2023-04-30 15:20:02
News JVTech It’s scary, robots have just acquired the only human sense they lacked
Technological advances in the field of robotics are enormous. Apart from artificial intelligence, which makes it possible to perform miracles, scientists are working on the essential functionalities of this type of technology in order to optimize them as well as possible. This team tried a crazy bet, to make the robots even more “human”, and they succeeded.
A robot capable of fulfilling this last sense
Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed a robot capable of smelling odors using a biological sensor, a first in the field of robotics.
Concretely, the sensor sends electrical signals in response to the presence of a nearby smell, which the robot is then able to detect and interpret. This technology could be used in the future to identify explosives, drugs, diseases, etc. The authors of the study estimate that their robot has a sensitivity 10,000 times greater than that of a commonly used electronic device.
Source : Tel Aviv University
According to the researchers, this technological breakthrough is due to the successful connection of a biological sensor to an electronic system, as well as the use of a machine learning algorithm to identify odors. This technology could notably replace sniffer dogs in airports and train stations around the world.
The study was conducted by PhD student Neta Shvil of Tel Aviv University’s Sagol School of Neuroscience, Dr. Ben Maoz of the Fleischman School of Engineering and Sagol School of Neuroscience, and Professors Yossi Yovel and Amir Ayali from Sagol School of Zoology and School of Neuroscience.
The authors explain that all sensory organs, such as the eyes, ears and nose, use receptors to identify and distinguish between different signals. Then, the appropriate sensory organ translates these results into electrical signals, which the brain interprets as information. The main challenge with biological sensors is to connect a sensory organ, such as the nose, to an electronic system capable of decoding the electrical signals received from the receptors.
A breakthrough for robotics?
According to the researchers, the sensory capacities of insects are far superior to those of technologies developed by man. For example, a mosquito can detect a 0.01% difference in the level of carbon dioxide in the air.
Dr. Maoz and Professor Ayali explain that nature is far more advanced than man, and that their principle can be applied to other senses, such as sight and touch.
In the future, the researchers want to give the robot a navigation capability that will allow it to locate the source of the smell. and, possibly, his identity. This study, published in Biosensor and Bioelectronics, opens the way to many possible applications, such as the detection of explosives, drugs and diseases, as well as the preservation of human life and the fight against crime.
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