HIGH FLYERS THINK TANK

Safeguarding Australia

4 April 2003

Applications of basic research: Flying robots inspired by insects

by Professor Mandyam Srinivasan

Despite their simple brains, insects have exceptional vision and navigation abilities. Can we adapt what they do to robots and vision systems?

Because their eyes are so close together, stereo vision and the ability to judge distance is difficult for insects. They overcome this shortcoming by using the motion of images. When a bee flies down a tunnel it uses the optic flow of the texture of the wall to decide the distance it has covered. The way a bee measures distance is robust, not affected by a headwind. To make a soft landing on the ground, a bee flies slower as it gets lower.

Basic research into the biology of bees has been combined with engineering to produce new devices. A panoramic camera can emulate the compound eyes of insects. It can find a way through terrain automatically without the need for radar (which sends out revealing signals). A robotic helicopter can stabilise its altitude using a camera's view of the horizon.

The advantages of flying robots are that they are computationally simple, inexpensive, lightweight, hard to detect and able to go where people cannot. The research can be applied to aircraft, spacecraft, surveillance and security.

More information on Professor Srinivasan's research is available at
www.dest.gov.au/sectors/science_innovation/science_agencies_committees/
prime_ministers_science_engineering_innovation_council/meetings/ninth_meeting.htm.