Now a days, instead of human beings, robots are used or sent to detect bombs and defuse them. But lately, Dolphins have inspired researchers to create a new radar system to detect hidden surveillance and explosive devices.
Dolphins use Sound Navigation And Ranging (SONAR) technique to navigate, communicate with or detect objects on or under the surface of the water, such as other vessels or prey underwater. The creatures create “bubble nets” to trap fish inside a ring of air bubbles while swimming in a circle. But still, they use SONAR in order to pick out the fish. Interestingly, such method of preying or hunting for something of dolphins has inspired researchers to create a new radar system that would be able to differentiate between ordinary objects and things like explosive devices.
Prof. Tim Leighton and his team have developed a dolphin-inspired system called TWin Inverted Pulse Sonar (TWIPS). In this system, two sonar pulses are sent out in quick succession. Those pulses are identical to one another, except for the fact that they’re phase-inverted. When those pulses hit a solid target, it scatters the reflected sound in a linear pattern. On the other hand, Bubbles produce non-linear scattering. By suppressing the non-linear return signals, TWIPS is therefore able to locate underwater targets amidst bubbles.
The TWIPS is not fully developed yet. So it is hoped that when the system would be developed fully, the technology would be used widely besides locating things such as explosives. Researchers have published a report in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society A.
Source: University of Southampton
Thanks To: Gizmag
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