A new technological milestone, a robot that can smell, has been developed by Tel Aviv University. Equipped with a biological sensor, the robot can actually accomplish what was once relegated to non-robots. Once a nearby odor has been detected, the sensor sends electrical signals as a response to the odor, which the robot can detect and interpret using a machine learning algorithm:
“The biological and technological breakthrough was led by doctoral student Neta Shvil of Tel Aviv University’s Sagol School of Neuroscience, Dr. Ben Maoz of the Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and the Sagol School of Neuroscience, and Prof. Yossi Yovel and Prof. Amir Ayali of the School of Zoology and the Sagol School of Neuroscience. The results of the study were published in the prestigious journal Biosensor and Bioelectronics.”
A recent YouTube video by Tel Aviv University’s channel, TAUVOD, illustrates how the robot’s smell capability is achieved.