Bees' perfect landing inspires robot aircraft

Scientists at The University of Queensland (UQ) have discovered how the honeybee can land anywhere with utmost precision and grace - and the knowledge may soon help build incredible robot aircraft. By sensing how rapidly their destination 'zooms in' as they fly towards it, honeybees can control their flight speed in time for a perfect touchdown without needing to know how fast they're flying or how far away the destination is. This discovery may advance the design of cheaper, lighter robot aircraft that only need a video camera to land safely on surfaces of any orientation, says Professor Mandyam Srinivasan at UQ's Queensland Brain Institute. "Orchestrating a safe landing is one of the greatest challenges for flying animals and airborne vehicles," says Professor Srinivasan. "To achieve a smooth landing, it's essential to slow down in time for the speed to be close to zero at the time of touchdown." Humans can find out their distance from an object using stereo-vision - because their two eyes, which are separated by about 65 mm, capture different views of the object. However, because insects have close-set eyes, can't do the same thing, explains Professor Srinivasan. "So in order to land on the ground, they use their eyes to sense the speed of the image of the ground beneath them," he says.