Bio-Gyros: Tunable Compliant Gryscopic Sensors
Abstract
We examined the motion encoding characteristics of gyroscopic sensors implicated in the flight control systems of insects. These included antennae of moths and the halteres of large craneflies, two structures that encode the Coriolis forces associated with body rotations during aerial maneuvers in insects. Importantly, no prior research program has explored how the structural dynamics of such gyroscopes interact with motions to provide tunable encoding characteristics. Through both neurobiological and biomechanical approaches we showed how rotational body motions interact with the three-dimensional bending characteristics of biological gyroscopes. We used a combination of neuro-physiological and neuro-anatomical studies to show how the nervous system encodes gyroscopic information. It does so with extremely high precision in the range that is relevant for Coriolis force sensing. This one year research program culminated in a Science paper, a variety of news articles, and several publications and presentations at scientific meetings. To our knowledge this is the first successful study of the neural processing of gyroscopic forces in any living creature.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 10, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA476611
Entities
People
- Thomas L. Daniel
Organizations
- University of Washington