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Using artificial evolution and selection to model insect navigation.

K Dale1, T S Collett

  • 1Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, BN1 9QG, Brighton, United Kingdom. kyrand@cogs.sussex.ac.uk

Current Biology : CB
|September 13, 2001
PubMed
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Artificial evolution reveals that flying insects' navigational strategies are adaptations to visual and compass guidance, not solely evolutionary history. Animats with sideways motion capabilities mirrored bee and wasp navigation.

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral ecology
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Evolutionary robotics

Background:

  • Animal behavior is shaped by evolutionary constraints and resource availability.
  • Artificial evolution offers a method to explore these constraints on evolved strategies.
  • This study compares insect navigation with that of virtual agents (animats).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how motor capabilities influence navigational strategies in flying insects and artificial agents.
  • To understand the role of evolutionary history versus environmental demands in shaping insect navigation.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized evolutionary algorithms to create artificial neural networks controlling animat navigation in a 2D simulated world.
  • Equipped animats with thrust, torque, compass, and visual sensors, similar to flying insects.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Varied animat motor architectures (forward-only vs. sideways motion) and selected for navigation precision to a visual landmark.

    • Main Results:

    • Animats with sideways mobility evolved strategies mirroring bees and wasps, uncoupling flight direction from body orientation.
    • Both animats and insects initially aimed at the landmark, then maintained a fixed orientation while adjusting position.
    • Animats lacking sideways motion showed less robust performance and different strategies.

    Conclusions:

    • Navigational strategies in insects appear to be primarily adaptations for using visual and compass information for spatial navigation.
    • The convergence of strategies between insects and animats suggests evolutionary history does not significantly compromise insect navigation.
    • Motor architecture plays a crucial role in the evolution of complex navigational behaviors.