Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #06888
To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: Sean Rigter rigter@cafe.net
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 20:01:19 -0700
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Tilden used something that can be made into an Electronic compass
Like a PIR motion detector which must be still since it detects motion with repect
to itself. The compound eyes of some insects must have similar problems while the
insect is moving. For example, flies often walk in short bursts and then stop to
observe. When at rest flies seem to be sensitive to motion in all planes. When
flying, the flightpath is often a series of short horizontal staight line
segments which may help the fly to process visual information. I suspect that
while in horizontal flight, a fly is less sensitive to external motion in the
horizontal plane. I must test my theory. Now where did all those flies go?
Telepathy? Time for a brainless (but tireless) Beam Solar Fly Swatter.
--Beam is stranger than truth
wilf
"Larry F. Allen-Tonar" wrote:
> Jean,
>
> Somewhere I saw or read of a predatory beetle which ran so fast toward
> its target prey that its visual processing couldn't keep up. So, it would
> scoot a ways toward its prey, then stop and wait until it could "see"
> again, change direction if necessary, scoot some more, with any number of
> cycles, until its mandibles had clutched the prey.
> -- Truth is stranger than science,
> Larry
>
> At 2:44 AM -0600 10/17/99, Jean auBois wrote:
> >IMNSHO, however, the reason for the alternate sense-then-move style
> >behavior is based on the UXO robot. In other words, there are times that
> >it is valuable for your sensors to be stable (less jitter, for example) or
> >simply turned off (for example, if they'd be swamped by some robot-created
> >signal). Offhand, I think that the biological world tends to use this
> >scheme only when the creature isn't under any particular stress or is
> >stalking... more often, though, this is not at all a very biological
> >approach -- try walking towards some goal 30 feet away three steps at a
> >time with your eyes closed, open your eyes to determine where you are
> >going, repeat... and see what happens... try something similar with a glass
> >of water. The more biological approach is that sensing and movement occur
> >simultaneously.
> --
> Regards, Larry F. Allen-Tonar (larryat@cts.com) +1 760/746-6464 (voice)
> Principal Designer +1 760/746-0766 (FAX,
> P.O. Box 463072 upon request)
> Escondido, CA 92046-3072
> "Futuaris nisi irrisus ridebis.", Carlton in _The Road to Mars_ by Eric Idle
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