A Dielectric Elastomer-Based Multimodal Capacitive Sensor

Dielectric elastomer (DE) sensors have been widely used in a wide variety of applications, such as in robotic hands, wearable sensors, rehabilitation devices, etc. A unique dielectric elastomer-based multimodal capacitive sensor has been developed to quantify the pressure and the location of any touch simultaneously. This multimodal sensor is a soft, flexible, and stretchable dielectric elastomer (DE) capacitive pressure mat that is composed of a multi-layer soft and stretchy DE sensor. The top layer measures the applied pressure, while the underlying sensor array enables location identification. The sensor is placed on a passive elastomeric substrate in order to increase deformation and optimize the sensor’s sensitivity. This DE multimodal capacitive sensor, with pressure and localization capability, paves the way for further development with potential applications in bio-mechatronics technology and other humanoid devices. The sensor design could be useful for robotic and other applications, such as fruit picking or as a bio-instrument for the diabetic insole.

Impact of X-ray induced radiation damage on FD-MAPS of the ARCADIA project

Recent advancements in Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) demonstrated the ability to operate in high radiation environments of up to multiple kGy’s, which increased their appeal as sensors for high-energy physics detectors. The most recent example in such application is the new ALICE inner tracking system, entirely instrumented with CMOS MAPS, that covers an area of about 10 m2. However, the full potential of such devices has not yet been fully exploited, especially in respect of the size of the active area, power consumption, and timing capabilities. The ARCADIA project is developing Fully Depleted (FD) MAPS with an innovative sensor design, that uses a proprietary processing of the backside to improve the charge collection efficiency and timing over a wide range of operational and environmental conditions. The innovative sensor design targets very low power consumption, of the order of 20 mW cm−2 at 100 MHz cm−2 hit flux, to enable air-cooled operations of the sensors. Another key design parameter is the ability to further reduce the power regime of the sensor, down to 5 mW cm−2 or better, for low hit rates like e.g. expected in space experiments. In this contribution, we present a comparison between the detector characteristics predicted with Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) simulations and the ones measured experimentally. The comparison focuses on the current-voltage (IV) and capacitance-voltage (CV) characteristics, as well as noise estimated from in-pixel capacitances of passive/active pixel matrices. In view of the targeted applications of this technology, an emphasis is set on the modeling of X-ray induced radiation damage at the Si-SiO2 interface and the impact on the in-pixel sensor capacitance. The so-called new Perugia model has been used in the simulations to predict the sensor performance after total ionizing doses of up to 10 Mrad.

Electronic Sensor Design Principles

Get up to speed with the fundamentals of electronic sensor design with this comprehensive guide, and discover powerful techniques to reduce the overall design timeline for your specific applications. Includes a step-by-step introduction to a generalized information-centric approach for designing electronic sensors, demonstrating universally applicable practical approaches to speed up the design process. Features detailed coverage of all the tools necessary for effective characterization and organization of the design process, improving overall process efficiency. Provides a coherent and rigorous theoretical framework for understanding the fundamentals of sensor design, to encourage an intuitive understanding of sensor design requirements. Emphasising an integrated interdisciplinary approach throughout, this is an essential tool for professional engineers and graduate students keen to improve their understanding of cutting-edge electronic sensor design.

The on-line detection technology of oil level in main transformer conservator of an 110kV Substation

The oil level of transformer conservator is related to the safe operation of transformer. There is no better way to detect the oil level of the conservator, when the indication of the oil level gauge is unclear or the jam fault. Through the selection of ultrasonic sensor, design of measurement and verification device and field practice, this paper studies and develops an on-line detection technology based on the ultrasonic principle, which can effectively and accurately detect the oil level of existing conservator types such as diaphragm, capsule and corrugated conservator, and is not limited by the detection environment.