From artificial hair cell sensor to artificial lateral line system: Development and application

We report the development and application of an artificial hair cell (AHC) flow sensor inspired by biological systems. With optimized design and fabrication process, the AHC is characterized in terms of sensitivity, calibration, and robustness. Especially, an AHC can discern variations of water flow down to 0.1 mm/s and survive 55deg deflections. The sensor has been applied to flow field measurements, matching perfectly with analytical and previous experimental results. By employing arrays of such AHC sensors, an artificial lateral line is constructed for biomimetic studies on localizing and tracking hydrodynamic events.