Distant touch hydrodynamic imaging with an artificial lateral line

TLDR

Underwater vehicles rely on sonar and vision, yet these systems suffer blind zones and poor performance in dark or murky waters; fish use a lateral line to image hydrodynamic flow. The authors present a proof‑of‑concept artificial lateral line system designed to enhance human underwater detection, navigation, and survival. The system implements a distributed array of flow sensors that emulate the fish lateral line. The artificial lateral line provides distant touch hydrodynamic imaging, accurately localizing dipole sources and detecting wakes, thereby augmenting sonar and vision.

Abstract

Nearly all underwater vehicles and surface ships today use sonar and vision for imaging and navigation. However, sonar and vision systems face various limitations, e.g., sonar blind zones, dark or murky environments, etc. Evolved over millions of years, fish use the lateral line, a distributed linear array of flow sensing organs, for underwater hydrodynamic imaging and information extraction. We demonstrate here a proof-of-concept artificial lateral line system. It enables a distant touch hydrodynamic imaging capability to critically augment sonar and vision systems. We show that the artificial lateral line can successfully perform dipole source localization and hydrodynamic wake detection. The development of the artificial lateral line is aimed at fundamentally enhancing human ability to detect, navigate, and survive in the underwater environment.