A Novel Micro-cantilever Based Angular Speed Sensor Controlled Piezoelectrically and Tuned by Electrostatic Actuators

Abstract

In this paper a novel sensor is proposed to measure rotational shafts speed. The sensor is composed of a micro-cantilever, with a piezoelectric actuator layer on the upper surface and a sensor layer on the lower surface. The sensor is attached to the shaft while the deflection of the micro-cantilever, due to centrifugal force of the rotating shaft, is actively controlled. Therefore the sensor deflection is suppressed and the controller output or the piezoelectric actuating voltage is employed to measure the angular speed of the shaft (Force balance technique). The micro-cantilever is symmetrically located between two electrodes giving it a wider operating range and also increasing its sensitivity. Imposing different electrostatic bias voltages alters the equivalent stiffness of the structure and consequently affects the micro-beam deflections and the controller outputs. Simulation results reveal that for lower velocities the resolution increases by increasing the bias voltages. It is shown that decreasing the micro-beam length increases the measurable velocity range and conversely decreasing the electrodes gap decreases the maximum measurable speed.