A neural model of the locust visual system for detection of object approaches with real-world scenes

In the central nervous systems of animals like pigeons and locusts, neurons were identified which signal objects approaching the animal on a direct collision course. Unraveling the neural circuitry for collision avoidance, and identifying the underlying computational principles, is promising for building vision-based neuromorphic architectures, which in the near future could find applications in cars or planes. At the present there is no published model available for robust detection of approaching objects under real-world conditions. Here we present a computational architecture for signalling impending collisions, based on known anatomical data of the locust lobula giant movement detector (LGMD) neuron. Our model shows robust performance even in adverse situations, such as with approaching low-contrast objects, or with highly textured and moving backgrounds. We furthermore discuss which components need to be added to our model to convert it into a full-fledged real-world-environment collision detector. KEYWORDS: Locust, LGMD, collision detection, lateral inhibition, diffusion, ON-OFF-pathways, neuronal dynamics, computer vision, image processing