Research Overview

Our research group seeks to understand how complex behaviour arises from relatively simple nervous systems using a bio-robotic methodology. That is we strive to embed hypothesis into computational and robot models and compare the resultant behaviour to that of animals in the same settings. The process of instantiating conceptual hypothesis in a real-world system aims to avoid over-simplifying problems through unrealistic assumptions, or being misled by over-fitting to hand-crafted simulated environments.

We take insects (ants, bees, fruit-flies) as our model species as they display a wide range of complex behaviours (foraging, communication, visual navigation, nest building, learning) that vastly exceed the capabilities of current robots, but using a nervous system that is sufficiently simple that we hope to understand it’s function. Much of our research is focussed on behaviours that can be abstracted to robot applications (e.g. GPS-free visual navigation), or can be used in industrial settings (pesticide free pest control).

By revealing the secrets of complex behaviour in insects, we hope to enhance our understanding of natural systems and allow development of similarly capable artificial systems.

Current Group Members

Dr Mike Mangan (PI)

Dr Anil Ozdemir (Postdoc)

Zeke Hobbs (PhD Candidate)
Blayze Millward (PhD Candidate)

Elias Lattish (PhD Candidate - 2nd supervisor)
Raymond Kirk (PhD Candidate - 2nd supervisor)
Xuelong Sun (PhD Candidate - 2nd supervisor)

Research Projects

Publications

2020

• Xuelong Sun, Shigang Yue, and Michael Mangan. 2020. “A Decentralised Neural Model Explaining Optimal Integration of Navigational Strategies in Insects”. bioRxiv
• Blayze Millward, Steve Maddock, and Michael Mangan. 2020. “Towards insect inspired visual sensors for robots”.
• Zeke Hobbs, Tom Duckett, Simon Pearson, and Michael Mangan. 2016. “Towards bio-inspired fruit detection for agriculture”. networks
• Raymond Kirk, Grzegorz Cielniak, and Michael Mangan. 2020. “L* a* b* Fruits: A Rapid and Robust Outdoor Fruit Detection System Combining Bio-Inspired Features with One-Stage Deep Learning Networks”. Sensors
• Lars Haalck, Michael Mangan, Barbara Webb, and Benjamin Risse. 2020. “Towards image-based animal tracking in natural environments using a freely moving camera”.
• Cornelia Buehlmann, Michael Mangan, and Paul Graham. 2020. “Multimodal interactions in insect navigation”.
• Sebastian Schwarz, Michael Mangan, Barbara Webb, and Antoine Wystrach. 2020. “Route-following ants respond to alterations of the view sequence”. Journal of Experimental Biology

2019

• Evripidis Gkanias, Benjamin Risse, Michael Mangan, and Barbara Webb. 2019. “From skylight input to behavioural output: a computational model of the insect polarised light compass”. PLoS computational biology
• Uriel Martinez-Hernandez, Vasiliki Vouloutsi, Anna Mura, Michael Mangan, Minoru Asada, Tony J Prescott, and Paul FMJ Verschure. 2019. “Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems: 8th International Conference, Living Machines 2019, Nara, Japan, July 9–12, 2019, Proceedings”.
• Xuelong Sun, Shigang Yue, and Michael Mangan. 2019. “Modelling the Insect Navigation Toolkit: How the Mushroom Bodies and Central Complex Coordinate Guidance Strategies”. bioRxiv

2018

• Benjamin Risse, Michael Mangan, Wolfgang Stürzl, and Barbara Webb. 2018. “Software to convert terrestrial LiDAR scans of natural environments into photorealistic meshes”. Environmental modelling & software
• Thomas Stone, Michael Mangan, Antoine Wystrach, and Barbara Webb. 2018. “Rotation invariant visual processing for spatial memory in insects”. Interface focus
• Xuelong Sun, Michael Mangan, and Shigang Yue. 2018. “An analysis of a ring attractor model for cue integration”.
• Vasiliki Vouloutsi, José Halloy, Anna Mura, Michael Mangan, Nathan Lepora, Tony J Prescott, and Paul FMJ Verschure. 2018. “Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems: 7th International Conference, Living Machines 2018, Paris, France, July 17–20, 2018, Proceedings”.
• B Risse, M Mangan, and B Webb. 2018. “Possibilities, Constraints and Limitations of Image-based Animal Tracking in Natural Environments”. Measuring Behavior 2018

2017

• Sebastian Schwarz, Michael Mangan, Jochen Zeil, Barbara Webb, and Antoine Wystrach. 2017. “How ants use vision when homing backward”. Current Biology
• Benjamin Risse, Michael Mangan, Luca Del Pero, and Barbara Webb. 2017. “Visual tracking of small animals in cluttered natural environments using a freely moving camera”.
• Alexander Billington, Gabriel Walton, Joseph Whitbread, and Michael Mangan. 2017. “Using the robot operating system for biomimetic research”.
• Michael Mangan, Mark Cutkosky, Anna Mura, Paul FMJ Verschure, Tony Prescott, and Nathan Lepora. 2017. “Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems: 6th International Conference, Living Machines 2017, Stanford, CA, USA, July 26–28, 2017, Proceedings”.
• Gaddi Blumrosen, David Hawellek, and Bijan Pesaran. 2017. “Towards Automated Recognition of Facial Expressions in Animal Models”.
• Michael Mangan, Mark Cutkosky, Anna Mura, Paul FMJ Verschure, Tony Prescott, and Nathan Lepora. 2017. “and Biohybrid Systems”.

