Abstract
This paper describes an ongoing project to investigate the uses of pheromones as a means of communication in robotics. The particular example of pheromone communication considered here was inspired by queen bee pheromones that have a number of crucial functions in a bee colony, such as keeping together and stabilizing the colony. In the context of a robotic system, one of the proposed applications for robot pheromones is to allow a group of robots to be guided by a robot leader. The robot leader could release different chemicals to elicit a range of behaviors from other members of the group. A change of the operating temperature of tin oxide gas sensors has been implemented in order to differentiate different chemicals. This paper provides details of the robots used in the project and their behaviors. The sensors, especially the method of using the tin oxide gas sensors, the robot control algorithms and experimental results are presented. In this project, pheromones were used to trigger congregating behavior and light seeking in a group of robots.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adler, J. (1976). The sensing of chemicals by bacteria. Scientific American, 234(4), 40–47.
Agosta, W. C. (1992). Chemical communication. New York: Scientific American Library.
Atema, J. (1996). Eddy chemotaxis and odor landscapes: exploration of nature with animal sensors. The Biological Bulletin, 191(1), 129–138.
Brooks, R. (1991). New approaches to robotics. Science, 253(5025), 1227–1232.
Genovese, V., Dario, P., Magni, R., & Odetti, L. (1992). Self organizing behavior and swarm intelligence in a pack of mobile miniature robots in search of pollutants. In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ international conference on intelligent robots and systems (pp. 1575–1582), Raleigh, NC.
Hayes, A. T., Martinoli, A., & Goodman, R. M. (2002). Distributed odor source localization. IEEE Sensors Journal, 2(3), 260–271.
Hayes, A. T., Martinoli, A., & Goodman, R. M. (2003). Swarm robotic odor localization: off-line optimization and validation with real robots. Robotica, 21, 427–441.
Holland, O., & Melhuish, C. (1996a). Some adaptive movements of animats with single symmetrical sensors. In Proceedings of the fourth international conference on simulation of adaptive behavior, from animals to animats 4 (pp. 55–64), Cape Cod, MA.
Holland, O. E., & Melhuish, C. (1996b). Getting the most from the least: lessons for the nanoscale from minimal mobile agents. In Proceedings of the fifth international workshop on the synthesis and simulation of living systems, artificial life V (pp. 59–66), Nara, Japan.
Ishida, H., Suetsugu, K., Nakamoto, T., & Moriizumi, T. (1994). Study of autonomous mobile sensing system for localization of odor source using gas sensors and anemometric sensors. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 45(2), 153–157.
Ishida, H., Hayashi, K., Takakusaki, M., Nakamoto, T., Moriizumi, T., & Kanzaki, R. (1996). Odour-source localization system mimicking behavior of silkworm moth. Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 51(2–3), 225–230.
Kazadi, S., Goodman, R., Tsikata, D., Green, D., & Lin, H. (2000). An autonomous water vapor plume tracking robot using passive resistive polymer sensors. Autonomous Robots, 9(2), 175–188.
Kazama, T., Sugawara, K., & Watanabe, T. (2005). Traffic-like movement on a trail of interacting robots with virtual pheromone. In Proceedings of the 3rd international symposium on autonomous minirobots for research and edutainment (pp. 383–388).
Kerkut, G. A., & Gilbert, L. I. (1985). Comprehensive insect physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology. Oxford: Pergamon.
Lee, A. P., & Reedy, B. J. (1999). Temperature modulation in semiconductor gas sensing. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 60(1), 35–42.
Lilienthal, A., & Duckett, T. (2004). Experimental analysis of gas-sensitive Braitenberg vehicles. Advanced Robotics, 18(8), 817–834.
Mamei, M., & Zambonelli, F. (2005). Physical deployment of digital pheromones through RFID technology. In Proceedings of the IEEE swarm intelligence symposium (pp. 281–288).
Melhuish, C., Holland, O., & Hoddell, S. (1999). Convoying: using chorusing to form travelling groups of minimal agents. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 28(2–3), 207–216.
Michener, & Duncan, C. (1974). The social behavior of the bees a comparative study. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Morrison, S. R. (1987). Selectivity in semiconductor gas sensors. Sensors and Actuators, 12(4), 425–440.
Nakamoto, T., Fukuda, T., & Moriizumi, T. (1991). Gas identification system using plural sensors with characteristics of plasticity. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 3(1), 1–6.
Payton, D., Daily, M., Estowski, R., Howard, M., & Lee, C. (2001). Pheromone robotics. Autonomous Robots, 11, 319–324.
Pearce, T. C., Schiffman, S. S., Nagle, H. T., & Gardner, J. W. (2003). Handbook of machine olfaction. Weinheim: Wiley–Interscience.
Purnamadjaja, A. H., & Russell, R. A. (2000). A sense of smell for a humanoid robot. In Proceedings of the international conference on artificial intelligence in science and technology (pp. 312–316), Hobart, Australia.
Purnamadjaja, A. H., & Russell, R. A. (2005a). Pheromone communication in a robot swarm: necrophoric bee behavior and its replication. Robotica, 23(6), 731–742.
Purnamadjaja, A. H., & Russell, R. A. (2005b). Congregation behavior in a robot swarm using pheromone communication. In Proceedings of the Australasian conference on robotics and automation, Sydney, Australia.
Roger, K., & Erika (1997). Handbook of biosensors and electronic noses: Medicine, food and the environment. Boca Raton: CRC.
Rozas, R., Morales, J., & Vega, D. (1991). Artificial smell detection for robotic navigation. In Proceedings of the fifth international conference on advanced robotics ‘Robots in unstructured environments’ (pp. 1730–1733).
Russell, R. A. (1995). Laying and sensing odor markings as a strategy for assisting mobile robot navigation tasks. Robotics & Automation Magazine, IEEE, 2(3), 3–9.
Russell, R. A. (1999). Odour detection by mobile robots. River Edge: World Scientific.
Russell, R. A. (2004). Robotic location of underground chemical sources. Robotica, 22(1), 109–115.
Sandini, G., Lucarini, G., & Varoli, M. (1993). Gradient driven self-organizing systems. In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ international conference on intelligent robots and systems, Yokohama (pp. 429–432).
Sears, W. M., Colbow, K., & Consadori, F. (1989). Algorithms to improve the selectivity of thermally-cycled tin oxide gas sensors. Sensors and Actuators, 19(4), 333–349.
Seiyama, T., Kato, A., Fujiishi, K., & Nagatani, M. (1962). A new detector for gaseous components using semiconductive thin films. Analytical Chemistry, 34, 1502–1503.
Sugawara, K., Kazama, T., & Watanabe, T. (2004). Foraging behavior of interacting robots with virtual pheromone. In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ international conference on intelligent robots and systems (pp. 3074–3079), Sendai, Japan.
Svennebring, J., & Koenig, S. (2004). Building terrain-covering ant robots: a feasibility study. Autonomous Robots, 16(3), 313–332.
Watson, J. (1984). The tin oxide gas sensor and its applications. Sensors and Actuators, 5, 29–42.
Willis, M. A. (2005). Odor-modulated navigation in insects and artificial systems. Chemical Senses, 30(Supplement 1), i287–i288.
Wyatt, T. D. (2003). Pheromones and animal behavior: Communication by smell and taste. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Purnamadjaja, A.H., Russell, R.A. Guiding robots’ behaviors using pheromone communication. Auton Robot 23, 113–130 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10514-007-9035-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10514-007-9035-x