Abstract. Flying insects, despite their relatively coarse vision and tiny nervous system, are capable of carrying out elegant and fast aerial manoeuvres. Studies of the fly visual system have shown that this is accomplished by the integration of signals from a large number of elementary motion detectors (EMDs) in just a few global flow detector cells. We developed an FPGA-based smart camera module with more than 10 000 single EMDs, which is closely modelled after insect motion-detection circuits with respect to overall architecture, resolution, and inter-receptor spacing. Input to the EMD array is provided by a CMOS camera with high frame rate. Designed as an adaptable solution for different engineering applications and as a testbed for biological models, the EMD detector type and parameters like the EMD time constants, the motion-detection directions, and the angle between correlated receptors are reconfigurable online. This allows a flexible and simultaneous detection of complex motion fields like translation, rotation and looming, such that various tasks e.g. obstacle avoidance, height/distance control, or speed regulation can be performed by the same compact device. Bio-inspired motion detection in an FPGA-based smart camera module2