Development of Micro Capacitive Inclination Sensor

Recently, there has been increased demand for smaller and higher-performance sensors incorporated in a variety of electronic devices, in order to both upgrade them and save resources. More specifically, there is an increased need for small inclination sensors that have linear analog outputs used to control the positions of mechanical parts. We have focused our attention on the reported capacitive inclination sensors using dielectric oil. These have the advantage of easily providing linear analog outputs with respect to inclination. Because they have no parts that cause friction and wear, it is possible to improve reliability. Although they are commercially available, their electrodes have a much larger size—24 mm diameter and 1.5 mm thickness—than the small acceleration and pressure sensors in practical use.Capacitive inclination sensors using dielectric oil may be used in a wider range of applications if their volumes can be reduced by a factor of several hundred, and if the reduced sensors can achieve almost the same performance as conventional sensors. Because they use liquid to detect inclination, however, finding a solution to the scale effect problem is an important task for miniaturization and development. This paper reports the development of a micro-capacitive inclination sensor.

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