| 1. |
- Amundin, Mats, 1947-, et al.
(författare)
-
An echolocation visualization and interface system for dolphin research
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. - : Acoustical Society of America (ASA). - 0001-4966 .- 1520-8524. ; 123:2, s. 1188-1194
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study describes the development and testing of a tool for dolphin research. This tool was able to visualize the dolphin echolocation signals as well as function as an acoustically operated "touch screen." The system consisted of a matrix of hydrophones attached to a semitransparent screen, which was lowered in front of an underwater acrylic panel in a dolphin pool. When a dolphin aimed its sonar beam at the screen, the hydrophones measured the received sound pressure levels. These hydrophone signals were then transferred to a computer where they were translated into a video image that corresponds to the dynamic sound pressure variations in the sonar beam and the location of the beam axis. There was a continuous projection of the image back onto the hydrophone matrix screen, giving the dolphin an immediate visual feedback to its sonar output. The system offers a whole new experimental methodology in dolphin research and since it is software-based, many different kinds of scientific questions can be addressed. The results were promising and motivate further development of the system and studies of sonar and cognitive abilities of dolphins. © 2008 Acoustical Society of America.
|
|
| 2. |
- Starkhammar, Josefin, et al.
(författare)
-
Acoustic Touch Screen for Dolphins, First application of ELVIS - an Echo-Location Visualization and Interface System
- 2007
-
Ingår i: 4th International Conference on Bio-Acoustics 2007. - 1478-6095. - 9781604238082 ; 29:part 3, s. 63-68
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Dolphin sonar has been extensively studied over several decades, and much of its basic characteristics are well known (Au 1993). However, most of these studies have been based on an experimental setup where the dolphin has been trained to be voluntarily fixed, so its directional sonar beam could be recorded with fixed hydrophones. Although this allows for very exact measurements, it most likely has prevented the full dynamic potential of the dolphin’s sonar to be revealed. Also the dolphin’s response to scientific questions, e.g. in target detection threshold or discrimination trials, mostly has been a “go/no go” response or pressing a yes/no paddle. This traditional experimental methodology to measure the response makes rather coarse indications of choice. It is difficult to refine and will be unpractical with a multi-choice paradigm. Therefore a new EchoLocation Visualisation and Interface System (ELVIS) has been developed at Lund University in cooperation with Kolmården Wild Animal Park, and is presently being used in dolphin food preference investigations at the Kolmården Dolphinarium. ELVIS basically consists of a matrix of 16 hydrophones attached to a semi transparent screen lowered into the water of the pool where the dolphins swim freely. The hydrophones hit by a sonar pulse generate electric signals in relation to the received sound pressure level. After subsequent amplification these signals are transferred to a computer. The signal analysis is performed by custom designed LabVIEW software that constitutes the core of the interactive features of the interface system. The software can for example in real time create a round colour spot on the computer screen, corresponding to the maximum intensity in the sound beam. The recorded sound intensity can be coded into colour and/or light intensity. The resulting image on the computer screen is continuously projected back onto the hydrophone matrix screen, hence giving the dolphin an immediate visual feedback to its sonar output. Since only 16 hydrophones were used, the exact location of the maximum sound intensity point was derived through interpolation between the hydrophones in the matrix. This made the spatial resolution of the sound beam recordings quite sufficient for the present study. However, future systems will certainly rely on increased hydrophone matrix size. This system offers a whole new experimental methodology in dolphin research since it can function as an acoustic “touch screen” for the dolphins. It is highly adaptable to different studies since the core of the interface features is software based.In cognitive studies with primates, e.g. the chimpanzee, a computerized symbol interface, based on a finger operated touch screen, has been successfully used (Rumbaugh et al. 1975). Even with birds, like chickens and doves, this approach has been used (Cheng & Spetch, 1995). So far, however, it has not been attempted with dolphins, partly due to the inherent problems in using electronics in salt water. However, the ELVIS screen is based on acoustic detection and activation, using hydrophones, which is well suited for underwater use. The software used in the present experiment designate active areas on the screen, indicated by white symbols, e.g. a filled circle or a filled square. When the dolphin aims its sonar beam axis at this symbol, it flashes to indicate a “hit” and a bridging stimulus (a 400 ms, 10 kHz sinus tone) is played. In this study each of four such symbols represented a different fish (herring, mackerel, capelin and squid). When the dolphin “clicked” on one of them, it was rewarded by the fish represented by it. Thereby the dolphin could choose what kind of fish it preferred. Hence, for the first time the dolphins could execute and run a computer program using their sonar beam like we use a mouse cursor. The size and trig level of these “buttons” or active areas of the screen can easily be altered so that, as the dolphin’s skills in handling the program increased, the more accurate hits and more distinct sound pressure levels of the dolphin’s sound beam could be required.Three bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) were trained to perform the task of pointing their sonar beam selectively on the symbols shown on the ELVIS screen. They quickly learned this task and were highly motivated to explore it.
|
|
| 3. |
- Starkhammar, Josefin, et al.
