![]() For example, drones can predict what will happen when they spin their two right propellers faster than their left propellers. However, we found out that combining optic flow with a motion model allows to retrieve the gravity direction.”, says Guido de Croon, Full Professor of Bio-inspired Micro Air Vehicles, “Having a motion model means that a robot or animal can predict how it will move when taking actions. “Optic flow itself carries no information on attitude. ![]() For example, when sitting in a train, trees close by seem to move very fast (have a large optic flow), while mountains in the distance seem to move very slowly (have a small optic flow). Optic flow captures the relative motion between an observer and its environment. Hence, for insects it is currently still a mystery how they estimate attitude, and some even question whether they estimate attitude at all.Īlthough it is unknown how flying insects estimate and control their attitude, it is very well known that they visually observe motion by means of “optic flow”. However, in flying insects no sensing organ for measuring accelerations has been found. Drones typically use accelerometers for determining the gravity direction. However, when flying through clouds the horizon line is no longer visible, which can lead to an increasingly wrong impression of what is up and down – with potentially disastrous consequences.Īlso drones and flying insects need to control their attitude. ![]() When humans started to take the skies, pilots relied purely on visually detecting the horizon line for determining the plane’s “attitude”, that is, its body orientation with respect to gravity. Indeed, the passengers in an airplane are normally not aware of the plane being slightly tilted sideways in the air to make a wide circle. However, this becomes more difficult when flying. As ground-bound animals, we humans typically have no trouble determining which way is down. Successful flight requires knowing the direction of gravity. The importance of finding the gravity direction On the other hand, it forms a hypothesis for how insects control their attitude, as the theory forms a parsimonious explanation of multiple phenomena observed in biology. On the one hand, the new approach is an important step for the creation of autonomous tiny, insect-sized drones, since it requires fewer sensors. The study is a great example of the synergy between technology and biology. In an article published today in Nature, scientists from TU Delft, the Netherlands, and Aix Marseille Université / CNRS, France, have shown that drones can estimate the gravity direction by combining visual motion sensing with a model of how they move. Whereas drones typically use accelerometers to this end, the way in which flying insects do this has until now been shrouded in mystery, since they lack a specific sense for acceleration. Scientists have discovered a novel manner for flying drones and insects to estimate the gravity direction. It also forms a substantial step in the creation of tiny, autonomous drones. Scientists have developed a theory that can explain how flying insects determine the gravity direction without using accelerometers.
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