MEMS artificial canal neuromast sensor arrays for underwater sensing

The paper reports the development of biomimetic haircell sensors inspired by the neuromast sensors present in fish. Two different types of sensors are fabricated - the superficial haircell sensors which perform flow velocity sensing and the canal encapsulated haircell sensors which perform flow acceleration sensing. Flexible arrays of polymer MEMS haircell sensors are fabricated and encapsulated in polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) canal structures. The superficial haircell sensors are calibrated in water tunnel for flow velocity sensing and the steady-state flow filtering ability of the canal encapsulated haircell sensors is experimentally investigated.