title: A biomimetic accelerometer inspired by the cricket's clavate hair.
abstract: Crickets use so-called clavate hairs to sense (gravitational) acceleration to obtain information on their orientation. Inspired by this clavate hair system, a one-axis biomimetic accelerometer has been developed and fabricated using surface micromachining and SU-8 lithography. An analytical model is presented for the design of the accelerometer, and guidelines are derived to reduce responsivity due to flow-induced contributions to the accelerometer's output. Measurements show that this microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) hair-based accelerometer has a resonance frequency of 320 Hz, a detection threshold of 0.10 ms(-2) and a dynamic range of more than 35 dB. The accelerometer exhibits a clear directional response to external accelerations and a low responsivity to airflow. Further, the accelerometer's physical limits with respect to noise levels are addressed and the possibility for short-term adaptation of the sensor to the environment is discussed.
authors.affiliation: MESA Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands h.droogendijk@utwente.nl.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Droogendijk
authors.affiliation: MESA Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: de Boer
authors.affiliation: MESA Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R G P
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Sanders
authors.affiliation: MESA Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: G J M
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Krijnen
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000818:Animals; D032701:Biomimetics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006135:Gryllidae / Q000502:physiology*; D006197:Hair / Q000502:physiology*; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular / Q000502:physiology*; D055617:Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008954:Models, Biological; D012679:Sense Organs / Q000502:physiology; D014160:Transducers, Pressure
keywords: MEMS; accelerometer; bio-inspired; clavate hair; cricket