Space rover tests ‘natural intelligence’ based on insect brains

In a simulation of Mars, a abstraction rover is testing a power system with an different inspiration: insect brains.

The package was created by Opteran, a startup based successful nan UK. But nan thought originated from investigation connected bugs.

Scientists astatine nan University of Sheffield had been studying nan brains of insects. They discovered singular neurological efficiency.

A honeybee’s brain, for instance, only contains astir 1 cardinal neurons. A quality brain, by contrast, has astir 86 billion. But nan bee mind’s mini size belies its awesome power.

It’s tin of analyzable navigation, obstacle avoidance, and communication. It besides functions pinch formidable power efficiency.

The researchers believed robots could besides use from these qualities. They decided to reverse-engineer nan brain algorithms into package for autonomous machines. They telephone nan conception “Natural Intelligence.”

In 2019, they founded Opteran to commercialise nan research. The startup soon identified abstraction arsenic an perfect situation for nan tech.

The package harnesses complete a decade of investigation into animal and insect vision. Credit: Opteran

Natural intelligence successful space

Today’s abstraction rovers are often ponderous machines. It tin return them minutes to map their surroundings from aggregate cameras earlier each movement.

Opteran’s system promises to trim this down to milliseconds. “It is uniquely capable to run pinch nan lowest size, weight, and astatine ultra-low power,” David Rajan, nan startup’s CEO and co-founder, told TNW.

Named Opteran Mind, nan package offers zero-latency ocular extent perception. After installation, vehicles can continuously navigate without nan request for extended information aliases training.

The tech besides minimises powerfulness depletion and eliminates dense tools, specified arsenic gimbal-based pan-tilt cameras. As a result, rovers could thrust further and astatine higher speeds without quality intervention.

These capabilities caught nan oculus of Airbus Defence and Space. The institution is now testing nan package successful rovers astatine nan Airbus Mars Yard, a simulated Martian environment.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and nan UK Space Agency are supporting nan project. After nan first tests, their attraction will displacement to deployment and commercialisation.

For Opteran, however, abstraction is conscionable 1 frontier connected nan roadmap.

“We purpose to merge an Opteran Mind into each machine, underground successful mines, connected nan ground, successful nan air, and off-world,” Rajan said, “allowing them to run arsenic efficiently and arsenic freely arsenic earthy creatures.”