Sensing odour trails for mobile robot navigation

Author

Russell, Andrew ; Thiel, David ; Mackay-Sim, Alan

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Syst. Eng., Monash Univ., Clayton, Vic., Australia

fYear

1994

fDate

8-13 May 1994

Firstpage

2672

Abstract

By monitoring or following trails layed on the ground a mobile robot can perform several useful navigation tasks. An example would be following a trail layed on an outward journey in order to later find the way back to the starting point. This paper describes the latest stage in the development of a robot navigation system based on laying down and detecting trails of volatile chemicals. Previously a prototype olfactory sensor was developed which showed the feasibility of having a mobile robot follow an odour trail on the floor. This prototype sensor has now been improved by managing airflow in the vicinity of the sensor. This has decreased the sensor response time and improved rejection of spurious odour signals carried by airflow in the room. A simple and effective applicator has also been developed for laying odour trails

Keywords

mobile robots; navigation; mobile robot navigation; olfactory sensor; sensing odour trails; sensor response time; volatile chemicals; Chemical sensors; Insects; Intelligent robots; Microelectronics; Mobile robots; Navigation; Olfactory; Prototypes; Robot sensing systems; Systems engineering and theory;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Robotics and Automation, 1994. Proceedings., 1994 IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

San Diego, CA

Print_ISBN

0-8186-5330-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ROBOT.1994.351111

Filename

351111