CDS/Aero Seminar: Bio-Inspired Extraction of Information from Retinal Image Motion: Applications for Autonomous MAV/UAV Guidance, Navigation and Control

Dr. J. Sean Humbert
Department of Aerospace Engineering
University of Maryland, College Park

Insects exhibit incredibly robust closed loop flight dynamics in the face of uncertainties.  A fundamental principle contributing to this unparalleled behavior is rapid processing and convergence of visual sensory information to flight motor commands via spatial wide-field integration, accomplished by retinal motion pattern sensitive interneurons (LPTCs) in the lobula plate portion of the visual ganglia. The question of how such wide-field motion processing might be effectively used in closed-loop flight control will be discussed.

The advantage of this approach is that relevant information for navigation and control can be extracted with minimal latency and computation power, solving the processing throughput problem while being consistent with the payload and closed-loop bandwidth constraints of small UAVs. Hence, extraction of global retinal motion cues through wide-field integration processing provides a novel and promising methodology for utilizing visual sensory information in autonomous robotic navigation and flight control applications.