Science View S2022E15 - Biomimicry Changes the Future of Robotics

Robotic engineering continues to evolve swiftly, yet developing a robot that can detect and pursue odors has proved difficult for the science. Shunsuke SHIGAKI, an assistant professor at Osaka University, seeks to address the problem by analyzing the scent-detection abilities of silk moths. To understand how airflow or sight affect their perception of scents, he built a VR unit for insects in order to gather data. The algorithm created from it allowed him to program a robot with similar odor-detection capabilities. Now, he attempts to give it enough environmental adaptability to navigate obstacles, or operate outdoors. In this episode, we follow SHIGAKI's efforts to create a high-tech robot with abilities learned from actual organisms, so that it might eventually be put to use in search and rescue operations.