Research on fruit fly escape manoeuvres

Apart from being a novel, autonomous micro-drone, the robot’s flight performances, combined with its programmability also make it well suited for research into insect flight. To this end, TU Delft has collaborated with Wageningen University. ’When I first saw the robot flying, I was amazed at how closely its flight resembled that of insects, especially when manoeuvring. I immediately thought we could actually employ it to research insect flight control and dynamics‘, says Prof. Florian Muijres from the Experimental Zoology group of Wageningen University & Research. Due to Prof. Muijres’ previous work on fruit flies, the team decided to program the robot to mimic the hypothesized control actions of these insects during high-agility escape manoeuvres, such as those used when we try to swat them.

Comparison trajectory robot vs fruit fly, as seen from above. Image: MAVLab TU Delft

The manoeuvres performed by the robot closely resembled those observed in fruit flies. The robot was even able to demonstrate how fruit flies control the turn angle to maximize their escape performance. ’In contrast to animal experiments, we were in full control of what was happening in the robot’s ”brain”. This allowed us to identify and describe a new passive aerodynamic mechanism that assists the flies, but possibly also other flying animals, in steering their direction throughout these rapid banked turns‘, adds Karásek.

Potential for future applications