Case Study: Argonne National Laboratory achieves 100× faster sensor measurements and cuts R&D from 1 year to 2 weeks with MathWorks

Argonne National Laboratory Develops Sensor for Chemical Agent Detection

Argonne National Laboratory needed to develop a reliable microsensor to detect and identify airborne chemical agents without spending researcher time rewriting hardware‑specific code. To focus on chemistry and algorithms, Argonne used MathWorks tools — MATLAB along with Data Acquisition Toolbox, Signal Processing Toolbox, Deep Learning Toolbox, and MATLAB Compiler — to build the measurement, signal‑processing and classification software for their Smart Sensor Developer Kit (SSDK).

Using MathWorks products, Argonne implemented voltammetry-based sensing (Data Acquisition Toolbox for waveform output and acquisition, Signal Processing Toolbox for filtering, Deep Learning Toolbox for pattern recognition) and compiled algorithms for microcontrollers with MATLAB Compiler. The MathWorks‑based solution increased measurement code performance by two orders of magnitude (from ~20 s to ~0.25 s), reduced R&D time from about one year to two weeks, and helped the SSDK earn a 2002 R&D 100 award.

Argonne National Laboratory

Michael Vogt

SSDK Instrumentation Developer