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Optical-Flow Obstacle Avoidance

Fly a camera-only drone through a cluttered obstacle field: no lidar, no depth sensor — just the apparent speed of obstacles sweeping across the onboard camera (optical flow) steers it away from whatever side is closest, the same trick flying insects use to avoid collisions.

Robotics & Kinematics3DAdvanced60 FPS

A camera-only robot flies forward through a field of pillars at varying distances from its path. It carries no lidar and no stereo rig — instead it tracks how fast each obstacle sweeps across its single onboard camera, the classic optical-flow cue: near things blur past quickly, far things barely move. Averaging that apparent speed across the left and right halves of the view is enough to tell which side is closer, and the autopilot steers away from it — the same trick a flying insect uses to dodge clutter without any depth sensor. Switch off flow steering to watch the robot fly a straight line into the first thing in its way.

⚙ Under the hood

Fly a camera-only drone through a cluttered field of pillars: no lidar, no stereo rig — just the apparent speed of obstacles sweeping across the onboard view (optical flow) steers it away from whichever side is closer, the same trick flying insects use. Toggle off flow steering to watch it fly straight into the first obstacle.

optical flowcomputer visionobstacle avoidancebio-inspireddroneroboticsno depth sensor

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install