Nature Inspired Neuroengineering: Using Animal Flight to Inspire New Sensing Technologies

Abstract

[evdate 2014-11-11] Title from opening screen. IAS Focused Program on Neural Engineering, held 3-13 Nov., 2014, at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Sponsors, HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study, Division of Biomedical Engineering, HKUST.

Abstract: In the talk, the speaker combines theoretical, experimental, robotic, and behavioral studies to examine the bending dynamics of wings and their role in flight control in the hawkmoth Manduca sexta. First, using both intra- and extracellular recording techniques we show that the strain sensing campaniform sensilla on wings neutrally encode deformation in a manner nearly identical to those of halteres. We further show that animals produce a steering response that can be initiated by a visual pitch stimulus, a mechanical pitch rotation to the whole body and, importantly, a mechanical pitch stimulus produced only on the wings (via tiny magnets and a rotating Helmholtz coil). Using a combination of simulations and robotic experiments, we also show that flapping wings subject to rotation in an axis orthogonal to the flapping axis experience a Coriolis force that is manifest as a torsional wave on the wing surface. Finally, we show that torsional strain of flapping wings provides a signal that can discriminate Coriolis forces from other inertial elastic forces. We then combine concepts from both computational neuroscience and from compressive sensing to predict optimal sensor placement for discrimination of Coriolis forces on flapping wings.

Duration: 60 min.