The sensor sends electrical signals as a response to the presence of a nearby odour, which the robot can detect and interpret.
The researchers from Tel Aviv University connected the sensor to an electronic system and, using a machine learning algorithm, were able to identify odours with a level of sensitivity 10,000 times higher than that of a commonly used electronic device.
“Man-made technologies still can’t compete with millions of years of evolution. One area in which we particularly lag behind the animal world is that of smell perception. When they want to check if a passenger is smuggling drugs [at the airport], they bring in a dog to sniff him,” said Dr Ben Maoz.
“In the animal world, insects excel at receiving and processing sensory signals. A mosquito, for example, can detect a 0.01 per cent difference in the level of carbon dioxide in the air. Today, we are far from producing sensors whose capabilities come close to those of insects.”
...