Two Spectrum M2p.5913 digitizer cards, each with 5 MS/s sampling speed, 8 channels, and 16-bit resolution, are linked together using a Spectrum Star-Hub module to achieve precise synchronisation.
Dolphins have an extremely fine echo location system that allows them to focus on a small area while hunting for food. The Dolphin Research Center (DRC) in the Florida Keys is planning a project that will use an array of 15 hydrophones to listen for dolphin sonar clicks. Spectrum Instrumentation recorded the signals using a 16-channel digitizer system.
The data is then processed by a special AI program, which uses the various signals to determine which location the dolphin has concentrated on. In a second phase, before the end of the year, this arrangement will be utilized to control a pointer on an underwater screen. The dolphins can then move the pointer to view the findings.
The project just replaced its digitizer cards because the prior ones accumulated too much data, causing a buffering problem that hindered real-time data processing. “The Spectrum cards collect just the right amount of data to determine the echo site and, more importantly, enough ambient sounds for the AI to parse out. “We use Spectrum’s SBench 6 software to control the cards, which is very simple to set up and use,” explained Jesse Fox.
Two Spectrum M2p.5913 digitizer cards, each with 5 MS/s sampling speed, 8 channels, and 16-bit resolution, are linked together using a Spectrum Star-Hub module to achieve precise synchronisation.
This enables the processing of the 15 hydrophone signals to precisely establish where the dolphin has focused its echolocation. The ADC cards’ huge on-board memory allows them to capture and transmit data for processing without buffering. This is expected to generate more than 8 TB of data per week, which will be uploaded to Google Drive for further analysis and training of the AI.
One obvious issue is that humans cannot teach dolphins how to move the cursor. Fortunately, dolphins are quite interested and may be asked to echolocate in a specific location.
The goal is to encourage this, allowing people to experiment and see what results. Juvenile men excel at this, and they should be able to teach themselves how to move the pointer on the screen. Dolphins learn from one another, so hopefully, they will soon pass on this new expertise to the other dolphins.
Leadership Comments
Jesse Fox, Director of IT at the Dolphin Research Center, explained, “I am passionate about this project because it will open up many more avenues of communication. Currently, we are limited in objective methods of gathering responses from the dolphins to stimuli or, ‘questions’ if you will. The concept behind this new setup has been around for a few years, and it’s the equivalent of pressing a button but on a much higher level. A real-time moving cursor, that is guided by a dolphin, will open a whole new area of animal cognition and understanding of dolphins! We hope to reach this stage by the end of 2025, and the first thing I want to do then is to write a paint program for the dolphins to play with!”
After the initial paint program, Fox plans to create numerous games to entertain and enrich the lives of the dolphins. “They are so much like us and yet so different,” he commented. “This project will enable us to better understand how they think.” He added that the dolphins have different interests and motivations, and, as with humans, this varies from individual to individual. One example of this is an experiment where two dolphins had to press a button with their snouts at roughly the same time to release some fish. Once the pair had worked this out, one stopped participating on her own as there was no praise from a human, which was her motivator more than food. “After all, a star needs her applause,” Jesse explained.
Dolphin Research Center
The Dolphin Research Center on Florida’s Grassy Key island was founded in 1984. The first dolphin at the Centre was the one who played Flipper in the 1963 film, and her offspring are still there thanks to the Centre’s breeding program, as are dolphins that have been rescued but cannot be returned to the wild.
The dolphins dwell in a lagoon near the Centre with customized breakaway fencing that protect the dolphins while keeping predators out.
