Bio-Inspired Ultrasonic System for Time of Flight Detection

The design and development of bio-inspired ultrasonic systems particularly that of some species of bats, has received the most attention due to the potential benefit of application in the field of biomedical engineering and robotics. In this paper an ultrasonic based device for the emulation of bat’s echo-location system, by means of piezo-polymer sensors and a neural network, capable to perform brain activity tasks during ranging and navigation, is presented. The acquisition and processing of echo signals, according to bat’s behavior, is performed by a first level of circuits emulating basilar membrane and hair cells inside the cochlea in which, ultrasounds transmission and reception occur, and a second level (neural network) for time of flight evaluation. The complete system has been designed, developed, and implemented onto dsPIC for real time application according to tasks performed by bio-sonar apparatus. Keywords— Sonar application; Ultrasonic Transducers; Biomimetics; Neural Networks; Microcontroller; Electronics.