Skip to main content
Log in

Mobile robot navigation using vision and olfaction to search for a gas/odor source

  • Published:
Autonomous Robots Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper presents a new approach to search for a gas/odor source using an autonomous mobile robot. The robot is equipped with a CMOS camera, gas sensors, and airflow sensors. When no gas is present, the robot looks for a salient object in the camera image. The robot approaches any object found in the field of view, and checks it with the gas sensors to see if the object is releasing gas. On the other hand, if the robot detects the presence of gas while wandering around the area, it turns toward the direction of the wind that carries the gas. The robot then looks for any visible object in that direction. These navigation strategies are implemented into the robot under the framework of the behavior-based subsumption architecture. Experimental results on the search for a leaking bottle in an indoor environment are presented to demonstrate the validity of the navigation strategies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bräunl, T. and Graf, B. 1999. Autonomous mobile robots with on-board vision and local intelligence. In Proc. 2nd IEEE Workshop on Perception for Mobile Agents, pp. 51–57.

  • Brooks, R.A. 1986. A robust layered control system for a mobile robot. IEEE J. of Robot. Automat. 2:14–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Consi, T.R., Atema, J., Goudey, C.A., Cho, J., and Chryssostomidis, C. 1994. AUV guidance with chemical signals. In Proc. 1994 Symp. on Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Technology, pp. 450–455.

  • Dusenbery, D.B. 1992. Sensory Ecology. WH Freeman and Company: New York, NY.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grasso, F.W. and Atema, J. 2002. Integration of flow and chemical sensing for guidance of autonomous marine robots in turbulent flows. Environmental Fluid Mechanics, 2:95–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A.T., Martinoli, A., and Goodman, R.M. 2002. Distributed odor source localization. IEEE Sensors J., 2:260–271.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ishida, H., Kagawa, Y., Nakamoto, T., and Moriizumi, T. 1996. Odor-source localization in the clean room by an autonomous mobile sensing system. Sens. Actuators B, 33:115–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ishida, H., Suetsugu, K., Nakamoto, T., and Moriizumi, T. 1994. Study of autonomous mobile sensing system for localization of odor source using gas sensors and anemometric sensors. Sens. Actuators A, 45:153–157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuwana, Y., Shimoyama, I., and Miura, H. 1995. Steering control of a mobile robot using insect antennae. In Proc. IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intell. Robots Syst., pp. 530–535.

  • Marques, L., Nunes, U., and de Almeida, A.T. 2002. Olfaction-based mobile robot navigation. Thin Solid Films, 418:51–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martinez, D. and Perrinet, L. 2002. Cooperation between vision and olfaction in a koala robot. In Report on the 2002 Workshop on Neuromorphic Engineering, pp. 51–53.

  • Murlis, J., Elkinton, J.S, and Cardé, R.T. 1992. Odor plumes and how insects use them. Annu. Rev. Entomol., 37:505–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russell, R.A., Thiel, D., Deveza, R., and Mackay-Sim, A. 1995. A robotic system to locate hazardous chemical leaks. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. Robot. Automat., pp. 556–561.

  • Sandini, G., Lucarini, G., and Varoli, M. 1993. Gradient driven self-organizing systems. In Proc. IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intell. Robots Syst., pp. 429–432.

  • Wandel, M., Lilienthal, A., Duckett, T., Weimar, U., and Zell, A. 2003. Gas distribution in unventilated indoor environments inspected by a mobile robot. In Proc. Int. Conf. Adv. Robot., pp. 507–512.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ishida, H., Tanaka, H., Taniguchi, H. et al. Mobile robot navigation using vision and olfaction to search for a gas/odor source. Auton Robot 20, 231–238 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10514-006-7100-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10514-006-7100-5

Keywords

Navigation