The Static and Dynamic Sensitivity of Magnetostrictive Bioinspired Whisker Sensor

Abstract

Magnetostrictive bioinspired whisker is a new kind of sensor that can realize tactile and flow sensing by utilizing magnetoelastic effect. The sensitivity is a key technical indicator of whisker sensor. The paper presented a new magnetostrictive whisker based on Galfenol cantilever beam, as well as its operation principle. Then, the static and dynamic sensitivity of the whisker sensor was investigated by using a self-made experimental system. The results illustrated that the proposed sensor has a high sensitivity. Its static sensitivity is 2.2 mV/mN. However, its dynamic sensitivity depends on the vibration frequency. When working at the natural frequency of the cantilever beam, the dynamic sensitivity performs an obvious increase—1.3 mV/mN at 3.5 Hz (the first-order natural frequency) and 2.1 mV/mN at 40 Hz (the second-order natural frequency), respectively.