Lowering the sensory threshold and enhancing the responsivity of biomimetic hair flow sensors by electrostatic spring softening

Author

Droogendijk, Harmen ; Bruinink, Christiaan M. ; Sanders, Remco G P ; Siebelder, Ortwin G. ; Krijnen, Gijs J M

Author_Institution

MESA+ Res. Inst., Univ. of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands

fYear

2011

fDate

28-31 Oct. 2011

Firstpage

829

Lastpage

832

Abstract

We report improvements in detection limit and responsivity of biomimetic hair flow sensors by electrostatic spring-softening (ESS). Applying a DC voltage to our capacitive flow sensors results in a reduced sensory threshold, which gives an improvement for the flow detection limit of more than 30%. In addition, the mechanical transfer shows large (80% and more) voltage-controlled electro-mechanical amplification of the flow signal for frequencies below the sensor´s resonance.

Keywords

biomimetics; capacitive sensors; electrostatic devices; flow sensors; DC voltage; ESS; biomimetic hair flow sensor; capacitive flow sensor; electrostatic spring softening; flow detection limit; flow signal; mechanical transfer; responsivity enhancement; sensor resonance; sensory threshold; voltage-controlled electromechanical amplification; Hair; Mechanical sensors; Mechanical variables measurement; Resonant frequency; Sensitivity; Voltage measurement;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Sensors, 2011 IEEE

Conference_Location

Limerick

ISSN

1930-0395

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-9290-9

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ICSENS.2011.6127093

Filename

6127093