Artificial sensory hairs based on the flow sensitive receptor hairs of crickets

Abstract

This paper presents the modelling, design, fabrication and characterization of flow sensors based on the wind-receptor hairs of crickets. Cricket sensory hairs are highly sensitive to drag-forces exerted on the hair shaft. Artificial sensory hairs have been realized in SU-8 on suspended Si x N y membranes. The movement of the membranes is detected capacitively. Capacitance versus voltage, frequency dependence and directional sensitivity measurements have been successfully carried out on fabricated sensor arrays, showing the viability of the concept.

Bioinspired 3D-printed piezoelectric device for acoustic frequency separation

“…Taking inspiration from natural systems has allowed scientists to develop new aerodynamic systems [4], robots with specific capabilities [5], and new materials with unique properties [1,2], among others. One of the rising areas of research into biomimetic systems and devices is the acoustical engineering field [6], not only to develop microphones and loudspeakers inspired by biological systems, but also to develop signal processing systems, hearing aid devices, and other biomedical applications [7][8][9]. One of the most studied acoustic systems is the locust's tympanum membrane (TM), consisting of a pear-shaped membrane of variable thickness that responds to low frequencies in its thick region, and to high frequencies in its thin region.…”

The terminal abdominal ganglion of the wood cricket Nemobius sylvestris

“…The wood-cricket, N. sylvestris, is a particularly suitable model for integrative physiology as its biology can be easily studied in the field in contrast to other cricket species classically investigated (e.g., Coolen et al, 2005;Steinmann et al, 2006;Dangles et al, 2005Dangles et al, , 2006a. The comprehension of how air-currents are perceived and coded by the nervous system is relevant not only to understand the adaptive value and evolution of this kind of sensory system, but also as a source of inspiration for the development of new technologies, such as microelectrical-mechanical systems (MEMS, Dijkstra et al, 2005). The aim of the present work is thus to describe the gross anatomical structure of the terminal abdominal ganglion in the wood cricket and to establish a basis for subse-quent physiological studies both, in the laboratory and in the field.…”

Bio-inspired hair flow-sensor arrays : from nature to MEMS

“…Biologists try to understand nature by testing their hypotheses using bio-inspired systems while engineers try to design high-performance sensory systems based on the knowledge of their counterparts in nature. Several groups have reported different sensor designs for measuring particle velocity flow either in air or water [de Bree 1997, Fan et al, 2002, Dijkstra et al, 2005, Krijnen et al, 2007& Wang et al, 2007. These designs can be categorized according to their sensing mechanism (heat transfer, force transfer), sensitivity direction (either normal or parallel to the substrate), transduction principle (piezoelectric, piezoresistive or capacitive), sensing environment (air or water) and used materials (various silicon-nitride compositions and polymers such as SU-8).…”

“…no cantilever as an obstacle inspired) by biological examples such as the lateral-line system in fish [Chen et al, 2007] and cerci in crickets [Dijkstra et al, 2005]. The artificial hairs were made in different lengths and widths (100 to 900 um length and 25 to 80 um width) using different materials such as silicon, silicon nitride composition and SU-8.…”

“…However, the fabrication scheme of the hair structure poses restrictions with respect to high-density arrays. Dijkstra et al [Dijkstra et al, 2005 fabricated flow-sensor arrays imitating the filiform hairs of crickets. Surface micromachining technology has been used to fabricate suspended silicon nitride membranes and hairs were made by a repeated lithography process to form double layers of SU-8 (negative photoresist).…”