Preliminary tests of a possible outdoor light adaptation solution for a fly inspired visual sensor: a biomimetic...

Two previous papers, presented at RMBS in 2009 and 2010, introduced a fly inspired vision sensor that could adapt to indoor light conditions by mimicking the light adaptation process of the commonhousefly, Muscadomestica. A new system has been designed that should allow the sensor to adapt to outdoor light conditions which will enable the sensor’s use inapplications such as: unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) obstacle avoidance, UAV landing support, target tracking, wheelchair guidance, large structure monitoring, and many other outdoor applications. A sensor of this type is especially suited for these applications due to features of hyperacuity (or an ability to achieve movement resolution beyond the theoretical limit), extreme sensitivity to motion, and (through software simulation) image edge extraction, motion detection, and orientation and location of a line.Many of these qualities are beyond the ability of traditional computervision sensors such as charge coupled device (CCD) arrays.To achieve outdoor light adaptation, a variety of design obstacles have to be overcome such as infrared interference, dynamic range expansion, and light saturation. The newly designed system overcomes the latter two design obstacles by mimicking the fly’s solution of logarithmic compression followed by removal of the average background light intensity. This paper presents the new design and the preliminary tests that were conducted to determine its effectiveness.