by R Andrew Russell (Monash University, Australia)

Insects are extremely successful creatures, thriving in our ever-changing and 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 and their nest and 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 and discriminate between odours, together with the control algorithms using such sensory information.

• Chemical Sensing in Nature
• Examples of Biological Chemotaxis
• Odour Sensing Technology
• Odour Discrimination
• Airflow and Movement of Odour
• Broadcast Chemical Signals
• Chemical Markings as Signals
• Coding Information into Trails
• Heat as a Short-Lived Marker
• Future Prospects for Robotic Odour Sensing