干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Navigation technology is an essential ability for the survival and development of animal and human. Desert ants Cataglyphis are able to explore their desert habitat for hundreds of meters while foraging and return back to their nest precisely and in a straight line. For deriving direction information, these animals use the pattern of polarized light in the sky which arises due to scattering of sunlight in the atmosphere. The polarization sensitivity mechanisms of the ants’ compound eye are analyzed. A novel bionic navigation sensor is constructed. The work principle of the sensor is discussed. A novel algorithm of the direction angle calculation is presented. The merits of the new algorithm are discussed in detail. The angle output experiment of the navigation sensor is performed under different light conditions. The normalization output curve is obtained, and the angle output error is given with our algorithm. The experiment result indicates that the new angle algorithm is feasible and effective.