CHEMOTACTIC SEARCH IN COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS From insects to real-world applications

Abstract: Searching for trace quantities of predefined chemical compounds in natural environments, as in the case of explosives detection, is a difficult and challenging technological problem. Much chemical interference is likely to be present and the environment itself is often complex, nonstationary and unpredictable. Here we discuss nature’s ultimate solution to this problem, in the form of pheromone mediated chemotactic search of the moth. We argue here that this organism provides an ideal model for solving the technological problem and we discuss in detail the exploitation of specific sensory processing and behavioural mechanisms relevant to the task. Finally, we discuss the project AMOTH in which the authors work towards a fully implemented, real-world instantiation of these sensorimotor mechanisms in the form of an unmanned aerial vehicle