Informationsverarbeitung in Lebewesen. Neuronale Netze, Sensorik, Motorik. Seminar am Lehrstuhl für Intelligente Sensor-Aktor-Systeme (Prof. Dr.-Ing. U.D. Hanebeck) SS 2003 [online]

Dieses Buch ist aus dem Seminar Informationsverarbeitung in Lebewesen entstanden, welches im Sommersemester 2003 am Institut für Rechnerentwurf und Fehlertoleranz der Universität Karlsruhe stattgefunden hat. Ziel des Seminars war es zu untersuchen, warum die Leistung technischer Systeme den biologischen nur in sehr speziellen Fällen überlegen ist und inwieweit die biologischen Systeme derzeit überhaupt verstanden werden. Die Forschung in diesem Gebiet hat in den letzten Jahren große Fortschritte gemacht. Sie wird motiviert durch Modellierungswünsche in der Medizin, als Ideengeber für technische Systeme (Bionik), und aus dem Wunsch heraus, eines Tages zu verstehen wie Bewusstsein funktioniert. Die Informatik ist in diesem Gebiet besonders gefordert, da sie die technischen Grundlagen bereitstellt, um biologische Systeme in ihren Grundzügen modellieren und in technischen Systemen umsetzen zu können. Entsprechend wurden die Schwerpunkte im Seminar auf folgende Gebiete gelegt: Neuronale Netze Beispiel zur Modellierung eines Sinnesorgans: Das menschliche Ohr Sensorik von Lebewesen Biologisch motivierte Robote

The dynamic range of the upgraded surface-detector stations of AugerPrime

The detection of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays by means of giant detector arrays is often limited by the saturation of the recorded signals near the impact point of the shower core at the ground, where the particle density dramatically increases. The saturation affects in particular the highest energy events, worsening the systematic uncertainties in the reconstruction of the shower characteristics. The upgrade of the Pierre Auger Observatory, called AugerPrime, includes the installation of an 1-inch Small PhotoMultiplier Tube (SPMT) inside each water-Cherenkov station (WCD) of the surface detector array. The SPMT allows an unambiguous measurement of signals down to about 250m from the shower core, thus reducing the number of events featuring a saturated station to a negligible level. In addition, a 3.8m2 plastic scintillator (Scintillator Surface Detector, SSD) is installed on top of each WCD. The SSD is designed to match the WCD (with SPMT) dynamic range, providing a complementary measurement of the shower components up to the highest energies. In this work, the design and performances of the upgraded AugerPrime surface-detector stations in the extended dynamic range are described, highlighting the accuracy of the measurements. A first analysis employing the unsaturated signals in the event reconstruction is also presented

Investigating multiple elves and halos above strong lightning with the fluorescence detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory

ELVES are being studied since 2013 with the twenty-four FD Telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory, in the province of Mendoza (Argentina), the world’s largest facility for the study of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. This study exploits a dedicated trigger and extended readout. Since December 2020, this trigger has been extended to the three High levation Auger Telescopes (HEAT), which observe the night sky at elevation angles between 30 and 60 degrees, allowing a study of ELVES from closer lightning. The high time resolution of the Auger telescopes allows us to upgrade reconstruction algorithms and to do detailed studies on multiple ELVES. The origin of multiple elves can be studied by analyzing the time difference and the amplitude ratio between flashes and comparing them with the properties of radio signals detected by the ENTLN lightning network since 2018. A fraction of multi-ELVES can also be interpreted as halos following ELVES. Halos are disc-shaped light transients emitted at 70-80 km altitudes, appearing at the center of the ELVES rings, due to the rearrangement of electric charges at the base of the ionosphere after a strong lightning event