The influence of electric-field bending on the nonlinearity of capacitive sensors

Author

Li, Xiujun ; De Jong, Gerben ; Meijer, Gerard C M

Author_Institution

Fac. of Inf. Technol. & Syst., Delft Univ. of Technol., Netherlands

Volume

49

Issue

2

fYear

2000

fDate

4/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

256

Lastpage

259

Abstract

Three-layered electrode structures are often employed in multiple-electrode capacitive position sensors. Even when advanced algorithms and well-designed guarding electrodes are used, the electric-field-bending effect is still one of the major contributors to the nonlinearity of capacitive position sensors. In this paper, the effects of electric-field bending on linearities of five capacitive linear-position sensors have been studied based on a physical model of the capacitive sensor. It is shown that the effect of electric-field bending on linearities strongly depends on the sensor structures, and that it is significantly reduced when advanced sensor structures and algorithms are used. The results are very useful for optimizing the sensor structure according to its application

Keywords

capacitive sensors; electric fields; electrodes; nonlinear systems; optimisation; capacitive sensors; electric-field bending; guarding electrodes; multiple-electrode capacitive position sensors; nonlinearity; physical model; sensor structure; three-layered electrode structures; Capacitance; Capacitive sensors; Capacitors; Electric variables measurement; Electrodes; Energy consumption; Energy resolution; Linearity; Mechanical sensors; Sensor phenomena and characterization;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/19.843059

Filename

843059