot with e-nose sensors and AI-based analysis software.
The Hangzhou-based startup said the robot’s autonomous navigation capabilities allow it to enter hazardous or hard-to-reach areas where human access may be difficult.
Closed-loop workflow
The platform is designed to create a closed-loop workflow covering mobility, sensing, analysis and early warning. Potential applications include medical screening, environmental monitoring, industrial inspections and emergency response operations.
While advances in cameras, millimeter-wave radar and lidar have significantly improved robots’ visual, auditory and navigation capabilities, odor detection remains a relatively underdeveloped area in robotics.
Yet smell often serves as a critical indicator of danger in fields ranging from healthcare and environmental protection to industrial operations.
A wide range of use cases
In healthcare settings, the company said the robot could move through complex environments and compare detected odors against disease-related scent databases to support early screening.
In environmental monitoring, it could identify pollutants, locate contamination sources and track their spread in hazardous areas.
For emergency response, the system could help locate trapped individuals in disaster zones through odor detection while simultaneously monitoring toxic gases that may threaten rescue teams.
In industrial facilities such as chemical plants and energy sites, it could identify leaks and equipment abnormalities before they escalate into safety incidents.
A market worth $1.84 billion by 2032
According to research firm Markets and Markets, the global e-nose market is expected to grow from about $420 million in 2026 to $1.84 billion by 2032, representing a compound annual growth rate of 28%.
DEEP Robotics said it plans to continue developing and commercializing odor-sensing technologies across a broader range of real-world applications.
