Study on 3-D swarm intelligence sensing and its engineering application learned from collective flight of bats

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18H03786
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 21:Electrical and electronic engineering and related fields
• Research Institution: Doshisha University
• Principal Investigator: Hiryu Shizuko 同志社大学, 生命医科学部, 教授 (70449510)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 藤岡 慧明 同志社大学, 研究開発推進機構, 准教授 (00722266) ; 伊藤 賢太郎 法政大学, 生命科学部, 講師 (20528351) ; 小林 耕太 同志社大学, 生命医科学部, 教授 (40512736) ; 長谷 一磨 名古屋大学, 環境学研究科, 学振特別研究員(PD) (60867696)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 生物ソナー / 超音波センシング / 混信回避

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aims to elucidate the mechanism of jamming avoidance behavior in acoustic sensing by bats during group flight, and to direct toward knowlegds for engineering applications. Echolocating bats are classified into two types, FM bats and CF-FM bats, based on the difference of ultrasounds. We found that FM bats avoid acoustic interference by changing frequencies, and then also implemented this behavior mechanism in autonomous vehicles and evaluated it through obstacle avoidance driving under interference. As a result, we could confirm that the bat tactic is useful from an engineering standpoint. On the other hand, we also found that the Doppler shift compensation behavior of CF-FM bats reduces the interference of signals from other individuals.

Free Research Field

生物音響工学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

コウモリは超音波を用いた高度なソナー能力を持つ．本研究はコウモリが周囲の仲間との混信を回避するために行う工夫を明らかにするため，実験室や野生下での集団行動の様子を観察し，種独自に行う混信回避行動を音響的側面から明らかにした．またコウモリに学んだセンシングの知見を基に混信回避アルゴリズムを簡易の自律走行車に実装したところ，その有用性を実証することができ，生物システムの工学的価値の一端を明らかにした．