Objective
Birds have been called “une aile guidée par un oeil”, and whilst they possess many senses besides vision, their wings are indeed guided largely by their eyes. Nevertheless, we know surprisingly little of how birds use vision to guide their flight, and almost nothing of the underlying guidance and control laws. This is an extraordinary omission, and unfortunate given the importance that vision is poised to assume in autonomous unmanned aircraft. With good reason, the law still requires a human eye to remain in the loop, but as with the coming revolution in driverless cars, the future of flight lies in autonomy. I see a once-in-a-career opportunity here: we need only imagine a hawk, shooting over the top of a hedgerow then plunging through the undergrowth onto its fleeting prey, to see what engineering could learn. Building upon the success of my ERC Starting Grant on Bird and Insect Flight Dynamics and Control, my proposed Consolidator Grant has two overarching ambitions: 1) to revolutionize our understanding of vision-based guidance and control in birds; and 2) to carry these insights over to application in unmanned autonomous aircraft. This presents a formidable technical challenge, but by combining a state-of-the-art motion capture suite with targets/obstacles moving under motion control in a custom-built facility, I will use system identification techniques to unambiguously identify the guidance and control laws underpinning perching, pursuit, obstacle avoidance, and gap negotiation in birds. More than this, I will identify the precise motion cues to which they attend, settling longstanding questions on the extent to which guidance emerges from simple algorithmic rules versus state feedback and estimation, with wider implications for our understanding of avian perception. This work will break new ground in all directions, testing applied insights in the same facility, and so leading the world in drawing the study of birds and aircraft together under one roof.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence computer vision
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering robotics autonomous robots drones
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence machine learning deep learning
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software software applications video games
- natural sciences mathematics applied mathematics mathematical model
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2015-CoG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
OX1 2JD Oxford
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.