The bio hybrid drone with the silkmoth antennae can work with an efficient odor molecule detection tool, and a suitable flight platform for developing odor source localization algorithms. The main advantage is that the bio hybrid drone has a sensor directivity towards odor sources, because of equipping the sensor enclosure. Begin by isolating silk moth antennae using post-mortem scissors without anesthesia.
Cut both sides of the isolated silk moth antennae and use the electrically conductive gel to attach them to the silver and silver chloride coated electrodes of the sensing part of the electroantennography or EAG device. Connect the glass tube containing bombykol to the odor stimulation system, ensuring that the pump is already switched on. Build the glass tube such that its tip is 10 millimeters away from the silk mouth antennae on the EAG device.
Set the 60 millimeter diameter exhaust board 30 millimeters behind the EAG device to stabilize the airflow and prevent pheromone stagnation. Switch on the EAG device, then run the data acquisition program on the PC.Press the ground button in the log menu to decide the experimental state and then press the log start button for data acquisition. Five seconds after pressing the log start button initiate odor stimulations.
Press the log stop button on the graphical user interface, or GUI, to stop recording. Isolate silk moth antennae using post-mortem scissors and cut both sides of the antennae. Attach the isolated antennae to the silver and silver chloride coated electrodes of the sensing part of the EAG device using electrically conductive gel.
Connect the glass tube containing bombykol to the odor stimulation system with the pump already switched on. Set the glass tube so that the tube and its tip are parallel to the edge of the desk and directly above it, respectively. Set the circulator such that the center of the fan is 15 centimeters from the edge of the desk.
Set the wind speed of the circulator to one or minimum power by pushing the button on the console. Mount the EAG device on the drone. Connect the PC to the Wi-Fi access point.
Switch on the EAG device and the drone. Run the drone control program on the PC.After the light on the drone blinks yellow, press the SDK command button in the command menu on the GUI of the PC to execute the command and then press the takeoff button on the GUI to hover the drone above the ground. After pressing the flight button the log menu, to decide the experimental state, press the log start button for that acquisition.
Press the log stop button on the GUI to stop recording. Insert the sensing part of EAG device into the sensor enclosure. Set the distance between the tip of the electrodes and the tip of the enclosure as 10 millimeters.
Attached to the isolated antennae of the silk moth to the electrodes as described earlier and mount the EAG device with the sensor closure on the drone. Hover the drone so that it begins an approximately 90 degrees pivoting motion to the left and right. Stimulate the EAG device on the drone using poly droppers containing bombykol during these movements.
Conduct this step a total of four times. It was observed that the proposed EAG device reproducibly responded to the odor stimulations. The drone equipped with the EAG device hovered at the height of 95 centimeters from the floor and at a distance of 90 centimeters from the odor source.
The typical signals of the EAG device and gas sensor on the drone were recorded. For the drone without a sensor enclosure, the signal intensity at 180 degrees, when the drone faced the opposite direction from the odor source, was occasionally higher than that at zero degrees. However, for the drone equipped with the enclosure, the signal intensity of the EAG at zero degrees became higher than that at 180 degrees.
Results indicated that the drone detected bombykol in the air outside a wind tunnel and identified the direction of the odor plume by pivoting movements. Odor source localization was conducted based on this spiral search algorithm using the bio hybrid drone. The trajectory of the drone, the yaw angles and EAG signals during the odor source localization were recorded for analysis.
The EAG signals showed that the detection time, including response and recovery times, of the EAG device on the drone was approximately one second. The development with the bio hybrid drone have paved the way to construct an efficient odor molecule detection platform in the field bio hybrid robotics.
