Biorobotic application of insect visual guidance strategies

The speed and precision of visually guided behaviour in flying insects leads some engineers to the challenge of mimicking, in hardware, the level and style of insect mechanisms. For insects, visually guided behaviour is often characterised as being direct extraction from the visual array of task dependent visual parameters which can be directly used to control behaviour. I highlight direct to make the connection with JJ Gibson’s ideas about direct perception.

In this review paper, Srini describes what is known about how insects use visual information to stabilize flight, avoid collisions with objects, regulate flight speed, detect and intercept other flying insects such as mates or prey, navigate to a distant food source, and orchestrate flawless landings. The application of the derived control strategies is often referred to as Gibsonion Robotics and specific examples are discussed here.

Srinivasan MV (2011) Visual control of navigation in insects and its relevance for robotics. Curr Opinion Neurobiol.

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