CRCNS: Discovering how touch sensors in the bat’s “hand-wing” enable agile flight control

CRCNS：探索蝙蝠“手翼”中的触摸传感器如何实现敏捷的飞行控制

• 批准号: 2011619
• 负责人: Cynthia Moss
• 金额: $ 135万
• 依托单位: Johns Hopkins University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-08-15 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2011619&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CRCNS; Discovering; how; touch; sensors

Bats perform feats of aerial agility that are unique in the animal kingdom, and completely unparalleled by even the very best robotic flying machines. This project aims to discover the fundamental principles that underlie how these animals achieve such superior flight control performance. Bat flight is powered by a “hand-wing,” i.e. the wing is actually an evolutionary adaptation of the mammalian forelimb. As such, the bat hand-wing shares the same basic anatomy as the human hand and is highly sensitive to physical forces. The bat hand-wing is highly deformable and controllable, and is unlike any artificial wing that has ever been successfully constructed. The bat hand-wing is built from a very thin membrane that stretches across its fingers and is covered with small wind-sensitive hairs that enable the animal to “feel” the complex flow of air that envelopes its wing. This unique set of flight and sensing adaptations presents a powerful model to investigate the mechanisms of sensing, brain computation, and movement control. The multidisciplinary research team will characterize and uncover the complex coupling relationships between aerodynamics, tactile sensing, and neural processing using a combination of engineering and biological techniques. This project will lead to deeper understanding of biological flight control, and will lend insights into ingredients that could one day be used in developing new robotic aerial vehicles capable of bat-like flight performance. This project integrates state-of-the-art experimental measurements and computational flow modeling with behavioral and neurophysiological experimentation and dynamical control systems neural modeling. Using a multidisciplinary approach, the team will test the hypothesis that bat wing sensors carry information about complex airflow patterns and forces to the sensory cortex. The team will also elucidate sensorimotor mechanisms that guide wing adjustments to enhance lift and prevent stall. To achieve these goals, the research includes, : 1) Quantifying the mechanical stimulus inputs to receptors on the bat hand-wing using stereo-particle-image velocimetry, digital image correlation and computational fluid dynamic modeling; 2) Encoding mechanosensory signals from the wings via multichannel neural recordings from bat primary somatosensory cortex; 3) Closed-loop modeling and real-time control based on decoded output of neural signals. This research will yield a deeper understanding of sensorimotor feedback in biological systems while also contributing novel computational and experimental tools in the arena of sensorimotor control, biophysics, and mechanics, with wide applications to many arenas of neuroscience. The project will leverage the JHU’s Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program and Baltimore Polytechnic’s Ingenuity Project to engage high school students from diverse backgrounds.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

蝙蝠表演空中敏捷的壮举是动物王国中独一无二的，即使是最好的机器人飞行器也无法比拟。该项目旨在发现这些动物如何实现这种上级飞行控制性能的基本原理。蝙蝠的飞行是由“手翼”提供动力的，也就是说，翅膀实际上是哺乳动物前肢的进化适应。因此，蝙蝠的手翼与人类的手有着相同的基本解剖结构，并且对物理力量非常敏感。蝙蝠的手翼是高度可变形和可控的，不同于任何已经成功建造的人造翅膀。蝙蝠的手翼是由一层非常薄的膜构成的，这层膜延伸到它的手指上，上面覆盖着对风敏感的小绒毛，使蝙蝠能够“感觉”包裹着翅膀的复杂气流。这套独特的飞行和感知适应提供了一个强大的模型来研究感知，大脑计算和运动控制的机制。多学科研究团队将利用工程和生物技术相结合的方法来表征和揭示空气动力学、触觉传感和神经处理之间的复杂耦合关系。该项目将加深对生物飞行控制的理解，并将深入了解有一天可能用于开发能够像蝙蝠一样飞行的新型机器人飞行器的成分。该项目将最先进的实验测量和计算流建模与行为和神经生理学实验以及动态控制系统神经建模相结合。使用多学科的方法，该团队将测试蝙蝠翅膀传感器将复杂的气流模式和力量的信息传递到感觉皮层的假设。该小组还将阐明感觉运动机制，指导机翼调整，以提高升力和防止失速。为了实现这些目标，本研究包括：1）利用立体粒子图像测速技术、数字图像相关技术和计算流体动力学模型对蝙蝠手翼上感受器的机械刺激输入进行量化：2）利用蝙蝠初级躯体感觉皮层的多通道神经记录对来自手翼的机械感觉信号进行编码; 3）基于神经信号解码输出的闭环建模和实时控制。这项研究将产生更深入的了解在生物系统中的感觉运动反馈，同时也有助于新的计算和实验工具，在感觉运动控制，生物物理学和力学的竞技场，广泛应用于许多领域的神经科学。该项目将利用JHU的妇女在科学和工程（WISE）计划和巴尔的摩理工学院的Inconsistency项目，以吸引来自不同背景的高中生。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。