Indoor odour source localisation using robot: Initial location and surge distance matter?

•With no knowledge of the environment, there is no advantageous initial position.•Surge distances have impacts on localisation effectiveness and efficiency.•Using non-fixed surge distances perform better than fixed in general.

Learning from insects and animals to enable an autonomous robot to detect chemical emissions caused by fire, toxic gas leakage and explosive at their early stages, and localise their sources swiftly can avoid risking human health and even save lives. This paper presents a series of investigations aimed to find answers for two important questions, one is “Are there advantageous locations when releasing a robot for speedier chemical source localisation with no prior knowledge about the environment as well as the possible location of the source?” The other question is similar but focusing on whether a different surge distance makes any noticeable differences. To find the answers, a simulated autonomous robot and an indoor office-like environment which contains an odour/gas source emitting varying chemical concentration levels as well as constantly varied wind speeds and directions, were adopted.