Tag: bristol

Fish sensory organ key to improving navigational skills of underwater robots

Scientists, led by University of Bristol, have been studying a fish sensory organ to understand cues for collective behaviour which could be employed on underwater robots.

This work was centred around the lateral line sensing organ in African cichlid fish, but found in almost all fish species, that enables them to sense and interpret water pressures around them with enough acuity to detect external influences such as neighbouring fish, changes in water flow, predators and obstacles.

The lateral line system as a whole is distributed over the head, trunk and tail of the fish. It is comprised of mechanoreceptors (neuromasts) that are either within subdermal channels or on the surface of the skin.

Lead author Elliott Scott of the University of Bristol’s Department of Engineering Mathematics  explained: “We were attempting to find out if the different areas of the lateral line – the lateral line on the head versus the lateral line on the body, or the different types of lateral line sensory units such as those on the skin, versus those under it, play different roles in how the fish is able to sense its environment through environmental pressure readings.

“We did this in a novel way, by using hybrid fish, that allowed for the natural generation of variation.”

 

They discovered the lateral line system around the head has the most important influence on how well fish are able to swim in a shoal, Meanwhile, the presence of more lateral line sensory units, neuromasts, that are found under the skin result in fish swimming closer together, while a greater presence of neuromasts on the skin tend to result in fish swimming further apart.

In simulation, the researchers were able to show how the mechanisms behind the lateral line work are applicable at not just the tiny scales found in actual fish, but at larger scales too. This could inspire a novel type of easily-manufactured pressure sensor for underwater robotics, particularly swarm robotics, where cost is a large factor.

Elliott said: “These findings provide a better understanding of how the lateral line informs shoaling behaviour in fish, while also contributing a novel design of inexpensive pressure sensor that could be useful on underwater robots that have to navigate in dark or murky environments.”

The team now plan to develop the sensor further and integrate it into a robotic platform to help a robot navigate underwater and demonstrate its effectiveness.

The research for this paper was funded by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP).

Paper: ‘Lateral line morphology, sensory perception and collective behaviour in African cichlid fish’ by Elliott Scott et al in Open Science.

Featured Image: Yellow blaze African cichlid

 

New project pulls digital and physical worlds together for better product design

Researchers at the University of Bristol’s Department of Engineering are improving the way digital and physical design tools can work together to make products more quickly, cheaply and by anyone.

The £425k funded Engineering and Physics Research Council project brings together expertise from the University of Bristol and Bristol Digital Futures Institute with industry specialists Ultraleap, Autodesk , The Product Partnership,  the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in a new two-year project that aims to redefine the prototyping toolchain.

‘21st Century Prototyping Technology’ will address the challenges faced by product designers when navigating physical and digital prototypes at the same time to save both time and money

It will also look at how end-users can be brought into the prototyping process, letting them play an active role in the design process even when designing complex products, and making sure that future products are exactly suited to their own bespoke needs.

Engineers will use a combination of immersive technologies including mixed reality, haptics, physical tracking and more to develop a toolbox of cross-domain prototyping tools that simultaneously draw out the benefits of physical and digital working.

Example applications include allowing designers to physically hold and manipulate digital designs without waiting for manufacture, augmenting physical objects with virtual styling or materials while running user studies and gathering opinions without making every prototype, or embedding advanced digital analysis straight into prototyping, letting designers make the right decisions, right at the start.

University of Bristol Principal Investigator Dr Chris Snider said:

“Despite its huge potential and although proven in technical capability, the use and value of immersive technologies for product design is yet to be fully explored. We want to know if they can achieve their promise to designers and if so, how.

“I’m hoping that this project will set the tone for how products are designed in the future.  We want to cut through the vast complexity and cost that straddles virtual and physical worlds to make a streamlined process to benefit both designers and users.”

Chris’s team will be working with Bristol Digital Futures Institute to access its network of community, industry and governmental collaborators for workshops and dissemination. They could also make use of BDFI’s new facilities, such as the Reality Emulator – a large scale, multi-sector advanced digital twin at the heart of the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus.

BDFI Institute and Partnerships Manager Hayley Shaw said:

“BDFI’s mission is to transform digital innovation for more sustainable, inclusive and prosperous futures. End-user involvement in the process of design is an important part of the suite of methods BDFI will deploy to achieve this mission, and we are delighted to support Chris and his team in this pioneering project.”