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.