Characterization of a Low Profile, Rapidly Deployable, MEMS Pressure Sensor Array for Aerodynamic Applications.

2008 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Joshua S. Krause ◽

Robert D. White ◽

Mark J. Moeller ◽

Judith M. Gallman ◽

Richard De Jong

Keyword(s):

Pressure Sensor ◽

Sensor Array ◽

Single Element ◽

Lumped Element ◽

Depth Analysis ◽

Fluid Damping ◽

Sensitivity Studies ◽

Gain Stage ◽

Acoustic Sensitivity

The design, fabrication, and characterization of a surface micromachined, front-vented, 64 channel (8×8), capacitively sensed pressure sensor array is described. The array was fabricated using the MEMSCAP PolyMUMPs® process, a three layer polysilicon surface micromachining process. An acoustic lumped element circuit model was used to design the system. The results of our computations for the design, including mechanical components, environmental loading, fluid damping, and other acoustic elements are detailed. Theory predicts single element sensitivity of 1 mV/Pa at the gain stage output in the 400–40,000 Hz band. A laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) system has been used to map the spatial motion of the elements in response to electrostatic excitation. A strong resonance appears at 480 kHz for electrostatic excitation, in good agreement with mathematical models. Static stiffness measured electrostatically using an interferometer is 0.1 nm/V2, similar to the expected stiffness. Preliminary acoustic sensitivity studies show single element acoustic sensitivity (as a function of frequency) increasing from 0.01 mV/Pa at 200 Hz to 0.16 mV/Pa at 2 kHz. A more in depth analysis of acoustic sensitivity is ongoing.

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Characterization of a surface micromachined pressure sensor array

10.1117/12.221177 ◽

1995 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

William P. Eaton ◽

James H. Smith

Keyword(s):

Pressure Sensor ◽

Sensor Array

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Development of circuit solution and design of capacitive pressure sensor array for applied robotics

Robotics and Technical Cybernetics ◽

10.31776/rtcj.8406 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 296-307

Author(s):

Konstantin Krestovnikov ◽

Aleksei Erashov ◽

Аleksandr Bykov

Keyword(s):

Pressure Sensor ◽

Output Signal ◽

Sensor Array ◽

Applied Pressure ◽

Pressure Sensors ◽

Fine Tuning ◽

Capacitive Pressure Sensor ◽

Cell Parameters ◽

Linear Pattern ◽

Sensor Structure

This paper presents development of pressure sensor array with capacitance-type unit sensors, with scalable number of cells. Different assemblies of unit pressure sensors and their arrays were considered, their characteristics and fabrication methods were investigated. The structure of primary pressure transducer (PPT) array was presented; its operating principle of array was illustrated, calculated reference ratios were derived. The interface circuit, allowing to transform the changes in the primary transducer capacitance into voltage level variations, was proposed. A prototype sensor was implemented; the dependency of output signal power from the applied force was empirically obtained. In the range under 30 N it exhibited a linear pattern. The sensitivity of the array cells to the applied pressure is in the range 134.56..160.35. The measured drift of the output signals from the array cells after 10,000 loading cycles was 1.39%. For developed prototype of the pressure sensor array, based on the experimental data, the average signal-to-noise ratio over the cells was calculated, and equaled 63.47 dB. The proposed prototype was fabricated of easily available materials. It is relatively inexpensive and requires no fine-tuning of each individual cell. Capacitance-type operation type, compared to piezoresistive one, ensures greater stability of the output signal. The scalability and adjustability of cell parameters are achieved with layered sensor structure. The pressure sensor array, presented in this paper, can be utilized in various robotic systems.

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