
Dieter Frans S. Vanderelst
Psychology-Biology-Mechanical Engineering-Electrical Engineering (jointly appointed)
Edwards Center
45150J EDWARDS 1
A&S Psychology - 0376
Edwards 1
Professional Summary
SBBE, Sensory ecology, models of bat echolocation and flight control, robotic and computational models of animal behaviour and perception. Models of human cognition.
Education
MSc, Ugent Belgium, (Theoretical Psychology)
MSc, KUL Belgium, (Artificial Intelligence)
Ph.D., UA Belgium, 2012 (Biology)
Research and Practice Interests
The echolocation system of bats is limited in a number of important ways. It has a low update rate, a small "field of view" and a limited temporal resolution. Nevertheless, echolocating bats are able to fly swiftly through vegetation, navigate changing environments, recognise objects and forage on the wing. In spite of intense efforts over the past 50 years, the sensorimotor algorithms underlying bat sonar remain only partly understood. I want to understand how, in spite of the limitations of their sensory system, bats are able to deal with the challenges that result from living in complex and changing environments. In other words, I want to know how bats deal with the limitations of their sonar system.
In my research, I use both simulation methods, artificial sonar systems and robots to research the sensorimotor loops underlying bat biosonar. In addition, I believe that by studying bat sonar the performance gap between artificial and biological sonar can be substantially reduced.
Besides bats and echolocation, my interests include bio-inspired artificial intelligence and models of cognitive functions both in humans and in animals.
Publication list on Research gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dieter_Vanderelst
Selected publications:
Vanderelst, D., Steckel, J., Boen, A., Peremans, H. and Holderied, M. W. Place recognition using batlike sonar eLife, eLife Sciences Publications Limited, 2016, Vol. 5, pp. e14188
Vanderelst, D., Holderied, M. W. and Peremans, H. Sensorimotor Model of Obstacle Avoidance in Echolocating Bats PLoS Comput Biol, Public Library of Science, 2015, Vol. 11(10), pp. e1004484
Bartenstein, S. K., Gerstenberg, N., Vanderelst, D., Peremans, H. and Firzlaff, U. Echo-acoustic flow dynamically modifies the cortical map of target range in bats Nature communications, Nature Publishing Group, 2014, Vol. 5
Vanderelst, D., Lee, Y.-F., Geipel, I., Kalko, E. K., Kuo, Y.-M. and Peremans, H. The noseleaf of Rhinolophus formosae focuses the Frequency Modulated (FM) component of the calls
How nature shaped echolocation in animals, Frontiers E-books, 2014, pp. 55
Vanderelst, D., Reijniers, J., Firzlaff, U. and Peremans, H. Dominant glint based prey localization in horseshoe bats: a possible strategy for noise rejection PLoS Comput Biol, Public Library of Science, 2011, Vol. 7(12), pp. e1002268
Reijniers, J., Vanderelst, D. and Peremans, H. Morphology-induced information transfer in bat sonar Physical review letters, APS, 2010, Vol. 105(14), pp. 148701
Vanderelst, D., De Mey, F., Peremans, H., Geipel, I., Kalko, E. and Firzlaff, U. What noseleaves do for FM bats depends on their degree of sensorial specialization PloS one, Public Library of Science, 2010, Vol. 5(8), pp. e11893
Research Support
Grant: #DRL-1759150 Investigators:Layne, John; Maynard, Kathie; Peteet, Bridgette; Rollmann, Stephanie; Vanderelst, Dieter 08-01-2018 -07-31-2021 National Science Foundation Strategies: Trans-disciplinary Education in Biology and Engineering Technology Role:Collaborator $1,198,120.00 Active Level:Federal
Grant: #FS-18-048 Investigators:Cohen, Kelly; Kumar, Manish; Vanderelst, Dieter 04-18-2018 -12-31-2018 Department of Homeland Security SCITI UAV Innovator Subcontract SUAVE Role:Collaborator $50,000.00 Active Level:Federal
Publications
Peer Reviewed Publications
Vanderelst, Dieter; Steckel, Jan; Boen, Andre; Peremans, Herbert; Holderied, Marc W (2016. ) Place recognition using batlike sonar.eLife, , 5 ,
Vanderelst, Dieter (2016. ) Correction: Social Network Analysis As a Tool for Research Policy.PLoS neglected tropical diseases, , 10 (1 ) ,e0004410
Vanderelst, Dieter (2015. ) Social Network Analysis As a Tool for Research Policy.PLoS neglected tropical diseases, , 9 (12 ) ,e0004266
Vanderelst, Dieter; Holderied, Marc W; Peremans, Herbert (2015. ) Sensorimotor Model of Obstacle Avoidance in Echolocating Bats.PLoS computational biology, , 11 (10 ) ,e1004484
