Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Olfaction

Olfaction

The sense of smell is achieved through the activities of the olfactory system. It starts when an airborne odorant enters the nasal cavity and reaches olfactory epithelium (OE). The OE is protected by a thin layer of mucus, which also serves the purpose of dissolving more complex compounds into simpler chemical odorants. The size of the OE and the density of sensory neurons varies among species; in humans, the OE is only about 9-10 cm2.
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

The Food Additives <i>p</i>-Coumaric Acid Production from Corn Stalk Catalyzed by a Cold-Adapted Carboxylesterase.

Journal of agricultural and food chemistry·2026

Same author

Age-Stratified Analysis of Social Environmental Drivers of Depression Among Chinese Young People Aged 10-24 Years.

Actas espanolas de psiquiatria·2026

Same author

Epitranscriptomic erasers in bivalves: Evolutionary divergence and species-specific transcriptional plasticity of the ALKBH family under acute thermal stress.

Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part D, Genomics & proteomics·2026

Same author

Combined Detection of Preoperative Serum Calcitonin and Carcinoembryonic Antigen in Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma: A Retrospective Multicenter Cohort Study.

Health care science·2026

Same author

FGF19 promotes cartilage destruction in the progress of temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis.

Cell and tissue research·2026

Same author

Characterization and functional insights of histone deacetylases in bivalves: implications for temperature and immune response in Chlamys nobilis.

Comparative biochemistry and physiology. Part D, Genomics & proteomics·2026

Same journal

Multiphysics Investigation on Thermal Characteristics of Internal Bio-Inspired V-Ribbed Cooling Channels for Outer Rotor PMSM.

Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same journal

Smart Logistics Model for Supply Chain Management via Brain-Inspired Geometric Deep Networks.

Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same journal

A Systematic Taxonomy of the Sunflower Optimization Algorithm: Variants, Hybridization Strategies, Applications, and Research Directions.

Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same journal

Toward a Compositional Theory of Trust in Embodied Intelligence: A QNLP Framework for Modeling Context, Interaction, and Trustworthiness.

Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same journal

Empirical Logic for Bio-Inspired Soft Computing: Illustrative Applications in Control Engineering and Cluster Analysis.

Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

Same journal

A Modified Multi-Strategy Dhole Optimization Algorithm and Its Engineering Applications.

Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland)·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 28, 2026

Insect-controlled Robot: A Mobile Robot Platform to Evaluate the Odor-tracking Capability of an Insect

Insect-controlled Robot: A Mobile Robot Platform to Evaluate the Odor-tracking Capability of an Insect

Published on: December 19, 2016

A Bumblebee-Inspired Spatial Memory Navigation Framework for Robotic Odor Source Localization.

Tianyi Xu¹, Yizhu Guo², Zhigang Wu¹

¹School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, China.

Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland)

|May 26, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study introduces Bio-Nav, a bumblebee-inspired robot navigation system for locating odor sources in turbulent environments. Bio-Nav uses memory and perception to achieve high success rates, outperforming other methods.

Keywords:

bumblebee navigation odor source localization spatial memory

More Related Videos

Using Insect Electroantennogram Sensors on Autonomous Robots for Olfactory Searches

Using Insect Electroantennogram Sensors on Autonomous Robots for Olfactory Searches

Published on: August 4, 2014

Electroantennography-based Bio-hybrid Odor-detecting Drone using Silkmoth Antennae for Odor Source Localization

Electroantennography-based Bio-hybrid Odor-detecting Drone using Silkmoth Antennae for Odor Source Localization

Published on: August 27, 2021

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 28, 2026

Insect-controlled Robot: A Mobile Robot Platform to Evaluate the Odor-tracking Capability of an Insect

Insect-controlled Robot: A Mobile Robot Platform to Evaluate the Odor-tracking Capability of an Insect

Published on: December 19, 2016

Using Insect Electroantennogram Sensors on Autonomous Robots for Olfactory Searches

Using Insect Electroantennogram Sensors on Autonomous Robots for Olfactory Searches

Published on: August 4, 2014

Electroantennography-based Bio-hybrid Odor-detecting Drone using Silkmoth Antennae for Odor Source Localization

Electroantennography-based Bio-hybrid Odor-detecting Drone using Silkmoth Antennae for Odor Source Localization

Published on: August 27, 2021

Area of Science:

Robotics
Bio-inspired Navigation
Computational Neuroscience

Background:

Odor source localization in turbulent environments is challenging for robots due to intermittent and fragmented plumes.
Autonomous robots struggle with unstable concentration gradients in complex environments.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a bio-inspired navigation framework (Bio-Nav) mimicking bumblebee olfactory cognition for robots.
To enhance odor source localization capabilities in challenging, turbulent conditions.

Main Methods:

Integrated Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP), Hidden Markov Model (HMM), short-term memory, long-term directional memory, fuzzy inference, and value iteration.
Modeled bumblebee olfactory learning and memory through classical conditioning and spatial memory experiments.
Utilized high-fidelity 2D turbulent simulations for algorithm testing.

Main Results:

Bio-Nav achieved a 96.0% success rate in 100 Monte Carlo trials, with an average of 20.3 search steps and 155.1 cm path length.
The algorithm significantly outperformed moth-inspired search, Infotaxis, and standard POMDP-based navigation.
Success rate remained above 91% even under strong turbulence, demonstrating robustness.

Conclusions:

Memory-perception coupling, inspired by bumblebee navigation, offers an effective and robust strategy for odor source localization.
The Bio-Nav framework provides a generalizable principle for bio-inspired robotic search in uncertain, complex environments.