Biomimetic Cilia-based MEMS Sensors for Underwater Applications - A Review

Abstract

Natural organisms such as fish, arthropods and ear have excellent sensory receptors like later line system, filiform hairs and basilar membrane respectively. Researchers have developed various type of mechanical sensors, inspired by nature creatures. A review on biomimetic cilia and Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) developments for underwater sensing robotics is presented. In this paper, MEMS technologies for building artificial hair cell sensors using representative material systems, briefly outlines of their fabrication method and performance have been explained. We categorize the developed artificial cilia based sensors into different types according their transduction mechanism to they based on, for example, piezo resistive and piezoelectric effects.