Development of a multisensor array for localizing bats in space

We present a novel multisensor array to track flight paths of bats in space. Our array is designed to be portable and, thus, field applicable. Eight microphones are employed to localize each echolocation call, whereas two cameras provide continuous information on the flight path between the calls. To reduce costs and, thus, make it available for low-budget research the array was developed from scratch including a novel acoustic signal recording and processing hardware. Our developed acoustic hardware is the first system to sample eight microphone channels synchronously at 1 MS/s/CH with 16 Bit resolution without the necessity of computers or laptops. All eight signals from the ultrasonic microphones are not only recorded but also processed in real time in the frequency as well as time domain to determine the existence of echolocation calls. Only relevant acoustic signal are recorded which enables long term deployments of the array. During the acoustic signal acquisition, the system records images of two infrared cameras at 12 Hz and, in addition, several environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and illumination. Recorded datasets can be associated with a global position and time-stamp through a GPS module and matched to the GPS coordinate system with a three-axis accelerometer. The overall system (microphones, cameras and sensors) was designed to be affordable, easy to use in the field on battery power and without the necessity of an additional laptop. Without cost optimization and only small quantity we reached a prize below 1000 EUR for a complete system.