Embodied linearity of speed control in Drosophila melanogaster |
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Authors: | V Medici S N Fry |
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Affiliation: | 1.Institute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland;2.SciTrackS GmbH, Lohzelgstrasse 7, 8118 Pfaffhausen, Switzerland |
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Abstract: | Fruitflies regulate flight speed by adjusting their body angle. To understand how low-level posture control serves an overall linear visual speed control strategy, we visually induced free-flight acceleration responses in a wind tunnel and measured the body kinematics using high-speed videography. Subsequently, we reverse engineered the transfer function mapping body pitch angle onto flight speed. A linear model is able to reproduce the behavioural data with good accuracy. Our results show that linearity in speed control is realized already at the level of body posture-mediated speed control and is therefore embodied at the level of the complex aerodynamic mechanisms of body and wings. Together with previous results, this study reveals the existence of a linear hierarchical control strategy, which can provide relevant control principles for biomimetic implementations, such as autonomous flying micro air vehicles. |
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Keywords: | Drosophila melanogaster insect flight behaviour flight control aerodynamics |
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