An artificial moth: Chemical source localization using a robot based neuronal model of moth optomotor anemotactic search

Robots have been used to model nature, while nature in turn can contribute to the real-world artifacts we construct. One particular domain of interest is chemical search where a number of efforts are underway to construct mobile chemical search and localization systems. We report on a project that aims at constructing such a system based on our understanding of the pheromone communication system of the moth. Based on an overview of the peripheral processing of chemical cues by the moth and its role in the organization of behavior we emphasize the multimodal aspects of chemical search, i.e. optomotor anemotactic chemical search. We present a model of this behavior that we test in combination with a novel thin metal oxide sensor and custom build mobile robots. We show that the sensor is able to detect the odor cue, ethanol, under varying flow conditions. Subsequently we show that the standard model of insect chemical search, consisting of a surge and cast phases, provides for robust search and localization performance. The same holds when it is augmented with an optomotor collision avoidance model based on the Lobula Giant Movement Detector (LGMD) neuron of the locust. We compare our results to others who have used the moth as inspiration for the construction of odor robot

A European project SysPAQ

International audienc

CHEMOTACTIC SEARCH IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS From insects to real-world applications

Abstract: Searching for trace quantities of predefined chemical compounds in natural environments, as in the case of explosives detection, is a difficult and challenging technological problem. Much chemical interference is likely to be present and the environment itself is often complex, nonstationary and unpredictable. Here we discuss nature’s ultimate solution to this problem, in the form of pheromone mediated chemotactic search of the moth. We argue here that this organism provides an ideal model for solving the technological problem and we discuss in detail the exploitation of specific sensory processing and behavioural mechanisms relevant to the task. Finally, we discuss the project AMOTH in which the authors work towards a fully implemented, real-world instantiation of these sensorimotor mechanisms in the form of an unmanned aerial vehicle