RoboNose: Olfaction based mobile robot navigation

This project researched artificial olfaction systems for use in mobile robots and search methods for odour source localisation and odour field mapping. This project had three main parts: Part I identified the potential application of olfaction in mobile robotics and surveyed the state of the art in this area. Part II researched tin oxide based gas sensing systems and algorithms used to discriminate different odours with electronic noses. This part of the project also researched directional thermal anemometers whose information could be used to find out from where the sensed odours came from. The Part III of the project researched navigation algorithms used to search and localize the position of odour sources with mobile robots, namely: local searching methods that allowed to track an odour plume until its source, as well as global searching methods that could be used to search odour plumes across large spaces, where in most of the searching space no odour trace could be detected.