Goyal Pulkit, Cribellier Antoine, de Croon Guido C H E, Lankheet Martin J, van Leeuwen Johan L, Pieters Remco P M, Muijres Florian T
Experimental Zoology Group, Wageningen University and Research, 6708 WD Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Control and Simulation, Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology, 2629 HS Delft, the Netherlands.
iScience. 2021 Apr 24;24(5):102407. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102407. eCollection 2021 May 21.
When approaching a landing surface, many flying animals use visual feedback to control their landing. Here, we studied how foraging bumblebees () use radial optic expansion cues to control in-flight decelerations during landing. By analyzing the flight dynamics of 4,672 landing maneuvers, we showed that landing bumblebees exhibit a series of deceleration bouts, unlike landing honeybees that continuously decelerate. During each bout, the bumblebee keeps its relative rate of optical expansion constant, and from one bout to the next, the bumblebee tends to shift to a higher, constant relative rate of expansion. This modular landing strategy is relatively fast compared to the strategy described for honeybees and results in approach dynamics that is strikingly similar to that of pigeons and hummingbirds. The here discovered modular landing strategy of bumblebees helps explaining why these important pollinators in nature and horticulture can forage effectively in challenging conditions; moreover, it has potential for bio-inspired landing strategies in flying robots.
在接近着陆表面时，许多飞行生物利用视觉反馈来控制着陆。在此，我们研究了觅食的大黄蜂如何利用径向视觉扩展线索来控制着陆过程中的飞行减速。通过分析4672次着陆动作的飞行动力学，我们发现着陆的大黄蜂表现出一系列减速阶段，这与持续减速的着陆蜜蜂不同。在每个阶段，大黄蜂保持其视觉扩展的相对速率恒定，并且从一个阶段到下一个阶段，大黄蜂倾向于转向更高的、恒定的相对扩展速率。与描述的蜜蜂策略相比，这种模块化着陆策略相对较快，并且导致的接近动态与鸽子和蜂鸟的动态惊人地相似。这里发现的大黄蜂模块化着陆策略有助于解释为什么这些在自然和园艺中重要的传粉者能够在具有挑战性的条件下有效地觅食；此外，它在飞行机器人的仿生着陆策略方面具有潜力。
