In our laboratory flightroom, we conduct experiments to test the sensory and motor systems of echolocation in Eptesicus fuscus and understand the perceptual mechanisms of navigation by sonar.
Recording with a 24 microphone array, we track the bats' flight path in three dimensions by calculating the TDOA of their echolocation calls. With an accurate track of a bat's flight, we use a method of acoustic focusing to get a reliable acoustic record of the animal's echolocation calls. This technique amounts to a "virtual telemike," spatially filtering the sound like a microphone that moves with the bat.
Since our custom software routines are are highly automated, we are able to run high throughput experiments and ask new questions about the nature of seeing with sound. In addition to testing the animals' reflexive mechanism of navigating by sound, we also probe the role of memory in the bats' tracks and in their sonar behavior.
These experiments can at once bring new insight into the neuroscience of echolocating mammals and suggest new strategies for the development of artificial sonar.
