Range and egomotion estimation from compound photodetector arrays with parallel optical axis using optical flow techniques.

This paper describes an application for arrays of narrow-field-of-view sensors with parallel optical axes. These devices exhibit some complementary characteristics with respect to conventional perspective projection or angular projection imaging devices. Conventional imaging devices measure rotational egomotion directly by measuring the angular velocity of the projected image. Translational egomotion cannot be measured directly by these devices because the induced image motion depends on the unknown range of the viewed object. On the other hand, a known translational motion generates image velocities which can be used to recover the ranges of objects and hence the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the environment. A new method is presented for computing egomotion and range using the properties of linear arrays of independent narrow-field-of-view optical sensors. An approximate parallel projection can be used to measure translational egomotion in terms of the velocity of the image. On the other hand, a known rotational motion of the paraxial sensor array generates image velocities, which can be used to recover the 3D structure of the environment. Results of tests of an experimental array confirm these properties.

Anisotropic imaging in the dragonfly median ocellus: a matched filter for horizon detection.

It is suggested that the dragonfly median ocellus is specifically adapted to detect horizontally extended features rather than merely changes in overall intensity. Evidence is presented from the optics, tapetal reflections and retinal ultrastructure. The underfocused ocelli of adult insects are generally incapable of resolving images. However, in the dragonfly median ocellus the geometry of the lens indicates that some image detail is present at the retina in the vertical dimension. Details in the horizontal dimension are blurred by the strongly astigmatic lens. In the excised eye the image of a point source forms a horizontal streak at the level of the retina. Tapetal reflections from the intact eye show that the field of view is not circular as in most other insects but elliptical with the major axis horizontal, and that resolution in the vertical direction is better than in the horizontal. Measurements of tapetal reflections in locust ocelli confirm their visual fields are wide and circular and their optics strongly underfocused. The ultrastructure suggests adaptation for resolution, sensitivity and a high metabolic rate, with long, widely separated rhabdoms, retinulae cupped by reflecting pigment, abundant tracheoles and mitochondria, and convoluted, amplified retinula cell plasma membranes.

Landing strategies in honeybees, and possible applications to autonomous airborne vehicles.

Insects, being perhaps more reliant on image motion cues than mammals or higher vertebrates, are proving to be an excellent organism in which to investigate how information on optic flow is exploited to guide locomotion and navigation. This paper describes one example, illustrating how bees perform grazing landings on a flat surface. A smooth landing is achieved by a surprisingly simple and elegant strategy: image velocity is held constant as the surface is approached, thus automatically ensuring that flight speed is close to zero at touchdown. No explicit knowledge of flight speed or height above the ground is necessary. The feasibility of this landing strategy is tested by implementation in a robotic gantry, and its applicability to autonomous airborne vehicles is discussed.

How honeybees make grazing landings on flat surfaces.

Freely flying bees were filmed as they landed on a flat, horizontal surface, to investigate the underlying visuomotor control strategies. The results reveal that (1) landing bees approach the surface at a relatively shallow descent angle; (2) they tend to hold the angular velocity of the image of the surface constant as they approach it; and (3) the instantaneous speed of descent is proportional to the instantaneous forward speed. These characteristics reflect a surprisingly simple and effective strategy for achieving a smooth landing, by which the forward and descent speeds are automatically reduced as the surface is approached and are both close to zero at touchdown. No explicit knowledge of flight speed or height above the ground is necessary. A model of the control scheme is developed and its predictions are verified. It is also shown that, during landing, the bee decelerates continuously and in such a way as to keep the projected time to touchdown constant as the surface is approached. The feasibility of this landing strategy is demonstrated by implementation in a robotic gantry equipped with vision.

Reflective surfaces for panoramic imaging.

A family of reflective surfaces is presented that, when imaged by a camera, can capture a global view of the visual environment. By using these surfaces in conjunction with conventional imaging devices, it is possible to produce fields of view in excess of 180 degrees that are not affected by the distortions and aberrations found in refractive wide-angle imaging devices. By solving a differential equation expressing the camera viewing angle as a function of the angle of incidence on a reflective surface, a family of appropriate surfaces has been derived. The surfaces preserve a linear relationship between the angle of incidence of light onto the surface and the angle of reflection onto the imaging device, as does a normal mirror. However, the gradient of this linear relationship can be varied as desired to produce a larger or smaller field of view. The resulting family of surfaces has a number of applications in surveillance and machine vision.

