'Lateral lines' in fish contain hundreds of tiny pressure and velocity sensors that enable them to navigate through currents and eddies as efficiently as possible. To mimic that ability, MIT researchers have developed sensitive, MEMS-based pressure sensors and mounted them on a small experimental vessel in a pattern that replicates the distribution of the lateral lines.
The sensors measure the pressure of flows around an oceangoing vessel so that it can utilize rather than fight those flows, saving energy and improving maneuverability.
The engineering team designed arrays of pressure sensors, each of which is a two-millimeter-wide cavity covered by a 20-micron-thick silicon membrane that bends in response to pressure. A metal strain gauge on the surface of each membrane senses that deflection and generates a signal that indicates pressure. Electronic systems amplify and integrate the signals from all the sensors, producing pressure information that can be displayed continuously online.
Also: Learn how a capacitive pressure sensor enables better combustor design.
