High-resolution outdoor videography of insects using Fast Lock-On tracking

Insects have important roles globally in ecology, economy, and health, yet our understanding of their behavior remains limited. Bees, for example, use vision and a tiny brain to find flowers and return home, but understanding how they perform these impressive tasks has been hampered by limitations in recording technology. Here, we present Fast Lock-On (FLO) tracking. This method moves an image sensor to remain focused on a retroreflective marker affixed to an insect. Using paraxial infrared illumination, simple image processing can localize the sensor location of the insect in a few milliseconds. When coupled with a feedback system to steer a high-magnification optical system to remain focused on the insect, a high–spatiotemporal resolution trajectory can be gathered over a large region. As the basis for several robotic systems, we show that FLO is a versatile idea that can be used in combination with other components. We demonstrate that the optical path can be split and used for recording high-speed video. Furthermore, by flying an FLO system on a quadcopter drone, we track a flying honey bee and anticipate tracking insects in the wild over kilometer scales. Such systems have the capability to provide higher-resolution information about insects behaving in natural environments and as such will be helpful in revealing the biomechanical and neuroethological mechanisms used by insects in natural settings.