Analog VLSI system for active drag reduction

Abstract

Drawing inspiration from the structure of shark skin, the authors are building a system to reduce drag along a surface. The entire question of active control of shark skin is speculative. Biologists hypothesize that sharks actively move their denticles. Indirect evidence of this is twofold. The denticles connect to muscles underneath the shark's skin. The total number of mechanoreceptive pressure sensors (pit organs) and their placement on a shark's body positively correlate with the speed of the species. For good active control, the shark may need many sensors to relay the current condition over its body. Although questions remain about sharks using active control, we concluded from this biological example that it may be beneficial to use controlled microscopic structures to reduce drag.