Visual control of two aerial micro-robots by insect-based autopilots

Abstract

In the framework of our research on biologically inspired microrobotics, we have developed two novel Automatic Flight Control Systems (AFCs): OCTAVE ( Optical flow Control sysTem for Aerospace VEhicles) and OSCAR ( Optical Scanning sensor for the Control of Autonomous Robots), both based on insects' visuomotor control systems. OCTAVE confers upon a tethered aerial robot (the OCTAVE robot) the ability to perform terrain following. OSCAR gives a tethered aerial robot (the OSCAR robot) the ability to fixate and track a contrasting target with a high level of accuracy. Both OCTAVE and OSCAR robots are based on optical velocity sensors, the principle of which is based on the results of previous electrophysiological studies on the fly's Elementary Motion Detectors (EMDs) performed at our laboratory. Both processing systems described are light enough to be mounted on-board Micro-Air Vehicles (MAVs) with an avionic payload small enough to be expressed in grams rather than kilograms.