Development of an electrostatic-induction-type 2-DOF differential displacement sensor using plate electrodes

Abstract

Displacement sensors using coils, such as a differential transformer, are widely used as key components e.g. automobiles, industrial machines, due to its good linearity, high sensitivity and durability. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possibilities of shape alternation of displacement sensor and increasing a degree of freedom using capacitors instead of coils consisting of a differential transformer. We propose a plate-type differential displacement sensor with the degree of freedoms of two. This sensor is developed based on the technology of electrostatic-induction-type differential displacement sensor using cylindrical electrodes. A prototype of this sensor can measure two-dimensional displacement without mutual interference, and the non-linearity errors are less than ±0.7 %.