According to a study published in Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, taking inspiration from many of our whisker friends like cats, rats and seals (who use their whiskers as a sensory mechanism to detect objects in dark and murky environments) researchers are creating robotic whiskers that would enable vehicles and robots to navigate areas that are difficult to manage. The whiskers in this device, called Whisker Array, are designed to produce tomographic maps by measuring air flow. The device is made out of super-elastic Nitinol wires covered with plastic straws.

The 15-centimeter long whiskers were attached to a carpenter’s level using LEGO plastic bricks and gears. A device used in robotics to control motion called servomotor was used to allow the whiskers to rotate to airflow. The team then used a Conair hair dryer that had a cooling system and two different speed options to test airflow pointed at the Whisker Array. Even though the hair-dryer proved to have weak signal strength as an air-flow source, the Whisker Array was able to capture airflow patterns with high accuracy.

In situations or environments where radar or sonar has difficulty mapping, these robo-whiskers will be a boon. Under water vehicles will be able to use these whiskers to navigate more efficiently in murky waters. These whiskers can also be put to use in the field of biomedical applications as an attachment to a catheter to help navigate through a vein without injuring the tissue. The lead author of the study Cagdus Tuna said: “This shows great potential to be a useful, if unconventional, sensing system.”

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Author:Technology Blog