Dual-axes capacitive inclinometer/low-g accelerometer for automotive applications

This paper reports a dual-axes capacitive inclinometer/low-g accelerometer based on a novel feedback operation concept. The device consists of a sensor die and an ASIC, housed in a dual-in-line transfer moulded package for surface mounting. The sensor is fabricated by bulk micromachining of silicon and triple stack anodic bonding and is primarily an accelerometer sensitive to the Earth´s gravitational field. Through the dedicated ASIC, the device can be programmed to operate either as a low-g accelerometer or as an inclinometer. The device is designed to have a programmable range up to /spl plusmn/2 g for the accelerometer and up to /spl plusmn/40/spl deg/ for the inclinometer, and a resolution of 0.61 mg and 0.1/spl deg/, respectively.