Bio-inspired Flow and Acoustic Sensor

This paper describes the efforts toward the development of bio-inspired flow and acoustic sensor from fish. Anatomy study has indicated a basic transduction element is the hairy structure. This study describes the fabrication of sensing element that emulate the mechano-electrical transduction mechanism. These include the use of advanced lithographic technology for sensor electrode deposition. The sensor was polarized under high voltage gradient. Preliminary experimental evaluation indicates that the hairy structures are responsive to external excitations. Especially, the hairy structure made of the SDW method not only produces transduction component for mechano-electrical coupling, it is also rugged, sensitive and fracture resistant. The hairy structure also features directional sensitivity which could be used for acoustic field direction determination. The hairy structure is being further refined and will ultimately be integrated into develop bio-inspired flow and acoustic sensors.