Sep 19 2024 14 mins 2
In 2013, Swedish researchers discovered that beetles used the Milky Way to navigate at night, realising its fixed point in the sky could help them roll dung balls in a straight line.
Now, a decade later, researchers at the University of South Australia (UniSA) are using that breakthrough as inspiration for a new project aimed at improving navigation for satellites.
They have developed a computer vision system that reliably measures the orientation of the Milky Way, which could one day lead to a back-up method of stabilising satellites in low light.
Here, Professor Javaan Chahl, who oversaw the initiative, discusses how the plan works.
