A Bioinspired Piezoelectric Cilia Array for Sensing of Hydrodynamic Flow

This paper presents a self-powered flow sensor that targeted the maneuvering of the unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). The fabrication process was taking advantage of the thermoplastic material. A piezoelectric compound of barium titanate (BaTiO
₃
), multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) were used to replicate the cilia structure from a PDMS mold. The fabricated flow sensor comprised of an array of piezoelectric cilia structures. Experimental data indicated that the generated V
_rms
increase from 1.8 mV to 2.7 mV when the sensor is subjected to the air flow.