The purpose of this paper is to design and fabricate a three-dimensional (3D) bionic airflow sensing array made of two multi-electrode piezoelectric metal-core fibers (MPMFs), inspired by the structure of a cricket’s highly sensitive airflow receptor (consisting of two cerci).
A metal core was positioned at the center of an MPMF and surrounded by a hollow piezoceramic cylinder. Four thin metal films were spray-coated symmetrically on the surface of the fiber that could be used as two pairs of sensor electrodes.
In 3D space, four output signals of the two MPMFs arrays can form three “8”-shaped spheres. Similarly, the sensing signals for the same airflow are located on a spherical surface.
Two MPMF arrays are sufficient to detect the speed and direction of airflow in all three dimensions.
