Towards a MEMS Force Sensor via the Electromagnetic Principle

Abstract

Force measurement is a science discipline that experiences significant progress with the introduction of new materials and evaluation methods. Many different sensor types, working on different principles, have been developed and reviewed and have found use in medicine as well as many other industries. New trends and demands require a size reduction and simple applicability, with the use of, for example, micro electromechanical systems (MEMS). For purposes of this study, the initial MEMS body is supplemented by its scaled version. Force measurement in this study works on the force to time-delay conversion principle. A compact compliant mechanical body (CCMB) with an embedded parallel resonant circuit (PRC) acting as a transducer realizes the conversion. Depending on the resonant frequency of the transducer (CCMB or MEMS), we have measured the applied force based on the reverse influence of the transducer on the surrounding EM field. The analysis shows that the transducer’s resonant frequency has a detectable reverse influence on the voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) DC supply current. The force influencing the transducer is determined by the DC supply current ripple position during the VCO frequency sweep. The study presents the method proposal and mathematical analysis, as well as its function verification by simulation and prototype measurements. The proposed principle was validated on a CCMB prototype capable of measuring forces up to ∼2.5 N at a sampling frequency of ∼23 kHz, while the measured time-delay ranges from 14.5 µs to 27.4 µs.

Unraveling the nature of sensing in electrostatic MEMS gas sensors

“…This is attributed to their small size, lightweight, high accuracy, portability, affordability, and their real-time operational capability 1 . Consequently, they found widespread adoption in a multitude of applications, such as pressure sensors 2 , temperature sensors 3 , force sensors 4 , accelerometers 5 , gyroscopes 6 , and gas sensors 7 – 15 .…”

Unraveling the Nature of Sensing in Electrostatic MEMS Gas Sensors

“…This is attributed to their small size, lightweight, high accuracy, portability, affordability, and their real-time operational capability [1]. Consequently, they found widespread adoption in a multitude of applications, such as pressure sensors [2], temperature sensors [3], force sensors [4], accelerometers [5], gyroscopes [6], and gas sensors [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].…”

Autoencoders Based on 2D Convolution Implemented for Reconstruction Point Clouds from Line Laser Sensors

“…Such applications can be seen primarily in connection with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) [ 1 , 2 ], unmanned ground vehicles (UGV) [ 3 , 4 ], autonomous vehicles [ 5 ], or with household devices, such as robotic vacuum cleaners and the like [ 6 ]. At the same time, sensors for sensing physical quantities are being developed for industrial applications [ 7 , 8 ], which show the increasingly significant direction of development and the physical possibilities of the future development of various types of sensors including new body materials [ 9 , 10 ]. In the field of industry, not only point and line lasers are used for measurement and inspection systems.…”

“…The second way is through the detection of anomalies by methods such as autoencoders, U-networks, visual transformers, and the like included in the area of unsupervised learning. Based on works [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ], this is suitable for the initial identification of anomalies and the application of unsupervised learning methods in the first step. The field of visual data is relatively well processed and verified for the field of autoencoders.…”