05/14/10 — Detailed studies into the way bats use sound to ‘see’ in the dark could soon be used to create robots that can find their way around hazardous environments. Simon Whiteley of Strathclyde’s Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering worked with colleagues at Leeds University to investigate the techniques bats use to detect insect prey and predators. The team used a wireless microphone sensor mounted on a tiny backpack to help listen to the sounds adult Egyptian fruit bats make while flying. The bats ‘see’ by rapidly clicking their tongues, and then using the echoes to decipher the shape of their…