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

蝙蝠的空中敏捷性在动物界是独一无二的，即使是最好的机器人飞行机器也是完全无法比拟的。该项目旨在发现这些动物如何实现如此出色的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-翼与人类的手具有相同的基本解剖结构，并且对物理力量高度敏感。蝙蝠的手翼是高度可变形和可控制的，不像任何成功建造的人造翅膀。蝙蝠的手翼是由一层非常薄的薄膜制成的，薄膜横跨手指，上面覆盖着对风敏感的小毛发，使蝙蝠能够“感觉”到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的组合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。这个项目将加深对生物飞行控制的理解，并将深入了解有朝一日可能用于开发能够像蝙蝠一样飞行性能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程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传递到感觉皮质的信息这一假设。该团队还将阐明引导机翼调整以增强升力和防止失速的感应器运动机制。为了实现这些目标，研究内容包括：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感受器的机械刺激输入进行量化；2)通过蝙蝠初级体感皮层的多通道神经记录对来自翅膀的机械感觉信号进行编码；3)基于神经信号的解码输出进行闭环建模和实时控制。这项研究将加深对生物系统中感觉运动反馈的理解，同时也为感觉运动控制、生物物理学和力学领域提供了新的计算和实验工具，在神经科学的许多领域都有广泛的应用。该项目将利用JHU的女性科学与工程(WISE)计划和巴尔的摩理工学院的独创性项目来吸引来自不同背景的高中生。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.