A robot with a sense of smell has been created by a Tel Aviv University research team. It was made by fusing desert locust antennas with an electronic system, and signal analysis was done using artificial intelligence methods.
The robot, according to the study, has 10,000 times greater sensitivity to odors than conventional electrical equipment.
How Does Robot Pick Smells?
The team claims that this robot represents a scientific first. However, they both acknowledge that the robust, adaptable, and sensitive biological olfactory senses are incomparable to human-made technologies.
It is important to note that researchers have created surgically modified locusts to identify malignancy. Researchers have tried to utilize locusts to detect explosives in 2016.
When a smell is present, the locust antenna, which functions as a biological sensor, responds by sending electrical signals that the robot can detect and decipher. Machine learning was used to connect the sensor to the electronic system.
The study team believes that this method will eventually be used to detect infections, narcotics, and explosives.
Regardless of the odorant’s concentration, the robot could distinguish between at least eight pure scents, such as geranium, lemon, and marzipan, as well as two combinations of distinct odorants.
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Other Sense May Be Affected
Receptors are used by our sense organs, such as the nose, ear, and eyes, to recognize and distinguish between various messages. The brain interprets these electrical impulses as information when they have been converted into those.
Connecting a sensitive organ, like the nose, to an electronic device that can decode electrical signals coming from receptors is the issue faced by biosensors.
Other senses, like sight and touch, could also be affected by the theory used in the current study. The robot will eventually be given navigational capabilities, which will enable it to identify and localize the source of the odor.
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