Biomimetic seal whisker sensors for high-sensitivity wake detection and localization

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Pinnipeds, with highly sensitive whiskers, can detect instantaneous spatial hydrodynamic disturbances, crucial for tracking wakes and their sources. However, no existing engineering solution replicates this for intelligent passive flow perception. To bridge this gap, we propose a low-cost, whisker-inspired sensor designed for use in arrays for underwater sensing and tracking. The sensor integrates metal foil strain gages within a polydimethylsiloxane soft base, coupled with a 3D-printed biomimetic seal whisker model. It exhibits low self-noise in undisturbed flow and high sensitivity in wake detection, identifying flow speeds as low as 0.5 mm s-1-comparable to biological whiskers (∼0.25 mm s-1). The dual strain gage design, placed on adjacent perpendicular sides, allows precise measurement of whisker bending amplitude and direction. The sensor shows excellent linearity, repeatability, fatigue life, short response time and superior dynamic performance in the low-frequency range (⩽35 Hz). Despite its high performance, it is cost-effective and easy to fabricate, requiring no specialized facilities or extensive training, making it ideal for large-scale array deployment. To demonstrate its potential, we tested a nine-sensor array capable of predicting dipole source locations using an artificial neural network model. This work demonstrates the feasibility of whisker-inspired sensing for robust spatial flow perception in underwater environments.