How do flies, with their tiny brains, manage to control their flight path?

Answer 1

Housefly's:
Flies were filmed simultaneously from above and from the side. Their flight tracks were analyzed frame by frame. Male and female flies were found to chase other flies. But female chases are brief and poorly controlled as compared to male chases. Female flies use the lower frontal part of their visual field for tracking other flies. Male flies use the upper frontal part of their visual field for that purpose. Male flies are capable of controlling their forward velocity roughly proportional to the distance to their target.


FruitFly's:
To study the visual cues that control steering behavior in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, we reconstructed three-dimensional trajectories from images taken by stereo infrared video cameras during free flight within structured visual landscapes. Flies move through their environment using a series of straight flight segments separated by rapid turns, termed saccades, during which the fly alters course by approximately 90° in less than 100 ms. Altering the amount of background visual contrast caused significant changes in the fly’s translational velocity and saccade frequency. Between saccades, asymmetries in the estimates of optic flow induce gradual turns away from the side experiencing a greater motion stimulus, a behavior opposite to that predicted by a flight control model based upon optomotor equilibrium. To determine which features of visual motion trigger saccades, we reconstructed the visual environment from the fly’s perspective for each position in the flight trajectory. From these reconstructions, we modeled the fly’s estimation of optic flow on the basis of a two-dimensional array of Hassenstein–Reichardt elementary motion detectors and, through spatial summation, the large-field motion stimuli experienced by the fly during the course of its flight. Event-triggered averages of the large-field motion preceding each saccade suggest that image expansion is the signal that triggers each saccade. The asymmetry in output of the local motion detector array prior to each saccade influences the direction (left versus right) but not the magnitude of the rapid turn. Once initiated, visual feedback does not appear to influence saccade kinematics further. The total expansion experienced before a saccade was similar for flight within both uniform and visually textured backgrounds. In summary, our data suggest that complex behavioral patterns seen during free flight emerge from interactions between the flight control system and the visual environment.
An important goal of neuroethology is to determine how complex patterns of behavior emerge from the interactions between an animal and its environment. In the most general terms, what we recognize as behavior results from a continuous feedback loop in which an animal’s actions influence what it experiences, and the resulting change in sensory input modifies its motor output. Because of their small size and the wealth of studies on their sensory-motor physiology, flies are an excellent model system for studying the complex feedback between an animal’s motor behavior and its sensory world. Nearly anywhere in the world, without much effort, you can probably find a fly buzzing around in a seemingly random fashion. While appearing stochastic, the complex flight trajectory of the fly must ultimately emerge from the interactions among its sensory systems, its motor system and the local environment. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the visual patterns that a fly encounters as it moves through a complex landscape determine its flight behavior.

As a fly moves through its environment, images move across its retina and generate complex patterns of optic flow. A fly can use estimates of these flow patterns to provide information about its own motion, to discriminate objects from background and to determine the relative distance of objects
Previous studies have demonstrated that the flight trajectories of many fly species consist of straight flight sequences interspersed with rapid changes in heading termed saccades
During straight flight, there is a focus of expansion within the fly’s visual field where image velocity is zero. Optic flow radiates from this point. Nearer objects move faster across a fly’s retina than those farther away. Simultaneous rotation and translation create optic flow fields that are more difficult to interpret. Thus, maintaining straight flight and minimizing rotation are important goals of the flight control system
Flies are thought to rely upon this so-called optomotor response to correct for horizontal deviations from straight flight. A similar reflex, mediated by the detection of visual motion in the vertical direction, stabilizes altitude
Both responses are thought to operate via linear negative feedback systems in which motor output is inversely proportional to features of visual input, such as large-field image velocity.
In contrast, the saccades are rapid, intermittent events that presumably cannot be represented by a simple linear transformation of a sensory input. It is more likely that specific features within the fly’s visual world trigger the all-or-none events. One possibility is that saccades are triggered by looming objects, similar to the stimuli that evoke landing responses


While flying within our flight arena, Drosophila melanogaster exhibited stereotyped flight trajectories consisting of straight flight segments interspersed with rapid saccades. During each saccade, the fly’s course heading changed by approximately 90° within 100 ms

Answer 2

Okay, time to clear this one up. First off I'm an enroute air traffic controller. Aircraft do NOT fly over the weather. Most major, well-developed storms systems usually have cloud tops that can exceed 50,000 to 60,000ft. There are currently NO commercial aircraft that can fly that high. And there are only 2-3 corporate aircraft that can even get to FL510, (that's 51,000ft). Airlines file their flightplans based on fuel burn, winds aloft, preferential atc routing, and of course the weather. This is why you might see a flight coming from Phoenix going to New York, actually going over Wisconsin. It may be slightly longer in distance, but because of prevailing winds, the aircraft actually consumes less fuel. When there are major storm systems, the fuel conservation issue just about goes out the door. Airline dispatchers will file the aircraft's route based upon weather information and projected path of the weather. If possible, aircraft will want to fly to the backside of a storm. We'll even use your flight as an example. Your flight will be coming down the coast, obviously. Since everybody and their mam knows the storm is over Southeastern Georgia, your aircraft will be travelling a bit more inland today. So instead of maybe passing over Jacksonville or Carolina Beach, you might find yourself flying over West Virginia, Atlanta, and Tallahassee to circumvent Ernesto. Don't worry, I talk with SWA pilots EVERYDAY at work as they fly eastbound out of Chicago MDW, they are very professional and I have never observed risque flying from them when bad weather was about. You'll be fine. You may encounter some light turbulence, but it's nothing to fret over.

Answer 3

I would think they have not much else to think about, apart from flying, food and finding a mate.

Also, to the best of my knowledge, a flies perception of time is very different to ours. From a fly point of view, we humans are moving in slow motion, so they have more time to see and plan their route. So, when we see a fly take off and go to the window, in our time it is only a second or two, but to the fly, it is like two or three minutes, plenty time to set the route and avoid obstacles.

I know this does not fully answer your question, but hope it helps give you a new perspective from a flies point of view.

Answer 4

A path is defined between points A & B, and since a fly works the alphabet in one second, controllers are unnessary.

Answer 5

they have a very sophisticated AUTO PILOTsystem linked to GPS and LORAN. They are under VFR rules and fly only in non restricted airspace following the Met Minima. Wing overhaul is every 2000 hours. Some have FLAPS and some dont. LANDING GEAR is not retractable. L/D ratio is 56

Answer 6

The flightplan, and therefore the flightpath consists of only two commands.....towards poo...away from madly flailing human.

How difficult can that be.....

Answer 7

The one I just squished didn't manage too well, did he?

Answer 8

it's nature they just do it by instinct like us breathing we don't think about it we just do it.