Relationship Between Visual Sensor Equipment in Flying Insects and their Flight Performance -- a Neurobio-Engineering Approach.

摘要

The grant FA8655-09-1-3083, The Relationship Between Visual Sensor Equipment in Flying Insects and their Flight Performance a Neurobio-Engineering Approach , that was awarded to support my research and the work of Dr. Sean Humbert, (UMD, FA9550-09-1-0075) has come to an end. In this final report on the scientific activities in my lab I will stay with the tradition to provide an overview of the work that is relevant to AFRL/AFOSR which basically includes most, if not all projects undertaken in my lab during the funding period. Despite the fact that the seasonal availability of horseflies, robberflies and hoverflies did limit progress regarding a comprehensive comparative study of across several dipteran fly species, the following sections should demonstrate that we made some important advances regarding the biological design principles of multisensory reflex control. One of the major strategic moves was to focus on gaze stabilization as an approximation to study flight control. The rational being that head movements induced by multiple sensor systems compensate for unpredictable disturbances of the thorax flies encounter on the wing. In addition, Sean Humbert showed in his work that a head orientation which enables the alignment of head-centered sensor systems with the inertial vector significantly simplifies the measurement of state-changes required for feed-forward/feedback-based flight control. As a corollary of our joint studies we should state: Flying insects which are subject to significant inertial forces during flight and have limited computing power, gaze stabilization is a functional necessity that enables high aerial maneuverability. Because Sean Humbert has submitted a separate final report on his efforts, I will focus here on activities in my lab, adding occasional cross-references to his report where appropriate.