Some things about nature are baffling. Not many individuals would look at the infamous dung beetle and think that it utilizes the Milky Way at night to navigate its way around. Yet, it does and is the only known creature to do so. In an unexpected turn of events, researchers are discovering how this little bug could improve drone and robot navigation techniques.
An insect’s vision
The sun is used for navigation by many insects, whilst nocturnal creatures may utilize the moon as a reference point, but its dim light makes it less reliable. Hence, some species of moths and dung beetles use the Milky Way instead. Australian researchers and engineers conducted an experiment wherein they mounted a camera on top of a car and took photos whilst moving and stationary. Thanks to this experiment, a computer vision system has been developed that reliably measures the Milky Way’s orientation. The stripes of the Milky Way are not affected by motion blur.
Dung beetles have compound eyes optimized for detecting movement, light intensity, and polarized light patterns. In other words, their vision is tailored for navigating under the night sky. In comparison, human eyes are camera-type, prioritizing high-resolution vision and color perception.
While dung beetles lack high-resolution vision, they can perceive subtle variations in the brightness of the Milky Way, using its band of light as a celestial compass. This capability allows them to roll dung balls in straight lines.
When the bug moves dung balls, its entire body moves, yet its eyes are fixated upon the night sky. This fixed orientation of its eyes towards the Milky Way helps it maintain a linear path. Wherein an individual star is blurred, the Milky Way is bright as day for compound eyes.
Improving navigation for robots
This biomimicry may be the first step in developing an AI sensor that could change drone and robot navigation at night. If successfully implemented, this could become a backup method for satellites, drones, and robots for stabilization and navigation in low light and when faced with high levels of vibrations. For millions of years, insects have performed navigational feats that modern scientists have yet to replicate despite their tiny bodies. This may be another instance of technology advancing itself by replicating nature – a concept we know as biomimicry, among other terms.
Photo credits: Michael Kucharski took the symbolic feature image. The graphic inside the article was created by the authors of the reference article under a CC BY license.
Source: MDPI (Tao, Yiting, Asanka Perera, Samuel Teague, Timothy McIntyre, Eric Warrant, and Javaan Chahl. 2024. “Computer Vision Techniques Demonstrate Robust Orientation Measurement of the Milky Way Despite Image Motion”)
