Brands
YS TV
Discover
Events
Newsletter
More

Follow Us

twitterfacebookinstagramyoutube
Yourstory

Resources

Stories

General

In-Depth

Announcement

Reports

News

Funding

Startup Sectors

Women in tech

Sportstech

Agritech

E-Commerce

Education

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Art & Culture

Travel & Leisure

Curtain Raiser

Wine and Food

Videos

Indian-origin scientist leads team to build drones that navigate like birds

Indian-origin scientist leads team to build drones that navigate like birds

Wednesday July 06, 2016 , 2 min Read

Scientists from Melbourne led by an Indian-origin researcher are developing biologically-inspired drones that can navigate just like birds and flying insects without needing human input, radar or satellite navigation.

srini_web
Mandyam Srinivasan

A team at University of Queensland in Australia is studying flying techniques that budgerigars and bees share, and applying their findings to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) control programmes.

We study how small airborne creatures such as bees and birds use their vision to avoid collisions with obstacles, fly safely through narrow passages, control their height above the ground and more. We then use biologically-inspired principles to design novel vision systems and algorithms for the guidance of UAVs, said Professor Mandyam Srinivasan, who is leading the research.

At first glance, insects and birds have very different brains in terms of size and architecture, yet the visual processing in both animals is very effective at guiding their flight.


Also readDrones are here to stay. Here are the startups seizing this space


Bees’ brains weigh a tenth of a milligramme and carry far fewer neurons than ours; yet the insects are capable of navigating accurately to food sources over 10km away from their hive. Birds too can perform incredible aerobatics and navigational feats. These animals are clearly using simple and elegant strategies, honed by thousands of years of evolution, said Srinivasan.

The team compares the flight of bees and budgies in particular because they are easy animals to study.

These animals are clever, can be easily trained, and possess sophisticated visual systems that are not unlike those of our own. The study of their behaviour could also reveal some of the basic principles of visual guidance in a number of organisms including humans, said Srinivasan.

Also readDrones are here to stay. Here are the startups seizing this space



 Comparing the flight behaviours of these animals using high-speed cameras will lead to drastically improved UAV guidance systems.

The biologically-inspired principles we uncover will foster a new generation of fully autonomous UAVs that do not rely on external help such as GPS (Global Positioning System) or radar. These UAVs could be incredibly useful for applications like surveillance, rescue operations, defence, and planetary exploration, he said