![]() “They were able to navigate freely across gravel, up a slope and even climb trees.” “We made sure the beetles could still move properly when they were carrying our system,” said co-lead author Ali Najafi, a UW doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering. Similar beetles have been known to be able to carry loads heavier than half a gram, the researchers said. The researchers attached their removable system to the backs of two different types of beetles - a death-feigning beetle and a Pinacate beetle. The camera and arm are controlled via Bluetooth from a smartphone from a distance up to 120 meters away, just a little longer than a football field. These images are also at a higher resolution than if we used a wide-angle lens, which would create an image with the same number of pixels divided up over a much larger area.” “We can track a moving object without having to spend the energy to move a whole robot. “One advantage to being able to move the camera is that you can get a wide-angle view of what’s happening without consuming a huge amount of power,” said co-lead author Vikram Iyer, a UW doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering. This is similar to how people can keep their head turned in one direction for only a short period of time before returning to a more neutral position. Unless the team applies more power, the arm stays at that angle for about a minute before relaxing back to its original position. The arm moves when the team applies a high voltage, which makes the material bend and move the camera to the desired position. To mimic an animal’s vision, the researchers used a tiny, ultra-low-power black-and-white camera that can sweep across a field of view with the help of a mechanical arm. Credit: Mark Stone/University of Washington This saves power over having high resolution over their entire visual field.”Ĭo-lead author Vikram Iyer, a University of Washington doctoral student in the electrical and computer engineering department, attaches the camera system to a Pinacate beetle. They turn their heads to steer where they want to see with extra clarity, such as for chasing prey or a mate. To help cut the cost, some flies have a small, high-resolution region of their compound eyes. “It’s less of a big deal in larger creatures like humans, but flies are using 10 to 20% of their resting energy just to power their brains, most of which is devoted to visual processing. “Similar to cameras, vision in animals requires a lot of power,” said co-author Sawyer Fuller, a UW assistant professor of mechanical engineering. While the cameras themselves are lightweight, the batteries they need to support them make the overall system too big and heavy for insects - or insect-sized robots - to lug around. Typical small cameras, such as those used in smartphones, use a lot of power to capture wide-angle, high-resolution photos, and that doesn’t work at the insect scale. As a result, prior to our work, wireless vision has not been possible for small robots or insects.” “Vision is so important for communication and for navigation, but it’s extremely challenging to do it at such a small scale. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. “We have created a low-power, low-weight, wireless camera system that can capture a first-person view of what’s happening from an actual live insect or create vision for small robots,” said senior author Shyam Gollakota, a UW associate professor in the Paul G. Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a tiny camera that can ride aboard an insect or an insect-sized robot. The results will be published today (July 15, 2020) in Science Robotics. To demonstrate the versatility of this system, which weighs about 250 milligrams - about one-tenth the weight of a playing card - the team mounted it on top of live beetles and insect-sized robots. ![]() This allows a viewer to capture a high-resolution, panoramic shot or track a moving object while expending a minimal amount of energy. The camera, which streams video to a smartphone at 1 to 5 frames per second, sits on a mechanical arm that can pivot 60 degrees. Now researchers at the University of Washington have developed a tiny wireless steerable camera that can also ride aboard an insect, giving everyone a chance to see an Ant-Man view of the world. ![]() In the movie “Ant-Man,” the title character can shrink in size and travel by soaring on the back of an insect. Here a Pinacate beetle explores the UW campus with the camera on its back. Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a tiny camera that can ride aboard an insect. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |