title: A beam based method for target localization: inspiration from bats' directivity and binaural reception for ultrasonic sonar.
abstract: The process of echolocation is accomplished by bats partly using the beam profiles associated with their ear shapes that allow for discrimination between different echo directions. Indeed, knowledge of the emitted signal characteristic and measurement of the echo travel time from a target make it possible to compensate for attenuation due to distance, and to focus on filtering through the receivers' beam profiles by comparing received echoes to the original signal at all frequencies in the spectrum of interest. From this basis, a beam profile method to localize a target in three-dimensional space for an ultrasonic sensor system equipped with an emitter and two receivers is presented. Simulations were conducted with different noise levels, and only the contribution of the receivers' beam profiles was considered to estimate the orientation of the target with respect to the receivers. The beam pattern of the Phyllostomus discolor's ear was adopted as that of a receiver. Analyses of beam resolution and frequency ranges were conducted to enhance the accuracy of orientation estimates. The choice of appropriate resolution and frequency ranges guarantee that error mean values for most of the orientations are within [0.5°, 1.5°], even in noisy situations: Signal-to-noise ratio values considered in this work are 35 and 50 dB.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ultrasonic Engineering, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Strathclyde, 204 George Street, Glasgow G1 1XW, United Kingdom. francesco.guarato@strath.ac.uk
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guarato
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Windmill
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gachagan
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000818:Animals; D032701:Biomimetics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D002685:Chiroptera; D004455:Echolocation; D004867:Equipment Design; D007839:Functional Laterality; D009949:Orientation; D013017:Sound Localization; D014465:Ultrasonics / Q000295:instrumentation*