Benchmark 3D Models of Natural Navigation Environments @ www.InsectVision.org

Abstract

A number of models for insect navigation have been developed to explain the results of behavioural experiments and to be tested in simulations or on robotic platforms. However, it remains difficult to evaluate these models in a generic and objective way, beyond the specific results they have been developed to explain and beyond the specific environments and applications for which they have been developed. Here we introduce a realistic and controllable environment, that allows one to test visual navigation algorithms in natural and complex conditions and that can be shared with the research community. We have launched a publicly accessible service at www.insectvision.org that allows users to render panoramic views at any position within 3D models of natural habitats and to filter them with the sampling array of honeybee compound eyes. Using 3D laser scans and multi-camera images, we generate 3D models of environments (see accompanying abstract “Mapping the Navigational Information Content of Insect Habitats” by Sturzl et al.). These models allow us to render views of the scene from arbitrary viewpoints within the acquired workspace. We can then move a virtual insect, in our case a bee, through this environment along any path and reconstruct a view from the cockpit of the insect, including a model of its compound eye sampling array, if available (see Fig. 1). This not only allows us to investigate visual navigation mechanisms in insects, but also the performance of specific models of navigation under real-life conditions. The currently available 3D model is based on data acquired in the habitat of ground nesting wasps and bees. We recorded learning and homing flights, which are also available online. We see this work as the first step towards a growing database that can be used for comparative analysis and for rigorous tests of insect navigation models. The platform can also be used for benchmarking navigation and flight-control models in biology and robotics.