Chiroptera-inspired robotic cephaloid (CIRCE): A next generation biomimetic sonar head

Abstract

The dynamic interplay between signal processing in the acoustic and neural domain renders the biosonar system of bats, a prime example of intelligent, integrated systems in biology. Previous attempts at technical reproductions of this system have studied a few functional aspects but did not produce convincing replicas of the integrated system. In particular, none of them could provide for beamforming pinnae, ear mobility, signal bandwidth and an adequate number of elements in the primary signal representation at the scale of the biological paragon. The CIRCE (http://www.circe-project.org) project brings together a multidisciplinary consortium with all competences necessary for addressing these aspects in conjunction. Well-integrated solutions to the following technological key challenges are therefore sought: (a) Evolution of pinna shapes to optimize performance in natural biosonar tasks. (b) Adaptation of state-of-the-art ultrasonic transducer technology for matching bats in terms of bandwidth and sound pressure level/sensitivity. (c) Actuation of mobile pinnae (including the possibility of nonrigid transformations) within the scale constraints of a bat’s head. (d) Custom-designed DSP hardware providing a qualitative and quantitative reproduction of the neural signal representation at the level of the auditory nerve. [Work supported by the European Commission, LPS Initiative.]