Human-Like Robot Sensing Mediated by Body Heat

This paper presents a novel robotic sensor system that can monitor volatile chemicals and airflow. The system is modelled on characteristics of the human body that are thought to have a significant influence on the human odour and airflow senses. In particular, the effect of buoyant airflow due to body heat acts to gather volatile chemicals over large areas of the human body and carry them to the nose. It is postulated that this effect increases the receptive area for human olfaction. In addition, the interaction between rising air heated by the body and external airflow produces a temperature distribution about head height that can be used to infer airflow direction and magnitude. A heated sensor system was constructed to investigate these effects and the resulting sensor was mounted on a mobile robot. The design of the sensor system is described. Results are presented which demonstrate its ability to measure airflow direction and detect chemical signals over a wider receptive field compared with an unheated sensor.