Robot aircraft teach themselves which way is up

Australian vision scientists today unveiled a novel way to help pilotless aircraft accurately determine their heading and orientation to the ground – by imitating how insects do it. The technology can improve the navigation, flight characteristics and safety for civil and military aircraft, as well as pilotless drones.

“UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles or pilotless aircraft) are used in crop dusting, bushfire monitoring, tracking algal blooms or crop growth and infrastructure inspection as well as defence roles. Some of these tasks require the aircraft to fly close to the ground and amongst obstacles, so it is crucial that the aircraft knows its heading direction and roll and pitch angles accurately.”

Mr Richard Moore, The Vision Centre and The Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland