MRI: Development of a System for High-Resolution Uninterrupted Capture of Complex Animal Motions

这项重大的研究仪器奖支持开发一个集成的相机阵列，该相机阵列将被定制以满足捕捉快速和高度复杂的动物运动的挑战-为基础研究提供一个使能工具，以了解和建模运动的动态。该仪器将允许不间断的运动跟踪数百点的动物，因为它执行即使是最复杂的运动，如空中翻筋斗，蝙蝠执行追逐猎物。将产生的数据的前所未有的细节，质量和数量将为新的基础研究提供基础，研究动物如何利用运动自由来实现无与伦比的可操作性和能源效率。该仪器产生的大量定量数据将带来数据密集型方法-从非线性动力学和机器学习-对动物运动领域产生影响。深入了解动物运动背后的原理将是开发下一代移动的机器人的关键，这些机器人可以处理不受约束的自然环境。这些高度灵巧的移动的机器人将提高制造业、医疗保健、灾难应对、精准农业、林业和环境监测和清理等应用的生产力。该仪器还将使对人造结构运动的基础研究成为可能，例如空气动力系统中颤振所固有的复杂动态运动。从这个仪器中收集的知识也将帮助兽医从动物的运动模式中诊断疾病和疼痛。研究生和本科生将参与仪器开发，仪器将使工程和生物学的跨学科研究培训机会。该仪器将结合联合收割机的高空间和时间分辨率的能力，以查看一个移动的动物从许多不同的角度在同一时间。它将由48个高速摄像机组成，可以以1057 Hz的帧速率提供1280 x1024像素的图像分辨率。高质量的照明将由8个专门的灯提供，这样移动的动物的任何部分都不会被隐藏。阵列中的所有摄像机将同步（精度10纳秒）并自动操作，以便有效捕获大型运动数据集。例如，5秒的记录将产生超过250，000张图像，原始数据为332 KB。项目团队的自动图像处理方法将允许在如此大的图像集中可靠地跟踪数百个标志点。该仪器及其配套的软件工具套件将用于研究以前无法解释的动物运动能力，如蝙蝠的高度铰接飞行，蛇的滑翔和蜥蜴在垂直基板上运行。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为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。

This major research instrumentation award supports the development of an integrated camera array that will be customized to meet the challenges of capturing fast and highly complex animal motions--providing an enabling tool for fundamental research to understand and model the dynamics of motion. The instrument will permit uninterrupted motion tracking for hundreds of points on an animal as it executes even the most complex motions, such as midair somersaults that bats perform in pursuit of prey. The unprecedented detail, quality, and quantity of the data to be generated will provide the basis for new fundamental research into how animals use freedom of movement to attain unmatched levels of performance in maneuverability and energy efficiency. The large volume of quantitative data produced by the instrument will bring data-intensive methods--from non-linear dynamics and machine learning-- to bear on the field of animal motion. A deeper understanding of the principles behind animal motion will be key to the development of next-generation mobile robots that can handle unconstrained, natural environments. These highly dexterous, mobile robots will enhance productivity in applications such as manufacturing, health care, disaster response, precision agriculture, forestry and environmental monitoring and clean-up. This instrument will also enable fundamental research on the motion of man-made structures, such as the complex dynamic motions inherent in flutter in aerodynamic systems. Knowledge gleaned from this instrument will also help veterinarians to diagnose disease and pain from animals' motion patterns. Graduate and undergraduate students will be involved in instrumentation development and the instrumentation will enable interdisciplinary research training opportunities in engineering and biology. The instrument will combine high spatial and temporal resolution with the ability to view a moving animal from many different angles at the same time. It will consist of 48 high-speed video cameras that can deliver a 1280x1024-pixel image resolution at 1057-Hz frame rate. High-quality illumination will be provided by 8 specialized lights so that no part of a moving animal will ever be hidden from view. All cameras in the array will be synchronized (precision 10 nanoseconds) and operated automatically to allow for efficient capture of large motion data sets. A recording of 5 seconds, for example, will result in over 250,000 images with 332 Gigabytes of raw data. The project team's automated image processing methods will allow reliable tracking of several hundred landmark points across such large image sets. The instrument and its accompanying suite of software tools will be used for the study of previously unexplained animal motion capabilities such as the highly articulated flight of bats, gliding of snakes, and lizards running on vertical substrates.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.