The University of Edinburgh -
Division of Informatics
Forrest Hill & 80 South Bridge

MSc Thesis #9832

Title:Bat Echolocation: The Application of Tau Functions in Sonar Navigation
Authors:Pritchard,MJ
Date: 1998
Presented:
Keywords:
Abstract:It has been suggested by David Lee that bats utilise time to crash control for steering and velocity. The tau function has been proposed to describe this behaviour.This document sets the scene with a discussion of the nature of bats and their general capabilities. focus is then set upon the so called broadband bats, and in particular the common Horseshow bat. to understand the nature of airborne sonar systems basic radar theory needs to be discussed (I've used the term radar theory as the theory was developed for the use with radar systems - but the same principles apply to sonar). An echo simulator is used to obtain echos from a simulated bat call, reflected from a simulated target. From these echos the extraction of target information is duscussed.This document then explores the concept of Tau functions. With the theory of tau functions explored a control law is created for velocity and steering using such functions. The behaviour of the control law is studied and described.the biological plausibility of using tau controllers is discussed. The question of what information is extracted from biological sonar by bats and how this can be integrated into the tau controllers is then explored.The echo simulator is adapted extensively to allow for the integration of tau controllers to enable control of the bats flight. The simulator is adapted to allow extraction of target information for integration into the tau controllers.the echo simulator is then used to obtain results from using tau controllers with variouys biologically plauisible parameters.
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