EAPSI: Bat Flight Motion Capture via Multi-View Imaging

Bender Matthew J, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

Bats are the most dynamic and agile fliers in the animal kingdom, and, as such, they are excellent candidates for the inspiration of new flapping wing micro-air vehicle technology. The impressive flight mechanics of these animals is due to the complex nature of their wing structure. However, the simplicity of their muscle-tendon system suggests that the underlying mechanics of the wing motion is not as complex as it appears. The goal of this research is to determine how the bats control their wings to enable the development of flapping-wing micro-air vehicles which mimic the flight mechanics of the bat.The researcher will perform motion capture studies of bats in flight to determine wing and body motion during different flight maneuvers. This research will be conducted at Shandong University in Jinan, China under the supervision of an expert in the field, Dr. Rolf Mueller, who has studied bats for over 20 years. Over 100 species of bats have been documented in China which makes it an attractive location for observing cross specie trends in bat flight. To study these animals, a multi-camera motion capture array will be used to record high speed video of the bats in as many flight regimes as possible. Many viewing angles are required for this research because the highly articulated nature of the wing results in self-occlusion of important aspects of wing motion. The researchers are interested in capturing as many flight regimes as possible to determine how the bat controls different modes of flight. While similar research has been previously conducted, our experiments are novel for three reasons. First, limited motion capture data is available for Great Himalayan Round Nose Leaf bat, and to analyze cross-species trends in flight, more species data is needed. Second, we use many inexpensive cameras rather than few expensive cameras and have constructed a motion capture system for a fraction of the cost of commercially available systems. Finally, the researchers aim to create a repository of bat flight motion capture data that any researcher can use for extensions of this work including computational fluid dynamics simulations, motion estimation algorithm development, and micro-air vehicle design. This NSF EAPSI award is funded in collaboration with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.