A Wireless Inductive-Capacitive Resonant Circuit Sensor Array for Force Monitoring

A wireless passive sensor array based on inductive-capacitive (LC) resonant circuits capable of simultaneously tracking two points of force loading is described. The sensor consisted of a planar spiral inductor connected to two capacitors forming a resonant circuit with two resonant frequencies. When a load was applied to one or both of the parallel plate capacitors, the distance between the plates of the capacitor was altered, thus shifting the observed resonant peaks. Testing illustrated that applied loading to a particular capacitor caused a significant shift in one of the resonant peaks and also a smaller shift in another resonant peak. This interdependence resulted from each capacitive element being connected to the same inductive spiral and was accounted for with a developed analysis algorithm. To validate the experimental observation, a circuit simulation was also generated to model the sensor behavior with changing force/displacement. The novelty of this system lies not only in its wireless passive nature, but also in the fact that a single LC sensor was fashioned to detect more than one point simultaneously.