If you’ve ever tried to swat a fly, you know that insects react to movement extremely quickly. A newly created biologically inspired compound eye is helping scientists understand how insects use their compound eyes to sense an object and its trajectory with such speed. The compound eye could also be used with a camera to create 3D location systems for robots, self-driving cars and unmanned aerial vehicles.
In The Optical Society (OSA) journal Optics Letters, researchers from Tianjin University in China report their new bio-inspired compound eye, which not only looks like that of an insect but also works like its natural counterpart. Compound eyes consist of hundreds to thousands of repeating units known as ommatidia that each act as a separate visual receptor.
“Imitating the vision system of insects has led us to believe that they might detect the trajectory of an object based on the light intensity coming from that object rather than using precise images like human vision,” said Le Song, a member of the research team. “This motion-detection method requires less information, allowing the insect to quickly react to a threat.”
Imitating an insect eye
The researchers used a method known as single point diamond turning to create 169 microlenses on the surface of the compound eye. Each microlens had a radius of about 1 mm, creating a component measuring about 20 mm that could detect objects from a 90-degree field of view. The fields of view of adjacent microlenses overlapped in the same way that ommatidia do for most insects.
One of the challenges in making an artificial compound eye is that image detectors are flat while the surface of the compound eye is curved. Placing a light guide between the curved lens and an image detector allowed the researchers to overcome this challenge while also enabling the component to receive light from different angles uniformly.
“This uniform light receiving ability of our bio-inspired compound eye is more similar to biological compound eyes and better imitates the biological mechanism than previous attempts at replicating a compound eye,” explained Song.
To use the artificial compound eye for measuring 3D trajectory, the researchers added grids to each eyelet that help pinpoint location. They then placed LED light sources at known distances and directions from the compound eye and used an algorithm to calculate the 3D location of the LEDs based on the location and intensity of the light.
The researchers found that the compound eye system was able to rapidly provide the 3D location of an object. However, the location accuracy was reduced when the light sources were farther away, which could explain why most insects are nearsighted.
Image Credit: Le Song, Tianjin University
Thanks to Heinz V. Hoenen. Follow him on twitter: @HeinzVHoenen
News This Week
Oxford firm to screen 15,000 drugs in search for coronavirus cure
An Oxford-based firm that uses artificial intelligence to develop new medicines has teamed up with a UK national science facility to screen more than 15,000 drugs for their effectiveness as a treatment for Covid-19. [...]
New study sheds light on coronavirus infection mechanism
New research has shed light on a crucial biological mechanism that may have helped the coronavirus to infect humans and spread rapidly around the world. A detailed analysis of the virus’s structure shows that [...]
Comparing the coronavirus pandemic to past pathogenic threats: HIV, anthrax and Ebola
How does the COVID-19 pandemic compare to other infamous viral infections that have plagued us in modern times? It’s a question that’s been asked repeatedly in social media circles in recent weeks as people [...]
Nanoparticles could help us get closer to a treatment for COVID-19
There is no vaccine or specific treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, or SARS-CoV-2. Since the outbreak began in late 2019, researchers have been racing to [...]
Corona Virus (COVID 19) Interview with Michael Osterholm an expert in infectious disease epidemiology.
Michael Osterholm is an internationally recognized expert in infectious disease epidemiology. He is Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy [...]
Experts envision two scenarios if the new coronavirus isn’t contained
With the new coronavirus spreading from person to person (possibly including from people without symptoms), reaching four continents, and traveling faster than SARS, driving it out of existence is looking increasingly unlikely. It’s still [...]
Neural cells speed up function in 3D bioprinted skeletal muscle constructs
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) scientists have improved upon the 3D bioprinting technique they developed to engineer skeletal muscle as a potential therapy for replacing diseased or damaged muscle tissue, moving another [...]
Scientists Use a “Synaptor” to Link a Rat Neuron and a Silicon Neuron
An international team of scientists from the University of Southampton, the University of Padova, and the University of Zurich has connected a silicon neuron to a neuron from the rat hippocampus with an artificial [...]
The Ins & Outs of Gene Therapy Drug Development: an interview with NMIN’s Scientific Director
In an insightful 42-minute interview, NMIN’s Scientific Director Dr. Pieter Cullis, a pioneer in liposomal gene and drug delivery, discusses his scientific career with a focus on his contributions to the evolution of [...]
Powerful antibiotic discovered using machine learning for first time
A powerful antibiotic that kills some of the most dangerous drug-resistant bacteria in the world has been discovered using artificial intelligence. The drug works in a different way to existing antibacterials and is the [...]
“Bigger than DNA” — how AI is transforming the pharma industry
Artificial intelligence hit a big milestone in January — the first drug designed entirely using artificial intelligence entered human clinical trials. The compound, created by Oxford-based biotech company Exscientia, is aimed at treating obsessive-compulsive [...]
Achilles’ heel of ALL viruses? Scientists discover holy grail which could lead to UNIVERSAL vaccine
Researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the US have uncovered the ‘Achilles’ heel’ of most viruses which plague mankind, and could soon develop a universal vaccine. Vaccine research, development and testing takes [...]
Small world: atom-scale materials are the next tech frontier
Every age in the history of human civilisation has a signature material, from the Stone Age, to the Bronze and Iron Ages. We might even call today’s information-driven society the Silicon Age. Since the [...]
Human textiles to repair blood vessels
What if we could replace a patient's damaged blood vessels with brand new ones produced in a laboratory? This is the challenge set by Inserm researcher Nicolas L'Heureux, who is working on the human [...]
CRISPR cancer trial finds that gene-edited immune cells are safe
CRISPR gene-edited immune cells have been injected into three people with advanced cancer without any serious side effects, the first trial of its kind in the US. It is also the first CRISPR cancer [...]
Updated – Worldwide Press for “Human Brain/Cloud Interface”
“We’ll have nanobots that… connect our neocortex to a synthetic neocortex in the cloud. Our thinking will be a…. biological and non-biological hybrid.” Ray Kurzweil, TED 2014 UPDATE - February 9 2020 Since [...]
