Magnetic Navigation Techniques borrowed from birds could help drones find their way.

Isabella Bernard

]Magnetic navigation techniques borrowed from nature could be applied to drones according to a study carried out at the US Air Force Research Laboratory

Birds navigate over vast distances by detecting variations in the Earth’s magnetic field

We've known for a long time that many animals, especially migratory birds along with some fish, mammals and insects, navigate by sensing the Earth's magnetic field. 

Currently, researchers at the United States Air Force Research Laboratory have shown that one of the magnetic navigation techniques thought to be used in the natural world, usually in birds, could assist in enabling flying vehicles, AKA drones, find their way without any sort of maps or GPS.

The study uses computer modelling to begin by investigating whether it’s possible for animals to use rare and/or unique combinations of magnetic properties as a type of navigation marker.

“This concept has been put forward before through various experimental work with artificial magnetic fields, and simulation work that examines an animal’s motion in the context of ocean current motion and the magnetic field” explained Dr Brian Taylor, from the US Air Force Research Laboratory.

The group at the United States Air Force used a software simulation to execute several closed loops around a series of goal locations, in several different conditions, and found that this would be an attainable navigation technique for animals. “From an engineering perspective, the results show how a simple algorithm with little prior knowledge of its environment can successfully navigate to different specified points,” said Taylor.

He adds that the approach may provide a way for engineered systems to independently navigate without the assistance of external positioning aides. “Because the algorithm only has limited prior environment knowledge, a detailed map does not necessarily need to be created or maintained prior to a task or mission, which can save on resources, and is promising for situations where creating the map would be logistically difficult.”

This also means there is no need for a detailed map to be carried on board a vehicle or unmanned platform. This is advantages for drones because cost, size, weight, and power are at a low, and a more detailed map translates into more storage space and processing power.

Dr Taylor concluded by saying: “Along the same lines of considering cost, size, weight, and power, the results show that, under the right circumstances, it may be possible for this type of algorithm to succeed without needing a high measurement frequency. This could ease the computational burden of running the algorithm in a real-time / online setting where resources are limited.”