Shape recognition and classification in electro-sensing

Significance Weakly electric fish orient themselves in complete darkness by using their active electrolocation system. They generate a weak electric field and perceive the transdermal potential modulations caused by a nearby target with different electromagnetic properties than the surrounding water. The main result of this paper is a scheme that explains how weakly electric fish might identify and classify living biological organisms. This scheme exploits the frequency dependence of the electromagnetic properties of living organisms, which comes from the capacitive effects generated by the cell membrane structure. This paper aims at advancing the field of electro-sensing. It exhibits physical mechanisms underlying shape perception for weakly electric fish. These fish orient themselves at night in complete darkness by using their active electrolocation system. They generate a stable, relatively high-frequency, weak electric field and perceive the transdermal potential modulations caused by a nearby target with different electromagnetic properties than the surrounding water. The main result of this paper is a scheme that explains how weakly electric fish might identify and classify a target, knowing in advance that the latter belongs to a certain collection of shapes. The scheme is designed to recognize living biological organisms. It exploits the frequency dependence of the electromagnetic properties of living organisms, which comes from the capacitive effects generated by the cell membrane structure. When measurements are taken at multiple frequencies, the fish might use the spectral content of the perceived transdermal potential modulations to classify the living target.

[1]  M. A. MacIver,et al.  Aquatic manoeuvering with counter-propagating waves: a novel locomotive strategy , 2011, Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

[2]  Gerhard von der Emde,et al.  Distance, shape and more: recognition of object features during active electrolocation in a weakly electric fish , 2007, Journal of Experimental Biology.

[3]  Frédéric Boyer,et al.  Sensor model for the navigation of underwater vehicles by the electric sense , 2010, 2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics.

[4]  Mark E. Nelson,et al.  Target Detection, Image Analysis, and Modeling , 2005 .

[5]  Mark E. Nelson,et al.  Modeling signal and background components of electrosensory scenes , 2005, Journal of Comparative Physiology A.

[6]  Josselin Garnier,et al.  Tracking of a Mobile Target Using Generalized Polarization Tensors , 2013, SIAM J. Imaging Sci..

[7]  B. Rasnow,et al.  The effects of simple objects on the electric field of Apteronotus , 1996, Journal of Comparative Physiology A.

[8]  Ruben Budelli,et al.  Electric fish measure distance in the dark , 1998, Nature.

[9]  Josselin Garnier,et al.  Modeling Active Electrolocation in Weakly Electric Fish , 2012, SIAM J. Imaging Sci..

[10]  Frédéric Boyer,et al.  Multi-physics model of an electric fish-like robot: Numerical aspects and application to obstacle avoidance , 2011, 2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[11]  D. Miklavčič,et al.  ELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF TISSUES , 2006 .

[12]  M. A. MacIver,et al.  Prey-capture behavior in gymnotid electric fish: motion analysis and effects of water conductivity. , 2001, The Journal of experimental biology.

[13]  J. Bastian Electrolocation: I. How the electroreceptors ofApteronotus albifrons code for moving objects and other electrical stimuli , 1981 .

[14]  H. Ammari,et al.  Reconstruction of Small Inhomogeneities from Boundary Measurements , 2005 .

[15]  Ohin Kwon,et al.  T-Scan Electrical Impedance Imaging System for Anomaly Detection , 2004, SIAM J. Appl. Math..

[16]  Bernhard Scholz,et al.  Towards virtual electrical breast biopsy: space-frequency MUSIC for trans-admittance data , 2002, IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging.

[17]  W. Ellsworth,et al.  Seismicity Remotely Triggered by the Magnitude 7.3 Landers, California, Earthquake , 1993, Science.

[18]  M. A. MacIver The Computational Neuroethology of Weakly Electric Fish: Body Modeling, Motion Analysis, and Sensory Signal Estimation , 2001 .

[19]  Gerhard von der Emde,et al.  Distance and shape: perception of the 3-dimensional world by weakly electric fish. , 2004, Journal of physiology, Paris.

[20]  Claire M Postlethwaite,et al.  Optimal movement in the prey strikes of weakly electric fish: a case study of the interplay of body plan and movement capability , 2009, Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

[21]  Brian Rasnow,et al.  Simulation and Measurement of the Electric Fields Generated by Weakly Electric Fish , 1988, NIPS.

[22]  G. von der Emde,et al.  Active electrolocation of objects in weakly electric fish , 1999 .

[23]  Habib Ammari,et al.  High-Order Terms in the Asymptotic Expansions of the Steady-State Voltage Potentials in the Presence of Conductivity Inhomogeneities of Small Diameter , 2003, SIAM J. Math. Anal..

[24]  P. Moller Electric fishes : history and behavior , 1995 .

[25]  Christine Chevallereau,et al.  Underwater robot navigation around a sphere using electrolocation sense and Kalman filter , 2010, 2010 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.

[26]  Frédéric Boyer,et al.  Model for a Sensor Inspired by Electric Fish , 2012, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[27]  Hyeonbae Kang,et al.  Properties of the Generalized Polarization Tensors , 2003, Multiscale Model. Simul..

[28]  Kevin M. Lynch,et al.  Active Electrolocation for Underwater Target Localization , 2008, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[29]  Josselin Garnier,et al.  Target Identification Using Dictionary Matching of Generalized Polarization Tensors , 2014, Found. Comput. Math..

[30]  K. E. Machin,et al.  The Mechanism of Object Location in Gymnarchus Niloticus and Similar Fish , 1958 .

[31]  Habib Ammari,et al.  Invariance Properties of Generalized Polarization Tensors and Design of Shape Descriptors in Three Dimensions , 2012, 1212.3519.

[32]  Eung Je Woo,et al.  MultiFrequency Trans-Admittance Scanner: Mathematical Framework and Feasibility , 2008, SIAM J. Appl. Math..

[33]  A. Caputi,et al.  The electric image in weakly electric fish: perception of objects of complex impedance. , 2000, The Journal of experimental biology.

[34]  Christopher Assad,et al.  Electric field maps and boundary element simulations of electrolocation in weakly electric fish , 1997 .

[35]  André Longtin,et al.  Modeling the electric field of weakly electric fish , 2006, Journal of Experimental Biology.

[36]  Josselin Garnier,et al.  Generalized polarization tensors for shape description , 2014, Numerische Mathematik.