Abstract
Nap-of-the-Earth (NOE) flight and the development of advanced Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) require further integration of sensors and onboard processing. Flying insects feature a panoramic eye which relies on Optical Flow (OF) for guidance and obstacle avoidance. We describe the development of a miniature thrust-vectoring UAV featuring an analog electronic eye based on biological motion detection. The system is tested within the laboratory on a custom-built whirling-arm rig. Preliminary tests have demonstrated satisfactory maneuvrability under remote-control. The project combines the fields of neurobiology, robotics, and aerospace. A VLSI implementation of the vision system is planned.
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Netter, T., Franceschini, N. (1999). Towards UAV Nap-of-the-Earth Flight Using Optical Flow. In: Floreano, D., Nicoud, JD., Mondada, F. (eds) Advances in Artificial Life. ECAL 1999. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 1674. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48304-7_44
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48304-7_44
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