Project-Visual Sensor Equipment, Autonomous Vehicle Laboratory, Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland

The Relationship Between Visual Sensor Equipment in Flying Insects and their Flight Performance – a ‘Neurobio-Engineering’ Approach

Sponsor: AFOSR (Willard Larkin)
Collaborators: Holger Krapp (Imperial College)

Proj 4

Flight control in contemporary aircraft and flying insects is governed by fundamentally different design principles.

Although the most maneuverable aircraft and flying insects have in common that they are both aerodynamically unstable and rely on powerful sensory feedback, the ways in which feedback control structures are implemented deviate considerably.

In this project we employ electrophysiological methods (Krapp) and flight dynamics and control theory (Humbert) to investigate strategies for biologically-inspired visual sensing and feedback to improve signal to noise ratio and dynamic range, with applications in the control of autonomous micro air vehicles (MAVs).

Dr. Sean Humbert

J. Sean Humbert, Ph.D.
Techno-Sciences Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering Innovation
3182 Glenn L. Martin Hall
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
301.405.0328 TEL
301.314.9001 FAX
humbert (at) umd.edu