Small-scale unmanned air vehicles require lightweight, compact, and low-powersensors that encompass a variety of sensing modalities to enable flight control and
navigation in challenging environments. Flow sensing is one such modality that has
attracted much interest in recent years. Previously reported flow sensors are mostly
fabricated by using the traditional MEMS process and have been primarily used to
measure underwater flows.
The overall goal of this dissertation is to develop novel bio-inspired directional
flow sensors based on additive manufacturing techniques and explore the application
of directional flow sensors for use in micro air vehicles. Three major research
thrusts are pursued. First, a micro-scale artificial hair sensor is developed for twodimensional
directional flow sensing. The sensor structure is fabricated by using
nano-scale 3D printing, which allows high-precision fabrication with good device to
device uniformity. The performance of the sensor is thoroughly studied in deflection
experiments with a probe station and in airflow tests.
The sensor is integrated with a micro air vehicle (MAV) and detection of
flow separation is demonstrated. Second, flow detection on MAVs with a pair of
all elastomer strain sensors is investigated. The soft flow sensors are integrated
with an MVA and the abilities of the sensors for obstacle and gust detection are
demonstrated. Finally, the use of bio-inspired flow sensors on a micro air vehicle for
performing simple control tasks is explored. The experimental results demonstrate
that the sensors are capable of early disturbance warnings and the sensor output
can be used to perform simple navigation tasks, for example, following a wall
