Odour Detection by Mobile Robots

Insects are extremely successful creatures, thriving in our ever-changing & unpredictable world. One of the factors behind their success is the use of odour to increase their efficiency when searching for food, to help navigate between a source of food & their nest & to enable them to find a mate. Mobile robots would have their capabilities greatly enhanced if they could make use of similar techniques. This important book describes current research aimed at giving robots the ability to generate, detect & discriminate between odours, together with the control algorithms using such sensory information. Contents: Chemical Sensing in Nature; Odour-Sensing Technology; Odour Discrimination; Airflow; Broadcast Chemical Signals; Chemical Markings as Signals; Trail Following; Coding Information into Trails; Heat as a Short-Lived Marker. Readership: Graduate students & researchers in robotics, mechatronics & artificial intelligence.