Photo by Jared Davidson

When I first started university, I was advised by a PhD student that I needed to have a question to answer when it comes to my final year project, something I definitely had not considered beyond discovering whether or not I was capable.  However, over the years, various little nuggets of information have worked their wonders on me and brought me to this point, wondering if the brain of the honey bee can be suitably modeled to allow a robot to understand its position and orientation in its environment.

One of these little nuggets was the following TED talk by Michael Dickinson, titled “How a Fly Flies”, with the key points at 08:32 and 10:35 which started me thinking about the structural differences between mammalian brains and those of other creatures, and wondering whether this could provide a more efficient structure for AI applications.

Well, the second semester is now under way and the project plan is due for submission this week.  I think it is fair to say I am more than a little nervous, but also quite excited to see what I can achieve.