A novel bio-inspired acoustic ranging approach for a better resolution achievement

Bat and dolphin use sound to survive and have greatly superior capabilities to current technology with regard to resolution, object identification and material characterisation. Some bats can resolve some acoustic pulses thousands of times more efficiently than current technology (Thomas & Moss, 2004 ). Dolphins are capable of discriminating different materials based on acoustic energy, again significantly out-performing current detection systems. Not only are these animals supreme in their detection and discrimination capabilities, they also demonstrate excellent acoustic focusing characteristics - both in transmission and reception. If it could approach the efficiencies of bat and cetacean systems, the enormous potential for acoustic engineering, has been widely recognised. Whilst some elements of animal systems have been applied successfully in engineered systems, the latter have come nowhere near the capabilities of the natural world. Recognizing that engineered acoustic systems that emulate bat and cetacean systems have enormous potential, we present in this chapter a breakthrough in high-resolution acoustic imaging and physical characterization based on bio-inspired time delay estimation approach.