Research into flies' hearing could aid UAS program

  • Published
  • By Maria Callier
  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) --  A professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland is researching miniature acoustic sensors and sound localization techniques using the hearing mechanisms of flies as a model.

Such research could benefit the Air Force by leading to the development of an artificial fly unmanned aircraft system with combined hearing and vision for navigation to inaccessible locations. 

It could also result in micro aerial vehicles and UAS' having improved homing capabilities.

Dr. Miao Yu, the team lead for the project funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, said her team has found that the fly ear represents a nature designed optimal structure for obtaining the best acoustic directional cues at 5 kHz.

Dr. Yu and her team continue to learn more about the fly's hearing mechanism and have discovered that it is possible to replicate the fly's ear performance and design. While in the lab, they have also developed an optical detection technique to make such a replicated system highly sensitive as well as impervious to noise.

"We need to determine how best to formulate design guidelines and implement these fly inspired miniature acoustic sensors because all current use is based on large-scale microphone arrays," Dr. Yu said.

"The key idea of this research is to understand how sound localization is possible in a pair of mechanically-coupled ears separated by only 500 microns, and to test this understanding," said Dr. Willard Larkin, the AFOSR program manager who oversees Dr. Yu's work.

"Our next step will be to fully implement the understanding gained into a miniature fly ear-inspired sensor platform and study the resulting system's performance with regard to detection and localization," Dr. Yu said.

Eventually, there may even be acoustic networks for communications between UAS' and underwater vehicles.

"Further research is also expected to result in advances in the areas of micro-opto-electro-mechanical system fabrication, optical sensors, and system-on-a-chip, all of which can have a significant impact on the next generation of Air Force flight vehicles," she said.

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