The University of Sheffield has been involved in an exciting international research collaboration that has developed cutting-edge tracking technology. This technology has helped scientists gain new insights into how desert ants navigate, which could inspire the development of intelligent and efficient robots.
Let’s break down what we know about this technology and what it has revealed about desert ants:
- The technology uses computer vision to monitor individual desert ants during their foraging expeditions, from their departure from the nest to their return with food. This has provided researchers with a wealth of data on the ants’ behavior.
- The data shows that desert ants can memorize their routes home after just one successful trip, but their outward journeys evolve over time. This suggests that the ants use different approaches to exploration and exploitation.
- The technology has also revealed an underlying oscillatory movement that explains how the ants generate intricate search patterns to suit their surroundings.
- This technology is already being used by many international research groups and is suitable for citizen science projects because it can use video captured with standard cameras.
So, what makes this technology so groundbreaking?
- It uses artificial intelligence and computer vision to detect the position of an insect in video footage captured by off-the-shelf cameras.
- The system can identify tiny objects that may be hard to spot and is resilient against obstructions, shadows, and background noise, making it ideal for use in natural habitats where other systems might fail.
- The technology provides unique insights into the navigational behavior of ants in their natural habitat, bridging the gap between laboratory and field studies.
- The data obtained from this technology is critical for understanding how animals with small brains navigate their environments effectively.
The insights gained from this technology are already being used to create commercial products by Opteran, a University of Sheffield spin-out company that specializes in producing highly robust autonomous systems utilizing low-cost sensors and computing.
What makes desert ants so fascinating and why are they a source of inspiration for the next generation of robots?
- Desert ants can navigate long distances in harsh environments without relying on pheromone trails, GPS, or 5G, unlike other ants and current robots.
- By studying the navigation mechanisms of desert ants, engineers could create artificial systems with similar capabilities that could revolutionize fields like environmental monitoring, search and rescue, and agriculture.
In summary, the University of Sheffield’s innovative tracking technology has given us new insights into the navigational behavior of desert ants, which has the potential to inspire the development of intelligent and efficient robots. This technology is already being used to create commercial products and could lead to significant advancements in various fields.