While they’re often more associated with the dark and scary side of things, I’ve been a fan of bats after learning that they can put down over 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour. They’re also equipped with some pretty cool tech that could change the way autonomous vehicles operate.
Borrowing a bat’s ability to navigate through echolocation, researchers at Tel Aviv University are using this same approach in developing robotic vehicles. Just as our winged friends emit sounds and then navigate based on how that sound echoes off of surrounding objects, researchers developed the Robat – a four-wheeled robot that creates a map of its environment by emitting chirps and registering the echoes.
This data enables the robot to “see” different objects, paths, and even tell the difference between obstacles that they can and cannot go through. The Robat is also equipped with an ultrasonic speaker that produces frequency-modulated chirps at a rate similar to bats. Two ultrasonic microphones serve as the robot's ears.
The composition and shapes of the objects it encounters work with an artificial neural network to create a map of the environment. This data can then be wirelessly transmitted for further use. Applications could include creating maps of collapsed buildings for search and rescue operations, secretly mapping terrain for the military, or other situations that put human life at risk.
The primary challenge right now is the Robat’s speed – it currently has to stop for about 30 seconds every 18” to acquire and analyze the echoed signals.