Mechano-Sensor for Proprioception Inspired by Ultrasensitive Slit-Based Mechanosensilla

Internal mechanosensors, as the core component of a proprioceptive system, provide vital mechanical information from intelligent devices for adaptive motor control, mechanical fault diagnosis, and machining condition monitoring. However, developing a sophisticated mechanosensory structure that can be widely used is highly desirable to significantly improve the detection performance of internal mechanosensors. Coincidentally, in nature, optimized microscale slits of arachnids (e.g., scorpions and spiders) are ingeniously used as a mechanosensory structure for internal mechanosensilla to efficiently detect the inevitable internal mechanical feedbacks caused by self-motion and external mechanical stimuli. Biological slit-based mechano-sensilla provide an attractive bio-inspired strategy to use the controllable slit as the sensory structure to improve the perceptual performance of internal mechanosensors. In this study, the structure-deformation-performance coupling relationship of slit-based mechano-sensilla is explored through experiment and theoretical analysis. An artificial slit-based mechanosensor is developed by mimicking the combined deformation properties of the slit and the ultrathin cuticular membrane covering the slit tail. This bio-inspired mechanosensor shows excellent performance in terms of mechanical stability, response time, and sensitivity to mechanical signals. The research on a practical application highlights the importance of the unique basic “design” principles of the slit-based mechano-sensilla in improving the proprioceptive capability of smart engineering devices.