A robot has been fitted with insect antennae to give it super-sensitive smelling powers.
Researchers from Tel Aviv University connected a pair of locust sensors – which the insect uses to smell – to an electronic system and used an AI algorithm so the machine could identify odours with a level of sensitivity 10,000 times higher than that of any commonly used electronic device.
Dr Ben Maoz this week told the Engineering and Technology website: “Man-made technologies still can’t compete with millions of years of evolution. One area in which we particularly lag behind the animal world is that of smell perception. “When they want to check if a passenger is smuggling drugs (at the airport), they bring in a dog to sniff him.
“In the animal world, insects excel at receiving and processing sensory signals. “A mosquito, for example, can detect a 0.01 per cent difference in the level of carbon dioxide in the air.
“Today, we are far from producing sensors whose capabilities come close to those of insects.”
Professor Yossi Yovel, a researcher on the locust project, added: “We connected the biological sensor (to the electronic system) and let it smell different odours while we measured the electrical activity that each odour induced.
“The system allowed us to detect each odour at the level of the insect’s primary sensory organ.
“Then, in the second step, we used machine learning to create a ‘library’ of smells.
“In the study, we were able to characterise eight odours, such as geranium, lemon and marzipan, in a way that allowed us to know when the smell of lemon or marzipan was presented.
“In fact, after the experiment was over, we continued to identify additional different and unusual smells, such as various types of Scotch whisky.
“A comparison with standard measuring devices showed that the sensitivity of the insect’s nose in our system is about 10,000 times higher than the devices that are in use today.”
The team say their findings suggest the same principle can be used to give bots other senses that will help humanity.
Dr Maoz added: “For example, some animals have amazing abilities to detect explosives or drugs; the creation of a robot with a biological nose could help us preserve human life and identify criminals in a way that is not possible today.
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