title: Sensing the distance to a source of periodic oscillations in a nonlinear chemical medium with the output information coded in frequency of excitation pulses.
abstract: A spatially distributed excitable chemical medium can collect and process information coded in the propagating pulses of excitation. We consider the problem of distance sensing with the use of a nonlinear chemical medium. We demonstrate that a sensor that can feel the distance separating it from a source of periodic excitations can be constructed by a proper geometrical arrangement of excitable and nonexcitable regions. The sensor returns information about the distance in the frequency of outgoing pulses. The sensor functionality is tested by simulations based on the Rovinsky-Zhabotinsky model. The results are confirmed in experiments performed for a ruthenium-catalyzed Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Science, Kasprzaka 44/52, 01-224 Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gorecki
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Gorecka
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Igarashi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nagahara