An insect-inspired targeting/evasion reflex for autonomous air vehicles

This paper investigates a biologically inspired target seeking reflex for the endgame phase of autonomous munition flight. The reflex is based upon an artificial neural network model of the American Cockroach´s escape reflex, and combines exteroceptive and proprioceptive inputs to produce output commands to a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) autopilot that guides the munition to an optimal path destination and orientation for target strike. Simulation and flight test results are presented that demonstrate the reflex´s capability for instantaneous target strike on evasive targets, even in the presence of false or disruptive sensor data.