Visual computation of egomotion using an image interpolation technique.

A novel technique is presented for the computation of the parameters of egomotion of a mobile device, such as a robot or a mechanical arm, equipped with two visual sensors. Each sensor captures a panoramic view of the environment. We show the parameters of ego-motion can be computed by interpolating the position of the image captured by one of the sensors at the robot's present location, with respect to the images captured by the two sensors at the robot's previous location. The algorithm delivers the distance travelled and angle rotated, without the explicit measurement or integration of velocity fields. The result is obtained in a single step, without any iteration or successive approximation. Tests of the algorithm on real and synthetic images reveal an accuracy to within 5% of the actual motion. Implementation of the algorithm on a mobile robot reveals that stepwise rotation and translation can be measured to within 10% accuracy in a three-dimensional world of unknown structure. The position and orientation of the robot at the end of a 30-step trajectory can be estimated with accuracies of 5% and 5 degrees, respectively.

Plasma extravasation induced by dynorphin-(1-13) in rat skin.

The plasma extravasation response to dynorphin-(1-13) was investigated using the Evans blue dye leakage technique. Dynorphin induced plasma extravasation in rat and guinea-pig abdominal skin with a similar potency to substance P. In rat skin dynorphin, unlike substance P, produced its action entirely by release of histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine since the response was abolished by pretreatment of rats with mepyramine and methysergide. Pretreatment of rats with capsaicin or the tachykinin antagonist, spantide, reduced but did not abolish the response to dynorphin, indicating that its action was not mediated primarily by a neurogenic mechanism. Since the response was not significantly reduced by naloxone it was concluded that the plasma extravasation response to dynorphin was mediated by receptors other than mu opiate receptors. Thus dynorphin, if released from sensory nerves, might play a role in neurogenic inflammation.

The role of prostaglandins in chemically induced inflammation.

Dye leakage in rats, produced by intracutaneous injections of irritants into the abdominal skin, was quantitated using the Evans blue technique of Harada et al. (1971). In control rats and in rats pretreated with indomethacin (an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis) concentration-response lines were obtained for 5-hydroxytryptamine, histamine, bradykinin and prostaglandin E1, bradykinin in the presence of prostaglandin E1 (10-6 M), adenosine-5'-triphosphate, compound 48/80, capsaicin and silver nitrate. In rats pretreated with indomethacin the dye leakage responses to histamine, prostaglandin E1, adenosine-5'-triphosphate and silver nitrate were significantly reduced, but no significant changes were observed in the responses to the other irritants. It is suggested that part of the action of histamine, adenosine-5'-triphosphate and prostagland in E1 is produced indirectly by releaseor stimulation of the synthesis of prostaglandins or their precursors. These results might have important implications in the understanding of the inflammatory response.

Environmental temperature and choline requirement in rats. I. Choline deficiency in rats at various temperatures.

Rats were maintained at 2 degrees, 21 degrees, and 33 degrees for 3 weeks on a choline-supplemented or a choline-deficient diet. In contrast to the findings of some other workers, choline deficiency produced fatty livers at all temperatures. The ratio of the total liver lipid to the total food intake was the same in all choline-supplemented rats. In choline-deficient rats this ratio was always higher and varied directly with temperature.

Environmental temperature and choline requirements in rats. II. Choline and methionine requirements for lipotropic activity.

Young rats were fed choline-deficient diets and maintained at different environmental temperatures. The hepatic lipid level remained normal in rats at 2 degrees when 25 mg of choline per 100 g of food was fed; 50 mg of choline per 100 g food was required at 21 degrees and 100 mg of choline per 100 g food at 33 degrees to prevent excessive lipid accumulation. These values were equivalent to a mean daily intake per rat of 3 mg of choline at 2 degrees, 5.5 mg at 21 degrees, and 7 mg at 33 degrees respectively. When the growth rate was slower owing to a slight inadequacy of histidine in the basal choline-deficient diet, normal hepatic lipid was maintained by supplements of 50 mg of choline per 100 g food at 21 degrees and 33 degrees. Increasing the methionine content of the diet two- or three-fold from a basal value of 340 mg per 100 g food was as effective as 200 mg of choline per 100 g of food in lowering hepatic lipids at 2 degrees, 21 degrees, and 33 degrees.