Georgia Tech researchers have been awarded funds from the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) to develop navigational strategies for olfactory guided source location by autonomous agents. The project headed by Marc Weissburg (Professor, Biology) combines fluid dynamical investigations of chemical signal structure by co-PI Don Webster (Civil & Environmental Engineering) with development of chemical signal processing strategies. These strategies are based on the extensive knowledge of aquatic chemosensory navigation collected by these same investigators, using blue crabs and other species. The goal is to develop signal processing algorithms that use the complex information in chemical plumes to guide autonomous agents to a source. The results will be used to allow new generations of aquatic autonomous vehicles to locate underwater hazards, such as unexplored ordinance, in nearshore coastal and river environments.