A BIO-INSPIRED ELECTROMECHANICAL SYSTEM: ARTIFICIAL HAIR CELL

Inspired by recent biophysical study on the auditory sensory organs, we study electromechanical system which functions similar to the hair cell of the ear. One of the important mechanisms of hair cells, adaptation, is mimicked by an electromechanical feedback loop. The proposed artificial hair cell functions similar to a living sensory organ in the sense that it senses input force signal in spite of the relatively strong noise. Numerical simulation of the proposed system shows otoacoustic sound emission, which was observed in the experiments on the hair cells of the bullfrog. This spontaneous motion is noise-induced periodic motion which is controlled by the time scale of adaptation process and the mechanical damping.