Steering clear of accidents
Someday we might be taking accident-avoidance lessons from locusts.
Studies have shown that despite having poor vision and a simple brain, the insect is able to steer clear of objects in its way. Using this knowledge, researchers are developing robots that can avoid collisions. Once they have achieved that, it is hoped that systems can be imbedded into cars and planes that would change direction when faced with an approaching obstacle.
The key seems to be large neurons behind the locust's eyes called the lobula giant movement detector (LGMD). It is believed to be responsible for enabling the insect to jump and steer during flight.
Claire Rind, a neurobiologist at the University of Newcastle, explains: “The advantage of using this neuron is that it can discriminate between objects that are on a collision course and ones that aren't."
Rind – working with Mark Blanchard and Paul Verschure at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich – has built a robot with a locust's vision. It has a camera with a resolution of 20 by 20 pixels. So far, the robot has avoided potential collisions 91 per cent of the time, within short reaction periods.
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