Reliable Underwater Object Identification in Three-Dimensional Space by an Optimally Designed Artificial Lateral Line System

The lateral line system is a flow-sensing organ in aquatic vertebrates which provides short-distance sensing ability for localization and tracking of moving objects. This ability has inspired the development of artificial lateral lines (ALL), which consist of multiple flow sensors mounted on underwater robots or vehicles. By measuring and analyzing local flows at the sensors, an ALL may localize and track underwater moving objects. There are several studies on object detection, localization and tracking with an ALL, but only a few have investigated the optimal design of the ALL in order to maximize accuracy of detection. Optimal design is particularly important because the presence of uncertainties in the employed flow model and in sensor Notice This is the preprint version of the published paper [1] in “Bioinspiration & Biomimetics”. Some major revisions were performed in the subsequent stages. Please use the published version for citation, which is available at https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-3190/aa69a4 [1] Ahrari, A., Lei, H., Sharif, M. A., Deb, K., Tan, X. (2017) Reliable underwater dipole source characterization in three-dimensional space by an optimally designed artificial lateral line system, Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, in press