Fly Eye Inspires Vision System

A recent Wired article described the work that researchers are doing whereby they are turning the brain cell activity that enables a fly's eyesight into mathematical equations in order to someday program vision systems for a wide variety of robotic applications

Apparently, however, the scientists who built the system don't have a firm grip on how it all works.

The article quotes David O'Carroll, a computational neuroscientist who studies insect vision at Australia's University of Adelaide, "We can build a system that works perfectly well, inspired by biology, without having a complete understanding of how the components interact. It's a non-linear system."

Ultimately, success would enable future generations of battle drones, search and rescue robots, and automobile navigation systems. For a more thorough understanding of the principles involved in the project, check out the article.