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Needless
to say the video camera is the preferred data collection
sensor for these systems but many of the simpler robots
are equipped with basic light detection and processing systems.
Even the great LEGO™ has a range from single
sensors to a USB camera and processing software.
A similar
function to that of eyes is performed for robots in and
out of water by the scanning sonar, examples of which are
available for the hobby robot
Insect
vision is a favoured subject for many research projects
and is of interest due to the parsimonious nature of the
biological hardware and wetware, ie the small size of the
brain and nervous system needed to process the signals from
the eye and the simplistic nature of the eye itself.
Where as the light sensitive complex mammal retina has its
signals mapped onto areas of the brain - the likes of the
compound eye of the fly and others is a cluster of lens/light
sensitive units each of which sends light level and frequency
information to its brain. In this case there is a much closer
degree of hard wiring to the relevant motor devices than
in the higher animals. As we all have seen the insects do
their job well with this low level of sophistication and
it is to the direct benifit of robot design to know how
these lifeforms manage it.
Indeed in many simpler animals a handful of light or UV-
or IR-sensitive cells serve them in good stead.
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