A Bioinspired Flexible Vibration Sensor With Actively Tunable Resonance for Frequency Discrimination

ABSTRACT

Flexible vibration sensors are widely used in structural health monitoring, human‐machine interfaces, and biomedical diagnostics. However, conventional sensing devices operate at a fixed resonance frequency with limited bandwidth, restricting reliable frequency recognition in dynamic environments. Here, we present a bioinspired vibration sensor that overcomes this limitation through active resonance modulation, mimicking the stiffness‐graded rib‐membrane mechanics of the cicada tympanum. Specifically, by spatially programming the cross‐linking density of polydimethylsiloxane, we construct a stiffness‐graded wavy architecture, integrated with a stabilized Ag‐graphene conductive network that functions via a controlled microcrack design. It is shown that mechanical pre‐stretching of the sensor actively tunes its resonant frequency from 22.3 to 55.0 Hz, governed by the transition from wrinkle unfolding to sensor membrane stretching. Remarkably, from 0 to 55 Hz, the extracted frequency shows high linearity (R ² = 0.9992) with a relative error below 0.5%, while maintaining stable performance over 10 000 loading cycles. The bioinspired sensor demonstrates preliminary monitoring of laryngeal activities (vomiting, swallowing, and breathing) and frequency vibration response analysis on a bridge model. This work provides a practical strategy for frequency tunable flexible sensing and supports applications in health monitoring and engineering safety.