Odor-searching Robot with Insect-behavior-based Olfactory Sensor

Overview

The study focuses on the use of male silkmoths as biosensors for odour detection in mobile robots. Silkmoths exhibit high sensitivity to conspecific sex pheromones and can have their odour preferences modified genetically, providing an excellent system from which to perform olfaction experiments. The researchers employ machine learning to classify silkmoth behaviors, and predict the presence of odours based on their walking patterns. They go on to develop an odour-searching robot equipped with this sensing device, demonstrating the feasibility of their approach. The findings ultimately illustrate the efficacy of the novel insect-behaviour-based odour-searching robot in localizing odour sources using artificial searching algorithms.

This publication is featured in our September 2023 publication review. Check out the Scents of Security: Emerging Olfaction Applications with Biorobots blog.