Nearly all underwater vehicles and surface ships today use sonar and vision for imaging and navigation. However, sonar and vision systems face various limitations, e.g., sonar blind zones, dark or murky environments, etc. Evolved over millions of years, fish use the lateral line, a distributed linear array of flow sensing organs, for underwater hydrodynamic imaging and information extraction. We demonstrate here a proof-of-concept artificial lateral line system. It enables a distant touch hydrodynamic imaging capability to critically augment sonar and vision systems. We show that the artificial lateral line can successfully perform dipole source localization and hydrodynamic wake detection. The development of the artificial lateral line is aimed at fundamentally enhancing human ability to detect, navigate, and survive in the underwater environment.dipole localization ͉ hot wire anemometer ͉ micromachining ͉ wake detection ͉ neuromast A lateral line is a spatially distributed system of flow sensors found on the body surface of fish (1) and aquatic amphibians (2). It is comprised of arrays of neuromasts, which can be classified into two types: superficial neuromasts and canal neuromasts (Fig. 1). A superficial neuromast is situated on the surface of the fish and responds in proportion to fluid velocity (3, 4). In contrast, a canal neuromast is packaged in fluid-filled canals located beneath the surface of the skin and are commonly described as a detector of outside water acceleration that is proportional to the pressure gradient (1, 3-6). As an integrated flow sensing system, such lateral lines form spatial-temporal images of nearby sources based on their hydrodynamic signatures (1, 3, 5) and provide mechanosensory guidance for many different behaviors, including synchronized swimming in schools, predator and obstacle avoidance, prey detection and tracking, rheotaxis, and holding station behind immersed obstacles in streams (4,7,8). This ''distant touch'' sense complements other sensory modalities, including vision and hearing, to increase survivability in unstructured environments. To date, there has never been an engineering equivalent of the fish lateral line system for underwater vehicles and platforms. The goal of the present research is to build an artificial lateral line that mimics the functional organization and imaging capabilities of the biological one. The artificial lateral line can facilitate fundamental studies of biological systems and provide unprecedented sensing and control functions to underwater vehicles and platforms. Specifically, we envision that the distant touch hydrodynamic imaging capability of the artificial lateral line can provide a new sense in addition to sonar and vision. In this article, we demonstrate the functions of an artificial lateral line under two biologically relevant scenarios: (i) localizing a moving target with flapping part (7, 9, 10) and (ii) imaging a hydrodynamic trail for prey capture (11,12). Development of the Artificial Lateral LineThe artificial lateral line ...
We present the development of a polyimide-based two-dimensional tactile sensing array realized using a novel inverted fabrication technique. Thermal silicon oxide or Pyrex R substrates are treated such that their surfaces are OH group terminated, allowing good adhesion between such substrates and a spun-on polyimide film during processing through what are suspected to be hydrogen bonds that can be selectively broken when release is desired. The release of the continuous polyimide film is rapidly accomplished by breaking these bonds. This process results in robust, low-cost and continuous polymer-film devices. The developed sensor skin contains an array of membrane-based tactile sensors (taxels). Micromachined thin-film metal strain gauges are positioned on the edges of polyimide membranes. The change in resistance from each strain gauge resulting from normal forces applied to tactile bumps on the top of the membranes is used to image force distribution. Response of an individual taxel is characterized. The effective gauge factor of the taxels is found to be approximately 1.3. Sensor array output is experimentally obtained. The demonstrated devices are robust enough for direct contact with humans, everyday objects and contaminants without undue care.
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