Research on an Artificial Lateral Line System Based on a Bionic Hair Sensor with Resonant Readout.

Yang Yang,Liang Liang,Lu Lu,Zhang Zhang

doi:10.3390/mi10110736

Abstract

Inspired by the lateral line system of fish, an artificial lateral line system based on bionic hair sensor with resonant readout is presented in this paper. An artificial lateral line system, which possesses great application potential in the field of gas flow visualization, includes two different sensors: a superficial neuromast and a canal neuromast flow velocity sensor, which are used to measure the constant and oscillatory air flow velocity, respectively. The sensitive mechanism of two artificial lateral line sensors is analyzed, and a finite element simulation is implemented to verify the structural design. Then the control circuit of the artificial lateral line system is designed, employing a demodulation algorithm of oscillatory signal based on the least mean square error algorithm, which is used to calculate the oscillatory air flow velocity. Finally, the experiments are implemented to assess the performance of the two artificial lateral line systems. The experimental results show that the artificial lateral line system, which can be used to measure the constant and oscillatory air flow velocity, has a minimum threshold of 0.785 mm/s in the measurement of oscillatory air flow velocity. Moreover, the artificial canal neuromast lateral line system can filter out low-frequency disturbance and has good sensitivity for high-frequency flow velocity.

Highlights

The lateral line system is a primitive sensory organ in fish
An artificial lateral line system based on bionic hair sensor with resonant readout is studied
The control circuit of the artificial lateral line system is designed, employing a demodulation algorithm of oscillatory signal based on the least mean square error algorithm which is used to calculate the oscillatory air flow velocity

Summary

Introduction

The lateral line system is a primitive sensory organ in fish Inspired by this system, researchers have reported multiple artificial lateral line systems based on MEMS technology for the velocity measurement [1,2]. Chen et al developed a piezoresistive hair sensor for the underwater artificial lateral line system, which can measure the oscillatory flow velocity in water generated by the vibration of dipole oscillator [6,7]. The amplitude of oscillatory flow velocity can be analyzed by FFT (fast Fourier transform) algorithm of output frequency signal. The experimental method of FFT based on a spectrum analyzer that is used to observe the corresponding amplitude of the oscillatory flow velocity signal is inefficient and so it is hard to miniaturize the overall system.

Structure Design and Simulation

Demodulation Algorithm

Experiments

Conclusions