The “Smellicopter,” a bio-hybrid odor localizing nano air vehicle

Robotic airborne chemical source localization has critical applications ranging from search and rescue to hazard detection to pollution assessment. Previous demonstrations on flying robots have required search times in excess of ten minutes, or required computation-intensive signal processing, largely because of the slow response of semiconductor gas sensors. To mitigate these limitations, we developed a hybrid biological/synthetic chemical sensing platform consisting of a moth antenna on an aerial robot. We demonstrate that our robot, a 9 centimeter nano drone, can repeatedly detect and reach the source of a volatile organic chemical plume in less than a minute. We also introduce wind vanes to passively aim the robot upwind, greatly simplifying control. To our knowledge this is the first odor-finding robot to use this approach, and it allows for localization using feedback only from sensors carried on-board rather than GPS, allowing indoor operation. The chemical sensor consists of a hybrid biological/synthetic integrated chemical sensor (electroantennogram) using an excised antenna of the hawkmoth Manduca sexta and associated miniaturized electrophysiology conditioning circuitry. Our robot performs an insect-inspired cast-and-surge search algorithm inspired by the odor-tracking behavior observed in Manduca sexta. These results represent a significant step toward robots that have the speed and sensitivity of biological systems.