A capacitance-based whisker-like artificial sensor for fluid motion sensing

Stocking, Jonathan B.; Eberhardt, William C.; Shakhsheer, Yousef; Calhoun, Benton H.; Paulus, J.R.; Appleby, Michael C.

doi:10.1109/icsens.2010.5690637

Cited by 30 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Capacitive sensing principle is also employed (Stocking et al 2010) to develop a whisker-like artificial sensor which mimicked seal vibrissae. In this design, a rigid artificial whisker is mounted on a novel cone-in-cone parallelplate capacitor base.…”

Section: Capacitive Allfsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underwater artificial lateral line flow sensors

Tan

2014

Microsyst Technol

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on. However, there are limitations of these technologies. For example, acoustic sensor suffers from scattering and multipath propagation issues. Optic sensor cannot propagate well in water and is limited by the turbidity of the sea water. Both sensors are not suitable for forming distributed arrays. Because of these limitations, many researchers are trying to study some new alternative sensors which are inspired from biological sensing abilities, such as lateral line organ of fish. Fishes live in a fluid environment, therefore it is not surprising that fishes have developed abilities which affect numerous aspects of behaviors including maneuvering in complex fluid environments (Van Trump and McHenry 2008; Mogdans and Bleckmann 2012), schooling (Pitcher et al. 1976), prey tracking (Pohlmann et al. 2004), rheotaxis (Gardiner and Atema 2007), courtship and communication (Coombs and Braun 2003). It is known that the lateral line is a critical component of the fish sensory system and found in most fishes and some other aquatic organisms. For example, Mexican blind fish relies on the lateral line system to navigate. The lateral line plays an important role in many behaviors by providing hydrodynamic information about the surrounding fluid. The fishes use lateral line sensors to monitor surrounding flow field for maneuvering and survival underwater. This is why researchers have developed ALLFS for underwater flow sensing applications.In the following, this paper surveys the works done in investigating morphology and biophysics of the lateral line of fish, such as theoretical models of the lateral line of fish which are foundation for design ALLFS for underwater flow sensing. Also, this paper reviews the status of ALLFS and underwater applications. Finally, this paper intends to discuss the existing problems and the future trends of ALLFS.Abstract Biomimetics is a promising field of research in which natural processes and structures are transferred to technical applications. The lateral line is a critical component of the fish sensory system and plays an important role in many behaviors by providing hydrodynamic information about the surrounding fluid. It is believed that the artificial lateral line flow sensors (ALLFS) are advantageous for underwater applications. This paper reviews the morphology and biophysics of the lateral line, especially theoretical models of lateral line, including biomechanical model, frequency response and time domain response of lateral line. Also, this paper reviews some efforts to mimic lateral line system in recent years. In order to capture the recent research status, this paper reviews the design and fabrication of ALLFS based on different sensing principles. Further researches to develop ALLFS and their underwater applications are also discussed in this paper.

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Section: Capacitive Allfsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Underwater artificial lateral line flow sensors

Tan

2014

Microsyst Technol

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“…Engineering applications have emerged: Solomon & Hartmann (2006) used steel whiskers fitted with strain gauges; Stocking et al (2010) and Eberhardt et al (2011) proposed whisker-like sensors that used capacitance changes in a cone in cone base to measure fluid motion. Valdivia, Subramaniam & Triantafyllou (2012) developed flow sensors based specifically on the harbor seals undulatory shape.…”

Section: Tracking Wakes With Pinniped Whiskersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomimetic Survival Hydrodynamics and Flow Sensing

Triantafyllou

Weymouth

Miao

2016

Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech.

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The fluid mechanics employed by aquatic animals in their escape or attack maneuvers, what we call survival hydrodynamics, are fascinating because the recorded performance in animals is truly impressive. Such performance forces us to pose some basic questions on the underlying flow mechanisms that are not in use yet in engineered vehicles. A closely related issue is the ability of animals to sense the flow velocity and pressure field around them in order to detect and discriminate threats in environments where vision or other sensing is of limited or no use. We review work on animal flow sensing and actuation as a source of inspiration, and in order to formulate a number of basic problems and investigate the flow mechanisms that enable animals develop their remarkable performance. We describe some intriguing mechanisms of actuation and sensing.

