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A planar capacitive sensor for 2D long-range displacement measurement

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Abstract

A planar capacitive sensor (PCS) capable of 2D large-scale measurement is presented in this paper. Displacement interpretation depends on independently measuring the periodic variation in capacitance caused by the change in the overlapping area of sensing electrodes on a moving plate and a fixed plate. By accumulating the number of quarters in each direction and the specific position in the final quarter, the large-scale measurement is fulfilled. Displacements in X- and Y-direction can be measured independently and simultaneously. Simulation shows that a shorter gap distance and a longer electrode guarantee better sensitivity. Experiments based on a PCS test bench demonstrate that the PCS has a sensitivity of 0.198 mV/μm and a resolution of 0.308 μm. An electric fringe effect and other possible measurement errors on displacement interpretation accuracy are discussed. The study confirms the high potential of PCSs as innovative 2D long-range displacement sensors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Jian-ping Yu, De-qing Mei & Zi-chen Chen

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou, 310018, China

    Wen Wang & Ke-qing Lu

Authors
  1. Jian-ping Yu
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  2. Wen Wang
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  3. Ke-qing Lu
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  4. De-qing Mei
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  5. Zi-chen Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wen Wang.

Additional information

Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51275465), the National Basic Research Program (973) of China (No. 2011CB013300), and the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, Ministry of Education, China (No. [2011]1568)

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Yu, Jp., Wang, W., Lu, Kq. et al. A planar capacitive sensor for 2D long-range displacement measurement. J. Zhejiang Univ. - Sci. C 14, 252–257 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.C12MNT03

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.C12MNT03

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