Hydromast: A Bioinspired Flow Sensor with Accelerometers

Fish have developed advanced hydrodynamic sensing capabilities using neuromasts, a series of collocated inertial sensors distributed over their body. We have developed the hydromast, an upscaled version of this sensing modality in order to facilitate near bed sensing for aquatic systems. Here we introduce the concept behind this bioinspired flow sensing device as well as the first results from laboratory investigations.