STINKJET: The Valve-Controlled Smell Generator

By Ben Greenblatt, Fall 2000

Welcome to the StinkJet documentation website. The StinkJet was designed for Dr. Christiane Linster of the Cornell University Department of Neurobiology and Behavior. The original aparatus contained 18 valves, each gating a different scent. The different smells could be applied to a rat within a box nearby. Three infrared beam sensors were placed within the box to identify where the rat was placing its nose. The entire system was controlled by a PC through an interface written in GW-BASIC. The valves were controlled via a relay board connected to the PC.

The current aparatus was a hideous jumble of wires which was barely understandable and not terribly reliable. The software was outdated and difficult to use. I was commisioned to redo the aparatus, including the wiring, control hardware, and software.

The new system uses a custom board containing the Atmel AT90S8515 CPU. The microcontroller manipulates the valves through the relay board and monitors the sensors. An RS-232 interface to the PC is provided for user control. Figure 1 illustrates the system.