UST Seminar. Computer simulation of insects orienting to odor sources: from biomimetic robot design to integrated pest management

Abstract

Many flying insects forage for resources such as a mate, food, or an oviposition site by navigating upwind along a windborne plume of odor that is linked to that resource. In nature, the behavior employed in finding an odor plume generally is expected to provide an optimal solution for a given organism and, therefore, the methods used by insects may be applicable to problems of orientation in artificial situations, e.g., robotics.

In this talk, I will present a computer model designed to provide an efficient biomimetic moth-like navigation strategy to an odor-searching autonomous robot. This computer model has a wide range of practical applications and we are currently using it to solve diverse problems in the field of insect pest control. Our major aim is to improve our ability to estimate the population sizes and distributions from the field data obtained by means of insect traps with odor attractants. The accuracy of these estimates are of the uttermost importance because they serve as guidelines in deciding the specific forest and crop pest-control actions to be taken in order to minimize economic and environmental damage.