Localization of a moving target using a fly eye sensor

An optical sensor based on the visual system of the common housefly (Musca domestica) has been developed by the researchers at the Wyoming Image and Signal Processing Research (WISPR) Laboratory. This optical sensor shows promising peformance for detection of an edge in real-time, with minimal processing overhead. An application of this sensor might be the deflection measurement of a moving target, such as the wing of an aircraft under test. In this paper, we have investiaged the possibility of localizing an edge, and hence the target, using the fly eye sensor, which is an important part of the deflection measurement process. A simulation program has been developed for this purpose, which simulates the sensor output, for a moving object on the target plane at a specified distance from the sensor. After successfully simulating the sensor output, it has been found that the location of an edge changes with the change in sensor to target distance, and their relative orientation. It also changes for the limited movement of the target, withing the field of view (FOV) of the sensor. On the contrary, the target-background contrast scenario, and shifting of the target normal to the target movement direction, do not affect the edge localization process. This paper shows and edge can be precisely detected for a target a aspecified distance from the sensor with proper sensor-target orientation, when the target moves all the way across the FOV of the sensor.