Biomimetic platform to study perception in bats

Echolocating bats achieve a surprising amount of autonomy primarily based on sonar sensing. In order to use insights from biosonar function to improve technical designs, it is necessary to understand the biosonar tasks (e.g., obstacle avoidance, prey capture, navigation), which provide the context for this function. To facilitate the study of these tasks, a system was designed, which combines the following aspects: It allows for interaction with the real world and mobility by mounting a sonarhead with 6 rotational degrees of freedom on a mobile platform. At the same time the system is capable of displaying the output of a parsimonious auditory model at an appropriate update-rate. This allows for interactive exploration of the echoes associated with a particular echolocation scenario. The use of the system in exploring biosonar tasks is demonstrated by several examples, namely continuous estimation of Doppler shifts as part of an acoustic flow analysis, two-target resolution with fm-signals, acoustic glints and foliage echoes as an example of extended natural targets made up of many reflecting facets. In all cases several important insights into the nature of the respective biosonar problem can be obtained readily by experimenting with the system interactively.