PVDF Based Artificial Canal Lateral Line for Underwater Detection

Cave fish have developed lateral lines, including superficial lateral lines and canal lateral lines, which help themselves detecting preys/predators, communicating and other underwater activities by sensing both minute water motions and pressure gradients. The lateral line system of cave fish, Sinocyclocheilus Macrophthalmus, which live in the karst caves, Guangxi, China, has been characterized in our previous research. In this paper, a novel artificial canal neuromast arrays using PVDF based dynamic flow sensors is proposed. As the artificial canal lateral line (ACLL) is manufactured by soft PDMS and PVDF materials, it can deform freely and fit on complex surfaces. The ACLL device is characterized using a vibrating dipole source with a diameter of 10 mm, and it demonstrates a maximum detectable distance of 96 cm, in the case that the dipole source vibrates with an amplitude of 0.3 mm at a frequency of 100 Hz. The limit of detectable pressure variation of each sensor unit is 3.1 Pa. The ACLL device can be used to track the location of the dipole source.