MRI: Acquisition of a High-speed Camera System to Record Animal Movements in Three Dimensions

California State University-Fresno Foundation, Fresno CA

Investigators

Abstract

California State University at Fresno is recieving funding from the National Science Foundation for a 3D-motion studio to study bio-locomotion. The research will be directed by University Professor Ulrike Müller. The proposed facility will comprise five digital high-speed cameras to record animal and plant motion in unprecedented detail. Mapping motion is vital to discovering propulsion systems, muscle performance, and control features along with understanding integrative behaviors such as predator-prey interactions. The facility will be employed to study flying insects, swimming fish and suction-trapping carnivorous water plants. The facility will record, track and model the position and shape of an organism in three-dimensional space, e.g. how fish bend while turning. The main research questions are: (1) How do organisms power and control their motion during turns, leaps, fights, take-offs, or feeding strikes? (2) How do changes in the organism?s structural properties and sensory feedback affect control and performance? The 3D-motion studio will be the first such facility in the Central California region and at a Hispanic-serving institution. The facility is at the heart of a wide range of cross-disciplinary teaching and research activities: it will serve 11 student research projects and at least two courses each semester in the Departments of Biology, Chemistry and Computer Science at CSU Fresno; it will also serve 11 scientists in national and international collaborations.