Landing strategies in honeybees, and possible applications to autonomous airborne vehicles

Date

2001

Authors

Srinivasan, Mandyam V
Zhang, Shao Wu
Chahl, Javaan

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Marine Biological Laboratory

Abstract

Insects, being perhaps more reliant on image motion cues than mammals or higher vertebrates, are proving to be an excellent organism in which to investigate how information on optic flow is exploited to guide locomotion and navigation. This paper describes one example, illustrating how bees perform grazing landings on a flat surface. A smooth landing is achieved by a surprisingly simple and elegant strategy: image velocity is held constant as the surface is approached, thus automatically ensuring that flight speed is close to zero at touchdown. No explicit knowledge of flight speed or height above the ground is necessary. The feasibility of this landing strategy is tested by implementation in a robotic gantry, and its applicability to autonomous airborne vehicles is discussed.

Description

Keywords

Keywords: animal; article; bee; motor activity; peripheral nervous system; physiology; robotics; vision; Animals; Bees; Motor Activity; Peripheral Nervous System; Robotics; Visual Perception; Animalia; Apoidea; Hexapoda; Mammalia; Vertebrata

Citation

Source

Biological Bulletin

Type

Journal article

Book Title

Entity type

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DOI

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