Hazardous substance source seeking in a diffusion based noisy environment

Recent ecological and natural disasters have highlighted the need for further research into pollution monitoring robotics. Robots must be equipped with sensors and algorithms that enable them to find the source of hazardous substances in the environment or serve as mending materials to stem a leak if the source is a leaking pipe. However, in order to do this, robots must deal with noise both in the environment and in their sensors or dynamics. This paper investigates how a gradient based technique in the form of the Berg and Brown bacteria controller algorithm could be improved to deal with such noises. Results show that the natural noise filter mechanism of the Bacterium as observed in the Berg and Brown bacteria controller can be modified or improved by using an alternative filter. © 2012 IEEE.