Bio-inspired technology reinterprets
sonar signals
In an effort to more effectively process sonar
technology, the U.S. Navy has turned to an un-
likely source for help – bats. Bats may provide the
answer to a glaring problem of drone operation
- navigating in dense natural environments. As
part of a five-year project for the Office of Naval
Research, mechanical engineering professors Rolf
Mueller and Michael Roan, are collaborating with
three other universities to develop a better model
for the sonar skills of bats.
Rolf Mueller
Professor
Mueller has been developing a bat robot using
data from his two decades of study of horseshoe
and Old World round leaf nosed bats in Asia and
Europe.
“The idea is the input to the robot - a collection
of echoes taken from the forests - are run through a computer simulation of what we think the
bat’s brain is doing,” Mueller said. “Then we try to make sense of the signals. It’s like focusing a
camera lens – you keep adjusting your input until you get the clearest image.”
Research
Focus:
Bio-inspired
technology;
Biodiversity in
biological form
and function;
Biosonar sens-
ing.
A big part in deciphering the signaling process comes from a small cluster of one-half centimeter
microphones designed by Roan, that will create an additional correlation for brain researchers.
“The project is really about creating a biosonar,” Roan said.
Michael Roan
Professor
Research
Focus:
Acoustic ma-
terials devel-
opment and
testing; Audio
engineering;
3D acoustic
immersion
More bats - In a seprate paper, this one in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Science, Rolf Mueller (above) changes how researchers look at bat sonar
by showing the movement of a bat’s ears creates a Doppler shift, which the bat can
sense, helping them achieve their uncanny ability to navigate through thick vegetation.
Revised and Corrected, Nov. 2019 7