Several members of the bat tunnel team inside the tunnel frame . The team includes Hannah-Victoria Thielman ( front right ), Sounak Chakrabarti ( left ), Yihao Hu ( white shirt ), and primary investigator Rolf Mueller ( back ). a captive group of diverse animals trained to fly through the tunnel on command , demonstrating their unique skill set . Mueller found partners in Brunei to assist with putting a research facility in place .
Once the student team finished their tunnel design plans , an additional student team convened to do the work of bringing together a functional camera array . Two of those students , undergraduates Sounak Chakrabarti and Hannah-Victoria Thielmanm , won an Honorable Mention Award for a presentation of the project at the 2020 Virginia Academy of Science Fall Undergraduate Research Meeting in November .
The final tunnel design is 8.6m long , 2.9 m wide , and 3.3m tall .
Observations will be recorded on 50 synchronized high-speed video cameras with illumination from 40 camera lights and with 40 ultrasonic microphones .
Mueller ’ s plan is to complete the integrated build , combining the tunnel design with the student-built array , and to ship the completed tunnel to Brunei . He aims to start making observations of “ elite ” bats soon .
“ The collaborative research platform in Brunei will allow us to combine first-hand access to biodiversity with world-class experimental facilities ,” said Mueller . “ This will enable Virginia Tech researchers and their international collaborators to gain new insights for technology right from the source .”
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