Flexible Logic for Autonomous Gas Sensing (FLAGS)

With tightening industrial safety standards across the globe and increasing risks from air pollution in higher density cities,
low cost monitoring of the air we breathe for both safety and good health is an unfilled demand. Current gas detectors fulfill
the legal requirements, but at a cost that limits widespread use, especially in the third world. The cost barrier cannot be
broken with current PCB - silicon chip solutions and a radical rethink is required. Hybrid plastic electronics and dedicated
silicon chips along with integrated gas sensors is a design that is now possible, combining the knowledge of a polymer
electronics company, gas detector company and dedicated silicon chip suppliers. This new system could also offer a
radical new change in design allowing a wider acceptance of the product. This low cost gas detector can be the first
product of a family of personal safety monitors, air quality cards and homeland security / first responder protection alarms.

The industrial gas detector market is divided globally as 25% Europe, 25% North America and 50% Asia and rest of the
world. Frost and Sullivan (Draft report: November 2012) value the European gas detector market at 550M euros, of which
48% are portable/personal detectors, with 67% of the sensors based on the technologies proposed in this project. So the
total portable gas detector market using this project's technologies is 180M euros in Europe and hence 720M euros
worldwide. Of this 720M euros market, it is estimated that 20% (180M euros) would be accessible to a low cost gas card.
Uptake would be rapid after certification because of the strong financial advantage of this product to contractors who must
comply with safety legislation. This is corroborated by the 2011 Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. on Gas Detection
Equipment market. This study projected the global market for Gas Detection Equipment to reach 1.5 billion US dollars by
the year 2017. BCC research estimated that the global market for gas sensors and gas metering is worth an estimated $3.9
billion in 2010 and is expected to increase to nearly 5.2 billion US dollars in 2015 with a 5-year compound annual growth
rate (CAGR) of 5.9%. From GCIS the Chinese market for portable gas sensor alone has been estimated to grow at CAGR
of 21% in 2009.
These market estimates are corroborated by an Alphasense internal study with its own customers which has demonstrated
very strong demand for the gas card product targeted by this project.
IDTechEx (2011) indicated that the logic and smart systems sector, including sensors, will lead to very large 100 billion US
dollars global market within the next decade and is expected to be the largest growth sector for printed electronics. Key
enablers for this market are cost and device performance, both of which are being addressed within the project. Plastic
Logic sees a large potential in interfacing sensors for autonomous systems.
The additional, "spillover" markets are new markets and hence more difficult to define; however, one example-citizens' observatories projects are being initiated in Europe (Copenhagen Wheel, CITISense) and in USA (UCSD and Berkeley
both have ongoing citizens' projects). With a minimum requirement of 250-500 cards per city, and an estimate of over 1,300
cities worldwide with over 500,000 population, it is easy to see that large quantities of these cards could be required as air
quality increases in priority (2013 is the European Year of Air).