A hull reconstruction-reprojection method for pose estimation of free-flying fruit flies
Journal article, 2023

Understanding the mechanisms of insect flight requires high quality data of free-flight kinematics, e.g., for comparative studies or genetic screens. While recent improvements in high-speed videography allow us to acquire large amounts of free-flight data, a significant bottleneck is automatically extracting accurate body and wing kinematics. Here, we present an experimental system and a hull reconstruction-reprojection algorithm for measuring the flight kinematics of fruit flies. The experimental system can automatically record hundreds of flight events per day. Our algorithm resolves a significant portion of the occlusions in this system by a reconstruction-reprojection scheme that integrates information from all cameras. Wing and body kinematics, including wing deformation, are then extracted from the hulls of the wing boundaries and body. This model-free method is fully automatic, accurate and open-source, and can be readily adjusted for different camera configurations or insect species.

Biolocomotion

Motion capture

Insect flight

Drosophila

Kinematics

Pose estimation

Author

Roni Maya

The Hebrew University Of Jerusalem

Noam Lerner

The Hebrew University Of Jerusalem

Omri Ben-Dov

The Hebrew University Of Jerusalem

Arion Pons

The Hebrew University Of Jerusalem

Tsevi Beatus

The Hebrew University Of Jerusalem

Journal of Experimental Biology

0022-0949 (ISSN) 1477-9145 (eISSN)

Vol. 226 21 jeb245853

Subject Categories

Zoology

Computer Science

DOI

10.1242/jeb.245853

PubMed

37795876

More information

Latest update

7/11/2024