Open AccessThree-Dimensional Trajectory Construction and Observation of Group Behavior of Wild Bats During Cave Emergence
Author(s) -
Emyo Fujioka,
Mika Fukushiro,
Kazusa Ushio,
Kyosuke Kohyama,
Hitoshi Habe,
Shizuko Hiryu
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of robotics and mechatronics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1883-8049
pISSN - 0915-3942
DOI - 10.20965/jrm.2021.p0556
Subject(s) - human echolocation , foraging , creatures , population , cave , trajectory , computer science , tracking (education) , artificial intelligence , ecology , computer vision , geography , biology , archaeology , psychology , natural (archaeology) , physics , neuroscience , pedagogy , demography , astronomy , sociology
Echolocating bats perceive the surrounding environment by processing echoes of their ultrasound emissions. Echolocation enables bats to avoid colliding with external objects in complete darkness. In this study, we sought to develop a method for measuring the collective behavior of echolocating bats ( Miniopterus fuliginosus ) emerging from their roost cave using high-sensitivity stereo-camera recording. First, we developed an experimental system to reconstruct the three-dimensional (3D) flight trajectories of bats emerging from the roost for nightly foraging. Next, we developed a method to automatically track the 3D flight paths of individual bats so that quantitative estimation of the population in proportion to the behavioral classification could be conducted. Because the classification of behavior and the estimation of population size are ecologically important indices, the method established in this study will enable quantitative investigation of how individual bats efficiently leave the roost while avoiding colliding with each other during group movement and how the group behavior of bats changes according to weather and environmental conditions. Such high-precision detection and tracking will contribute to the elucidation of the algorithm of group behavior control in creatures that move in groups together in three dimensions, such as birds.