Researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel have developed a robot that can identify a bunch of smells with 10,000 times more sensitivity than electrical ones, reveals an Engadget report.?
Researchers have called their root a bio-hybrid platform and it makes use of a set of antennae taken from a desert locust that¡¯s paired to an electronic system. This system measures the amount of electrical signal produced by the antennae when they detect a smell.
The robot was then paired with an algorithm that taught it to characterise the smells by their signal output. This eventually led to the creation of a system which could differentiate between eight ¡®pure¡¯ odours including geranium, lemon and marzipan. It was also capable of capturing two mixtures of different smells.?
Scientists are of the belief that this robot could one day be capable enough to detect drugs and explosives at airports.
Dr Ben Maoz of the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and the Sagol School of Neuroscience concluded by stating, ¡°Nature is much more advanced than we are, so we should use it. The principle we have demonstrated can be used and applied to other senses, such as sight and touch.
¡°For example, some animals have amazing abilities to detect explosives or drugs; the creation of a robot with a biological nose could help us preserve human life and identify criminals in a way that is not possible today. Some animals know how to detect diseases. Others can sense earthquakes. The sky's the limit.¡±
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