Using collision cones to assess biological deconfliction methods

• Published in: Journal of the Royal Society interface Vol. 13; no. 122; p. 20160502
• Main Authors: Brace, Natalie L., Hedrick, Tyson L., Theriault, Diane H., Fuller, Nathan W., Wu, Zheng, Betke, Margrit, Parrish, Julia K., Grünbaum, Daniel, Morgansen, Kristi A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Royal Society 01.09.2016
• Subjects: Animal Behaviour; Collision Avoidance Algorithm; Collision Cones; Life Sciences–Engineering interface; Multi-Species Comparison; Nonlinear Control; Velocity Obstacles; collision avoidance algorithm; collision cones; multi-species comparison; velocity obstacles; nonlinear control; animal behaviour
• ISSN: 1742-5689; 1742-5662
• DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2016.0502

Biological systems consistently outperform autonomous systems governed by engineered algorithms in their ability to reactively avoid collisions. To better understand this discrepancy, a collision avoidance algorithm was applied to frames of digitized video trajectory data from bats, swallows and fish (Myotis velifer, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota and Danio aequipinnatus). Information available from visual cues, specifically relative position and velocity, was provided to the algorithm which used this information to define collision cones that allowed the algorithm to find a safe velocity requiring minimal deviation from the original velocity. The subset of obstacles provided to the algorithm was determined by the animal's sensing range in terms of metric and topological distance. The algorithmic calculated velocities showed good agreement with observed biological velocities, indicating that the algorithm was an informative basis for comparison with the three species and could potentially be improved for engineered applications with further study.