Vanderelst, Dieter; Peremans, Herbert; Razak, Norizham Abdul; Verstraelen, Edouard; Dimitriadis, Grigorios (2015. ) Correction: The aerodynamic cost of head morphology in bats: maybe not as bad as it seems.PloS one, , 10 (5 ) ,e0126061
Vanderelst, Dieter; Peremans, Herbert; Razak, Norizham Abdul; Verstraelen, Edouard; Dimitriadis, Grigorios; Dimitriadis, Greg (2015. ) The aerodynamic cost of head morphology in bats: maybe not as bad as it seems.PloS one, , 10 (3 ) ,e0118545
Schnyder, Hans A; Vanderelst, Dieter; Bartenstein, Sophia; Firzlaff, Uwe; Luksch, Harald (2014. ) The avian head induces cues for sound localization in elevation.PloS one, , 9 (11 ) ,e112178
Bartenstein, Sophia K; Gerstenberg, Nadine; Vanderelst, Dieter; Peremans, Herbert; Firzlaff, Uwe (2014. ) Echo-acoustic flow dynamically modifies the cortical map of target range in bats.Nature communications, , 5 ,4668
Reijniers, J; Vanderelst, D; Jin, C; Carlile, S; Peremans, H (2014. ) An ideal-observer model of human sound localization.Biological cybernetics, , 108 (2 ) ,169-81
Vanderelst, Dieter; Speybroeck, Niko (2014. ) Loading, merging and analysing demographic and health surveys using R.International journal of public health, , 59 (2 ) ,415-22
Vanderelst, Dieter; Reijniers, Jonas; Peremans, Herbert (2014. ) Comment on "Ear deformations give bats a physical mechanism for fast adaptation of ultrasonic beam patterns".Physical review letters, , 112 (7 ) ,079401
Vanderelst, Dieter; Speybroeck, Niko (2013. ) An adjusted bed net coverage indicator with estimations for 23 African countries.Malaria journal, , 12 ,457
Peremans, Herbert; Vanderelst, Dieter (2013. ) Augmented topological maps for three-dimensional navigation.The Behavioral and brain sciences, , 36 (5 ) ,560-1; discussion 57
Vanderelst, Dieter; Lee, Ya-Fu; Geipel, Inga; Kalko, Elisabeth K V; Kuo, Yen-Min; Peremans, Herbert (2013. ) The noseleaf of Rhinolophus formosae focuses the Frequency Modulated (FM) component of the calls.Frontiers in physiology, , 4 ,191
Vanderelst, Dieter; Jonas, Reijniers; Herbert, Peremans (2012. ) The furrows of Rhinolophidae revisited.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface, , 9 (70 ) ,1100-3
Vanderelst, Dieter; Reijniers, Jonas; Firzlaff, Uwe; Peremans, Herbert (2011. ) Dominant glint based prey localization in horseshoe bats: a possible strategy for noise rejection.PLoS computational biology, , 7 (12 ) ,e1002268
Guarato, Francesco; Jakobsen, Lasse; Vanderelst, Dieter; Surlykke, Annemarie; Hallam, John (2011. ) A method for estimating the orientation of a directional sound source from source directivity and multi-microphone recordings: principles and application.The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, , 129 (2 ) ,1046-58
Vanderelst, Dieter; Reijniers, Jonas; Steckel, Jan; Peremans, Herbert (2011. ) Information generated by the moving pinnae of Rhinolophus rouxi: tuning of the morphology at different harmonics.PloS one, , 6 (6 ) ,e20627
Reijniers, Jonas; Vanderelst, Dieter; Peremans, Herbert (2010. ) Morphology-induced information transfer in bat sonar.Physical review letters, , 105 (14 ) ,148701
Vanderelst, Dieter; De Mey, Fons; Peremans, Herbert; Geipel, Inga; Kalko, Elisabeth; Firzlaff, Uwe (2010. ) What noseleaves do for FM bats depends on their degree of sensorial specialization.PloS one, , 5 (8 ) ,e11893
De Mey, F; Schillebeeckx, F; Vanderelst, D; Boen, A; Peremans, H (2010. ) Modelling simultaneous echo waveform reconstruction and localization in bats.Bio Systems, , 100 (2 ) ,94-100
Vanderelst, Dieter; Speybroeck, Niko (2010. ) Quantifying the lack of scientific interest in neglected tropical diseases.PLoS neglected tropical diseases, , 4 (1 ) ,e576
Vanderelst, Dieter; Ahn, René M C; Barakova, Emilia I (2009. ) Simulated trust: a cheap social learning strategy.Theoretical population biology, , 76 (3 ) ,189-96
Brysbaert, Marc; Speybroeck, Sara; Vanderelst, Dieter (2009. ) Is there room for the BBC in the mental lexicon? On the recognition of acronyms.Quarterly journal of experimental psychology (2006), , 62 (9 ) ,1832-42
Duyck, Wouter; Vanderelst, Dieter; Desmet, Timothy; Hartsuiker, Robert J (2008. ) The frequency effect in second-language visual word recognition. Psychonomic bulletin & review, , 15 (4 ) ,850-5
Keywords
echolocation, sonar, bio-inspired robotics, robotics, cognition, sensory ecology, hearing
Courses Taught
-PSTP-7077C CE 201 PROGRAMMING FOR BEHAVIORIAL SCIENTISTS Level:Undergraduate
Contact Information
Edwards 1