2016

• Paul Ardin, Fei Peng, Michael Mangan, Konstantinos Lagogiannis, and Barbara Webb. 2016. “Using an insect mushroom body circuit to encode route memory in complex natural environments”. PLoS computational biology
• Paul B Ardin, Michael Mangan, and Barbara Webb. 2016. “Ant homing ability is not diminished when traveling backwards”. Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience
• Jon Peddie, Kurt Akeley, Paul Debevec, Erik Fonseka, Michael Mangan, and Michael Raphael. 2016. “A vision for computer vision: emerging technologies”.
• Nathan F Lepora, Anna Mura, Michael Mangan, Paul FMJ Verschure, Marc Desmulliez, and Tony J Prescott. 2016. “Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems: 5th International Conference, Living Machines 2016, Edinburgh, UK, July 19-22, 2016. Proceedings”.

2015

• Antoine Wystrach, Michael Mangan, and Barbara Webb. 2015. “Optimal cue integration in ants”. Proc. R. Soc. B
• Aleksandar Kodzhabashev, and Michael Mangan. 2015. “Route following without scanning”.
• Paul Ardin, Michael Mangan, Antoine Wystrach, and Barbara Webb. 2015. “How variation in head pitch could affect image matching algorithms for ant navigation”. Journal of Comparative Physiology A
• Paul Graham and Michael Mangan. 2015. “Insect navigation: do ants live in the now?”.
• Michael Milford, Hanme Kim, Michael Mangan, Stefan Leutenegger, Tom Stone, Barbara Webb, and Andrew Davison. 2015. “Place recognition with event-based cameras and a neural implementation of SeqSLAM”. arXiv preprint arXiv:1505.04548

2014

• Allen Cheung, Matthew Collett, Thomas S Collett, Alex Dewar, Fred Dyer, Paul Graham, Michael Mangan, Ajay Narendra, Andrew Philippides, Wolfgang Stürzl, Barbara Webb, Antoine Wystrach, and Jochen Zeil. 2014. “Still no convincing evidence for cognitive map use by honeybees”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Thomas Stone, Michael Mangan, Paul Ardin, and Barbara Webb. 2014. “Sky segmentation with ultraviolet images can be used for navigation”.

2013

• Antoine Wystrach, Michael Mangan, Andrew Philippides, and Paul Graham. 2013. “Snapshots in ants? New interpretations of paradigmatic experiments”. Journal of Experimental Biology
• Nathan F Lepora, Paul FMJ Verschure, and Tony J Prescott. 2013. “Towards a roadmap for living machines”.
• Andrew Philippides, Alex Dewar, Antoine Wystrach, Michael Mangan, and Paul Graham. 2013. “How active vision facilitates familiarity-based homing”.
• B Webb, M Mangan, and P Ardin. 2013. “Visual processing and visual memory in ant navigation”. Front. Physiol. Conference Abstract: International Conference on Invertebrate Vision. doi: 10.3389/conf. fphys
• Andrew Philippides, Antoine Wystrach, Michael Mangan, Bart Baddeley, and Paul Graham. 2013. “Models of visual navigation in ants”.

2012

• Michael Mangan and Barbara Webb. 2012. “Spontaneous formation of multiple routes in individual desert ants (Cataglyphis velox)”. Behavioral Ecology

2011

• Michael Mangan. 2011. “Visual homing in field crickets and desert ants: A comparative behavioural and modelling study”.

2009

• Michael Mangan and Barbara Webb. 2009. “Modelling place memory in crickets”. Biological cybernetics

2008

• Jan Wessnitzer, Michael Mangan, and Barbara Webb. 2008. “Place memory in crickets”. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• Jan Wessnitzer, Thomas Haferlach, Michael Mangan, and Barbara Webb. 2008. “Path integration using a model of e-vector orientation coding in the insect brain: reply to Vickerstaff and Di Paolo”. Adaptive Behavior
• Jan Wessnitzer, Thomas Haferlach, Michael Mangan, and Barbara Webb. 2008. “Path integration using a model of e-Vector orientation coding in the insect brain”.

2007

• Thomas Haferlach, Jan Wessnitzer, Michael Mangan, and Barbara Webb. 2007. “Evolving a neural model of insect path integration”. Adaptive Behavior