# Detecting Scents & Smells With IoT Sensors | Altered Carbon's Ali Rohafza

- Show: [IoT For All Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast)
- Published: 2022-02-17
- Length: 26m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2022-02-17-detecting-scents-smells-with-iot-sensors-altered-carbons-ali-rohafza
- Listen: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/iot-for-all/episodes/Detecting-Scents--Smells-With-IoT-Sensors--Altered-Carbons-Ali-Rohafza-e28bmq9

## Summary

Ali Rohafza, CEO and co-founder of Altered Carbon, explains how his company developed digital vapor detection sensors that replicate the human nose to identify and fingerprint smells. He details the technology's origin at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, the use of graphene-based sensors for low-power operation, and the challenge of creating standardized testing methods for mass production. Rohafza discusses key applications in food spoilage detection, industrial safety, and potential future uses in agriculture and medical diagnostics.

## Chapters

- [0:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2022-02-17-detecting-scents-smells-with-iot-sensors-altered-carbons-ali-rohafza#t=4) Introduction and Company Overview
- [2:53](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2022-02-17-detecting-scents-smells-with-iot-sensors-altered-carbons-ali-rohafza#t=173) Founding Story and Air Quality Origins
- [6:08](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2022-02-17-detecting-scents-smells-with-iot-sensors-altered-carbons-ali-rohafza#t=368) Graphene Sensor Technology and Digital Fingerprints
- [8:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2022-02-17-detecting-scents-smells-with-iot-sensors-altered-carbons-ali-rohafza#t=495) Food Spoilage and Industrial Applications
- [11:42](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2022-02-17-detecting-scents-smells-with-iot-sensors-altered-carbons-ali-rohafza#t=702) Hardware Design and Mass Sensing
- [15:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2022-02-17-detecting-scents-smells-with-iot-sensors-altered-carbons-ali-rohafza#t=941) Scaling Challenges and Standardized Testing
- [17:39](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2022-02-17-detecting-scents-smells-with-iot-sensors-altered-carbons-ali-rohafza#t=1059) Market Education and Future Applications

## Topics

- [Sensors & measurement in products](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sensors)
- [Materials & manufacturing processes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/materials-and-processes)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Altered Carbon (company)
- Bristol Robotics Laboratory (company)
- UWE (company)
- Iron Link (product)
- graphene (material)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [S5E48 Kordel France | Olfactory AI](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-11-29-s5e48-kordel-france-olfactory-ai) (Being an Engineer)
- [7. Diagnosing Alzheimer’s At A Glance, The Stress You Sweat, Bloom’s Better Bioplastics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2021-03-02-7-diagnosing-alzheimers-at-a-glance-the-stress-you-sweat-blooms-better-bioplasti) (The Next Byte Podcast)
- [Greg Charvat Returns With A Book! - Laboratory Literature Laureate](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2014-01-08-greg-charvat-returns-with-a-book-laboratory-literature-laureate) (The Amp Hour)
- [The Seer of Prophesee | CES: The Good, The Bad, and The Weird…, and The Sleepable, The Driveable, The Mixological](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/ee-times-current/2020-01-17-the-seer-of-prophesee-ces-the-good-the-bad-and-the-weird-and-the-sleepable-the-d) (EE Times Current)
- [24. MIT’s Magic Carpet, Nanoparticles in Your Food, Turning Fabric into Smart Devices](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-next-byte-podcast/2021-06-29-24-mits-magic-carpet-nanoparticles-in-your-food-turning-fabric-into-smart-device) (The Next Byte Podcast)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2022-02-17-detecting-scents-smells-with-iot-sensors-altered-carbons-ali-rohafza. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to IoT For All Podcast.
