Overview Residential and industrial use of natural gas and other flammable gasses provide many economic and quality of life benefits, but at a cost in terms of safety and infrastructure. Due to the flammable and explosive nature of natural gas, shutoff valves are needed in order to limit the supply of gas to a structure in the event of fire, structural damage (e.g., from earthquakes), and gas leaks, as well as when a structure is no longer occupied. Manually operated valves are currently used for isolating gas supplies to structures. Current technology requires gas utility workers to enter the structure in order to close the valve when needed. Gas Sentinel Gas Sentinel is a low-cost safety valve for gas lines and similar supply lines that can be remotely activated via a secure wireless link. A miniaturized controller and wireless electronics assembly provides the control mechanism for actuating the valve, as well as reporting data regarding the valve status to wireless interrogators or external networks via an ad hoc wireless network. A variety of simple magnetic valve operating mechanisms are implemented with the miniaturized electronic control circuits and the valve body. Gas Sentinel provides important safety benefits at an affordable price.
