Vision for navigation: What can we learn from ants? |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, 10 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9AB, UK;2. Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, LN6 7TS, UK;3. Institut für Robotik und Mechatronik, Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Münchener Strasse 20, 82234 Oberpfaffenhofen-Wessling, Germany;1. Case Western Reserve University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, USA;2. Colby College, Department of Biology, USA;3. Case Western Reserve University, Department of Biology, USA;1. Graduate Program in Ecology, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-862 Campinas, SP, Brazil;2. Departamento de Biologia Animal, C.P. 6109, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, 13083-862 Campinas, SP, Brazil;1. Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Australia;2. Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Canada;3. School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, United Kingdom;4. Brain Research Institute, University of Zürich, Switzerland |
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| Abstract: | The visual systems of all animals are used to provide information that can guide behaviour. In some cases insects demonstrate particularly impressive visually-guided behaviour and then we might reasonably ask how the low-resolution vision and limited neural resources of insects are tuned to particular behavioural strategies. Such questions are of interest to both biologists and to engineers seeking to emulate insect-level performance with lightweight hardware. One behaviour that insects share with many animals is the use of learnt visual information for navigation. Desert ants, in particular, are expert visual navigators. Across their foraging life, ants can learn long idiosyncratic foraging routes. What's more, these routes are learnt quickly and the visual cues that define them can be implemented for guidance independently of other social or personal information. Here we review the style of visual navigation in solitary foraging ants and consider the physiological mechanisms that underpin it. Our perspective is to consider that robust navigation comes from the optimal interaction between behavioural strategy, visual mechanisms and neural hardware. We consider each of these in turn, highlighting the value of ant-like mechanisms in biomimetic endeavours. |
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| Keywords: | Visual navigation Ants Insect navigation Habitual route Compound eyes Biomimetics |
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