ERC SASATIN

In February 2014 Prof James Windmill was awarded a European Research Council Consolidator Grant, SASATIN - Soft and Small: Acoustic Transducers Inspired by Nature.

This project uses our knowledge of how insects hear to inspire the design and prototyping of artificial acoustic sensors. Existing microphones and ultrasonic devices have severe physical sensitivity limitations. This project seeks to change the fundamental approach to sensor design using inspiration from biology, such that previous limitations on size, functionality, power consumption, and robustness are avoided, whilst advancing fundamental understanding of the insect ear’s sensing capacity. The project takes a multidisciplinary approach, involving biology, engineering, physics and mathematics, exploiting the latest computer simulation, microfabrication, and characterisation methods to provide fast design, cost effective prototyping, and analysis.

 

Project Team

• Prof James Windmill - Principal Investigator
• Dr Jeremy Gibson - Research Associate
• Dr Ben Tiller - Research Associate
• Andrew Reid - Research Assistant
• Roger Domingo-Roca - PhD Student
• Jose Guerreiro - PhD Student
• Elizabeth Klenschi - PhD Student
• Grant Smillie - Technician

 

Publications, Presentations and Activities

• Publications, presentations and activities from the grant can be found here

 

Equipment

• Polytec MSA-100-3D Micro System Vibrometer
  A scanning 3D vibrometer system enabling picometre resolution for both out-of-plane and in-plane motion with a frequency bandwidth of 2.5 MHz.
• Bruker Skyscan 1172 X-ray microCT
  A 3D x-ray CT microscopy system enabling sub-micrometre resolution for imaging the internal structure of objects non-destructively.