Plume-Tracking Robots: A New Application of Chemical Sensors

Many animals have the ability to search for odor sources by tracking their plumes. Some of the key features of this search behavior have been successfully transferred to robot platforms, although the capabilities of animals are still beyond the current level of sensor technologies. The examples desc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Biological bulletin (Lancaster) 2001-04, Vol.200 (2), p.222-226
Main Authors: Ishida, Hiroshi, Nakamoto, Takamichi, Moriizumi, Toyosaka, Kikas, Timo, Janata, Jiri
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Analysis
Animal behavior
Animals
Chemical detectors
Chemical hazards
Chemicals
Chemoreceptor Cells - physiology
Compasses
Invertebrate Sensory Information Processing: Implications for Biologically Inspired Autonomous Systems: Proceedings of a Workshop Sponsored by the Center for Advanced Studies in the Space Life Sciences at the MBL 15 to 17 June 2000
Moths
Odors
Plumes
Receptors, Odorant - physiology
Robotics
Robots
Sensors
Sensory perception
Stimulation, Chemical
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Summary:Many animals have the ability to search for odor sources by tracking their plumes. Some of the key features of this search behavior have been successfully transferred to robot platforms, although the capabilities of animals are still beyond the current level of sensor technologies. The examples described in this paper are (1) incorporating into a wheeled robot the upwind surges and casting used by moths in tracking pheromone plumes, (2) extracting useful information from the response patterns of a chemical sensor array patterned after the spatially distributed chemoreceptors of some animals, and (3) mimicking the fanning behavior of silkworm moths to enhance the reception of chemical signals by drawing molecules from one direction. The achievements so far and current efforts are reviewed to illustrate the steps to be taken toward future development of this technology.
ISSN:0006-3185
1939-8697
DOI:10.2307/1543320