Robotic System for Localizing a Chemical Source Underwater by Mimicking Crayfish Behavior

An underwater robotic system with a chemical sensing capability is proposed. Crayfish that prefer stagnant flow conditions are known to generate water currents by beating exopodites of maxillipeds to enhance the chemical perception. The developed robotic system consists of an array of electrochemical sensors and a pair of fanning devices mimicking the maxillipeds. The fanning devices beaten vertically enable the robot to draw water samples from a wide horizontal angular range and to detect the chemicals in the surroundings. Successful demonstrations are presented to show the robot´s ability to search for a chemical source in a stagnant water pool.