Self-adjusting whisker

Mike Taylor and Blythe Towal
built an artificial whisker follicle.

 

The whisker's length can be adjusted automatically if it is longer or shorter than a predetermined ideal length.

A geared motor drives the whisker in or out via pinch rollers

The "whisker" (steel wire) passes through a fine hole drilled through a plastic beam. When the whisker deflects, the beam deflects too (much less) and the beam's deflection is monitored by strain gauges

Vibrations of the whisker can be used to estimate its length - a longer whisker vibrates at a lower frequency

Click on the image to see a five second .mov movie of the whisker vibrating, and then automatically adjusting to proper length