Science Chicago | Life's a Lab

Novel Tactile Sensing Systems Inspired by the Rat Vibrissal Array

April 23rd, 2009 5:00 PM

Rats are nocturnal, burrowing animals that use tactile input from their whiskers (vibrissae) to explore objects and the external environment. Using onlh its vibrissae, a rat can extract information about object size, shape, orientation and texture. Tactile sensing serves as a natural complement to vision because it can operate in the dark, underground, in fog, in the very near field of view, or when reflections and glare prevent accurate visual assessment of an object. Our laboratory has developed inexpensive arrays of artificial whiskers modeled after animal vibrissal systems that can be used either in active "whisking" mode or in passive "dragging" mode. The artificial whiskers can determine obstacle distance, perform 3-dimensional extraction of object shape, and determine the velocity of a fluid flow.
Location	Columbia College Hokin Lecture Hall - Room 109 623 S. Wabash Ave. Chicago, IL, Get Driving Directions Get Public Transit Directions View Larger Map
Fee	Free
Contact
Event Type	Lecture
Age Appropriateness	All Ages
Audience	General Public
Partners	Columbia College

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