Simulated odor tracking in a plane normal to the wind direction

A new strategy is developed for tracking an odor plume in an environment where wind is present. The strategy is inspired by the mechanisms that animals use to orient to stimuli. A male moth counter-turns horizontally and vertically across the wind while tracking a pheromone plume. The inter-turn duration, or the amount of time between turns, is about 500 milliseconds on average in both directions. This observation has lead to the development of odor tracking algorithms that use inter-turn timers to control when to turn in both directions. The algorithm presented in this work takes a different approach. The new algorithm controls the rate of turning of the tracking vehicle in a plane normal to the wind direction. Simulation results demonstrate that counter-turning can be achieved in both directions without the use of inter-turn timers. Also, the estimated odor source location approaches the true source location as time progresses