3D-printed airflow hair sensor inspired by the buthus occitanus scorpion’s flat trichobothria

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Martinelli, Samuele and Reid, Andrew Baxter and Windmill, James F. C. (2026) 3D-printed airflow hair sensor inspired by the buthus occitanus scorpion’s flat trichobothria. IEEE Sensors Journal, 26 (2). pp. 1428-1435. ISSN 1530-437X (https://doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2025.3635869)

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Abstract

The adult Buthus occitanus scorpion has an interesting hair-like mechanoreceptor (called trichobothrium), which is flat instead of circular and allows great sensitivity for airflow measurements. The aim of this work is to develop a bioinspired artificial hair-like sensor (AHS) with a similar flat hair shaft using 3D printing. The sensor was successfully manufactured using digital light processing (DLP), a technique that allows multiple sensors to be 3Dprinted sensor in one batch, or arrays of them in a singular structure. The sensor is then sputter-coated with platinum to add piezoresistive capabilities and allow the transduction of airflow velocities into voltage levels. The sensor has been characterized to show a sensing range between 6.8 and 22.3 m/s and an average measurement error <1% under the tested conditions. The upper range warrants further study as it was limited by the experimental setup. The sensor can be used for several applications covering robotics, biomedical engineering, and meteorology, and the use of DLP allows for great customization capability.

ORCID iDs

Martinelli, Samuele ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8039-6663, Reid, Andrew Baxter ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0511-4640 and Windmill, James F. C. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4878-349X;
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