A new bioinspired method for pressure and flow sensing based on the underwater air-retaining surface of the backswimmer Notonecta

• Matthias Mail,
• Adrian Klein,
• Horst Bleckmann,
• Anke Schmitz,
• Torsten Scherer,
• Peter T. Rühr,
• Goran Lovric,
• Robin Fröhlingsdorf,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Wilhelm Barthlott

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 3039–3047, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.282

• . Keywords: mechanoreceptor; Notonecta sensor; pressure sensor; Salvinia effect; superhydrophobic surfaces; Introduction The surfaces of animals and plants are interfaces between the organisms and the environment. Since animals and plants inhabit many different environments, it is not surprising that over

• experiments. Although highly complex and elaborated sensory systems are well known in biology, a sensory system based on a submerged air-retaining surface has – with a single exception [16] – never been suggested before. The functionality of the suggested Notonecta sensor principle has been shown by a

• with the program VidAna 2.01. Biomimetic proof of principle In order to prove the functional principle of the Notonecta sensor, a technical air-retaining surface, comparable with the one previously described by Gandyra [23], was placed in a 30 × 20 × 25 cm3 experimental tank at a water depth of about