Bio-inspired hair-based inertial sensors

In biology, hair-based sensor systems are used regularly for measurement of physical quantities like acceleration, flow, rotational rate, and IR light. In this chapter, two different types of bio-inspired sensors for inertial measurement are discussed, which have been developed using surface micromachining and SU-8 lithography. First, an accelerometer inspired by the cricket’s clavate hair is presented. Second, a gyroscope inspired by the fly’s haltere is treated. For both, sensors are the necessary models presented, and guidelines are derived for optimization. Also, their performance is compared to their biological counterpart and the biomimetic potential is discussed