In the process of locating, male moths use the pheromone in the air, the smell, to navigate for themselves and find "her" hundreds of meters away. There are two steps involved: finding the pheromone and then flying against the wind. Do you understand that these insect behaviors are useful for drone research? Recently, the research team of Lin Kaide, a professor of entomology at the University of California, used computer simulation technology to demonstrate that these insect behaviors will help drones quickly find pheromones and discover targets.
The simulation data of the research team is based on observations of the behavioral habits of the gypsy moth and wind tunnel tests. In a simulated environment, they set natural winds and slender pheromones, and let more than 100 virtual moths look for smells in a borderless environment at the same time—which is difficult to observe directly under field conditions. measured.
Simulation experiments have shown that those drones that are set to look for pheromones do not need to detect wind direction. "Our simulations show that random walks, that is, random follow-ups and occasional adjustments are the quickest way to find pheromones, which is probably the path of female moths to find mate," said Lin Card. He said that this strategy is the easiest to find pheromones, and this conclusion matches the previous observations of moths.
Previous theoretical models have been biased to combine pheromone with flight direction, such as crosswind flight mode. The study proves that crosswind flight is not the best flight method as predicted, and downwind is the least likely way to succeed.
Card said that in the simulation experiment, once the moth is found, the moth will look for the source of the odor in the direction of the wind. This process is well understood in flying insects such as moths, flies and mosquitoes. However, how these insects discover pheromones and find the most efficient search strategy is the most economical way to fly, and has not been studied in depth. He believes that this research may inspire drone research: for example, a drone that searches for pollution sources can simulate the path used by insects to find pheromones in nature to search for odors and find targets.
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