Agile Robust Autonomy: Inspired by Connecting Natural Flight and Biological Sensors

The goal of this research was to understand insect flight for purposes of improving agility, autonomy, robustness, and integrated sensing and processing of unmanned aerial vehicles. This goal was approached using a comparative methodology in order to understand general principles of insect flight across diverse species; understand environmental variables that impact natural flight of insects; understand how insects can recover from flight perturbations; and understand the connection between flight, sensor capability, neural processing, and muscular control.