(författare)
-
Design and benchmark tests of a hydrophone array system for whale echolocation recordings
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Open Journal of Acoustics. - : Scientific Research Publishing, Inc.. - 2162-5794 .- 2162-5786. ; 2:3, s. 121-130
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper describes in depth the design and application considerations of a computer based measurement system enabling 1 MS/s simultaneous sampling of 47 hydrophones for cross sectional recordings of echolocation beams of toothed whales (Odontocetes). An earlier prototype version of the system has previously only been presented as a brief proof of principle that did not offer a complete description of the software and hardware solution. Crucial hardware and software design considerations of the further developed system include the re-arm times of the burst mode sampling and the dual-core distributed execution of the software components. The rearm time was measured to 283 µs, using a 550 µs long sample window around each click. This enables burst mode sampling of clicks with an inter-click interval as short as 833 µs. It is shown through both synthetic benchmark tests of the system and through field measurements of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and a beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) that it is capable of acquiring, analyzing and visualizing data in run-time. It operates effectively also in highly reverberant surroundings like concrete pools and shallow waters. Burst mode sampling allows the system to block reflections with 0.3 - 0.5 m longer propagation paths than the direct path. It is suggested that the system’s compliance to reverberant recording sites makes it valuable in future dolphin echolocation studies.
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
- Starkhammar, Josefin, et al.
(författare)
-
Editorial: 47-channel burst-mode recording hydrophone system enabling measurements of the dynamic echolocation behavior of free-swimming dolphins
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. - : A I P Publishing LLC. - 0001-4966 .- 1520-8524. ; 126:3, s. 959-962
-
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Detailed echolocation behavior studies on free-swimming dolphins require a measurement system that incorporates multiple hydrophones (often andgt; 16). However, the high data flow rate of previous systems has limited their usefulness since only minute long recordings have been manageable. To address this problem, this report describes a 47-channel burst-mode recording hydrophone system that enables highly resolved full beamwidth measurements on multiple free-swimming dolphins during prolonged recording periods. The system facilitates a wide range of biosonar studies since it eliminates the need to restrict the movement of animals in order to study the fine details of their sonar beams.
|
|
| 6. |
- Starkhammar, Josefin, et al.
(författare)
-
Separating overlapping click trains originating from multiple individuals in echolocation recordings
- 2011
-
Ingår i: JOURNAL OF THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA. - : Acoustical Society of America. - 0001-4966 .- 1520-8524. ; 129:1, s. 458-466
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recordings of the acoustic activity of free-swimming groups of echolocating dolphins increase the likelihood of collecting overlapping click trains, originating from multiple individuals, in the same set of data. In order to evaluate the click properties of each individual based on such recordings it is necessary to identify which clicks originate from which animal. This paper suggests a computationally efficient strategy to separate overlapping click trains originating from multiple free-swimming bottlenose dolphins, enabling echolocation analysis at an individual level on several animals. This technique is based on sequential matching of the frequency spectra of successive clicks. The clicks are grouped together as individual click trains if the correlation coefficients between clicks are higher than a pre-set threshold level. The robustness of the algorithm is tested by adding artificially generated white Gaussian noise and comparing the results with other comparable commonly used methods based on inter-click intervals, centroid frequencies, and amplitude levels. The described method is applicable to a variety of experimental and observational contexts, e. g., those regarding echolocation development of calves, the hypothesized acoustic "etiquette" among dolphins when investigating the same object, and the possible occurrence of eavesdropping in large dolphin pods.
|
|
| 7. |
- Starkhammar, Josefin, et al.
(författare)
-
The dynamics of the bottlenose dolphin sonar beam.
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. - : Acoustical Society of America (ASA). - 1520-8524 .- 0001-4966. ; 124:4
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Much research on dolphin echolocation has focused on animals that have been trained to remain stationary or to carry a device that allows the animals to move but restricts the location of the sonar beam. In such cases, a small number of hydrophones measures sonar characteristics while dolphins solve echolocation tasks. As a result, much is known about the beam axis but relatively little is known about other parts of the beam. One reason for this disparity is that it has been difficult to interpret the results from off axis measurements using a small number of hydrophones (that may or may not sample simultaneously). In this paper, we report results from a system of 47 hydrophones in a 0.75 x 0.75 m(2) matrix that allowed measurements to be made at multiple locations in the beam simultaneously, with a sample rate of 1 Msamples. The system both visualizes and records echolocation clicks in real time across the whole cross section of the beam, hence allowing the full dynamics of the sonar beam to be revealed. As a demonstration of the system's utility, we present results obtained with the system to assess the acoustic properties of clicks produced spontaneously by free-swimming dolphins.
|
|
