Seal whiskers as sensors, Tow Tank Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

[Airicist]

Home page - web.mit.edu/towtank/www/sealWhiskers.html (http://web.mit.edu/towtank/www/sealWhiskers.html)

Team:

Heather Beem (https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-beem-75345327)

Michael Triantafyllou (https://pr.ai/showthread.php?10885)

[Airicist]

https://youtu.be/FE9U0b2fjOA

Seal-whisker-inspired sensing

Published on Oct 13, 2015


Inspired by the ability of seals to detect flow features and other underwater information through their whiskers, Dr. Heather Beem (PhD ’15) has designed a sensor that could be used by underwater robots to collect data on hydrothermal events or marine life.

"Artificial whisker reveals source of harbor seal’s uncanny prey-sensing ability (http://news.mit.edu/2015/whisker-slaloming-harbor-seal-catch-prey-1016)"
Study finds a whisker’s “slaloming” motion helps seals track and chase prey.

by Jennifer Chu
October 15, 2015