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NOTE: This is a mirror of http://insectbot.rsise.anu.edu.au (dead link)

Insect behaviour has been a rich source of inspiration for the field of robotics as the perception and navigation problems encountered by autonomous robots are faced also by insects. This project works towards faster and more robust biologically-inspired, vision-based algorithms for various tasks such as navigation and control.

To facilitate the research interests and goals of insect inspired robotics, a novel mobile robot platform has been developed and appropriately named InsectBot. Two primary design features distinguish the InsectBot from many of the more common robotics research platforms [ cite: Activmedia, iRobot, Acroname ]. The first primary design feature is horizontal omni-directional motion. The second primary design feature is vertical motion for a stereo camera system that uses a pair of hemispherical view ("fish-eye") camera lens, each providing a 190° field of view. These two design features allow 4 degrees of motion, such as simulating the aerial landing of a honeybee.

Currently, InsectBot is used to test flying vehicle algorithms, such as the http://steal.anu.edu.au/hover (dead link)