High speed computer vision tracks Cyborg Fly

IEEE Spectrum has a report on the Cyborg Fly project at ETH Zurich in Switzerland. A fly tethered in front of an LED display driven from a mobile robot's sensors steers that robot through an obstacle course. A high-speed vision system is used to analyze the motion of the fly's wings at 7 kilohertz; the analyzed wing dynamics provide steering commands to the robot. Although the purpose of the research was to analyze flight control in insects, the demands of the wing tracking led to the development of the high speed vision system.