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“…Whiskers present yet another important class of sensor components that can monitor the airflow, mediate tactile sensing for spatial mapping of nearby objects, and even enable balance during motion for advanced robotics with capabilities resembling those found in certain insects and mammals (6,7). Several approaches to date have been explored to realize electronic whiskers (e-whiskers), among which bulky torque/force sensors placed at the base of micromillimeter-scale fibers are most frequently used (8)(9)(10)(11)(12). However, the previously reported e-whiskers do not simultaneously offer lightweight, compact design, high sensitivity and dynamic range, and scalable processing scheme needed to enable largescale integration for practical systems.…”

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confidence: 99%

Highly sensitive electronic whiskers based on patterned carbon nanotube and silver nanoparticle composite films

Takei

Zheng

et al. 2014

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

244

202

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Mammalian whiskers present an important class of tactile sensors that complement the functionalities of skin for detecting wind with high sensitivity and navigation around local obstacles. Here, we report electronic whiskers based on highly tunable composite films of carbon nanotubes and silver nanoparticles that are patterned on high-aspect-ratio elastic fibers. The nanotubes form a conductive network matrix with excellent bendability, and nanoparticle loading enhances the conductivity and endows the composite with high strain sensitivity. The resistivity of the composites is highly sensitive to strain with a pressure sensitivity of up to ∼8%/Pa for the whiskers, which is >10× higher than all previously reported capacitive or resistive pressure sensors. It is notable that the resistivity and sensitivity of the composite films can be readily modulated by a few orders of magnitude by changing the composition ratio of the components, thereby allowing for exploration of whisker sensors with excellent performance. Systems consisting of whisker arrays are fabricated, and as a proof of concept, real-time two-and three-dimensional gas-flow mapping is demonstrated. The ultrahigh sensitivity and ease of fabrication of the demonstrated whiskers may enable a wide range of applications in advanced robotics and human-machine interfacing.strain sensors | artificial devices | flexible electronics | nano materials F unctionalities mimicking biological systems are of tremendous interest in developing smart and user-interactive electronics. For example, artificial electronic skin (e-skin) (1-4) and electronic eye (e-eye) (5) have been developed recently by engineering novel material and device concepts on thin flexible substrates that give ordinary objects and surfaces the ability to feel and see the environment. Whiskers present yet another important class of sensor components that can monitor the airflow, mediate tactile sensing for spatial mapping of nearby objects, and even enable balance during motion for advanced robotics with capabilities resembling those found in certain insects and mammals (6, 7). Several approaches to date have been explored to realize electronic whiskers (e-whiskers), among which bulky torque/force sensors placed at the base of micromillimeter-scale fibers are most frequently used (8-12). However, the previously reported e-whiskers do not simultaneously offer lightweight, compact design, high sensitivity and dynamic range, and scalable processing scheme needed to enable largescale integration for practical systems.In essence, an e-whisker device consists of a highly sensitive tactile sensor that is mounted on a high-aspect-ratio hairlike structure. A promising approach for developing bendable strain sensors involves the use of thin films of conductive nanomaterials such as nanotubes (13-16), nanowires (17-19), nanoflakes (20), or nanoparticles (NPs) (21, 22). For instance, by using conductive NP thin films, strain is readily detected by measuring the resistance of the film as the spacing between the NP...

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A capacitance-based whisker-like artificial sensor for fluid motion sensing

Cited by 30 publications

References 6 publications

Underwater artificial lateral line flow sensors

Underwater artificial lateral line flow sensors

Biomimetic Survival Hydrodynamics and Flow Sensing

Highly sensitive electronic whiskers based on patterned carbon nanotube and silver nanoparticle composite films

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