Odor Characterization of Automotive Cabins Using an Electronic Nose

The customer increased sensitivity to air quality problem and the natural influence of smell on human behavior affect the purchasing decision as the opinion on the vehicle quality during its life. So the olfactory quality is an even more important issue.

Since the early 80's the car manufacturers have been working on the olfactory quality assessment using panel tests with trained or untrained sniffers.

The subjective tests are expensive and require a not negligible time to be organized. The Centro Ricerche FIAT evaluated the applicability of an electronic nose to assess the odor quality and compared the obtained results with the votes of a jury.