Abstract
This paper presents a robust displacement sensor with nanometre-scale resolution over a micrometre range. It is composed of low cost commercially available slotted photo-microsensors (SPMs). The displacement sensor is designed with a particular arrangement of a compact array of SPMs with specially designed shutter assembly and signal processing to significantly reduce sensitivity to ambient light, input voltage variation, circuit electronics drift, etc. The sensor principle and the characterisation results are described in this paper. The proposed prototype sensor has a linear measurement range of 20μm and resolution of 21nm. This kind of sensor has several potential applications, including mechanical structural deformation monitoring system.
Highlights
This paper presents a robust displacement sensor with nanometre-scale resolution over a micrometre range
The triangulation based optical displacement sensor operation is dependent upon the surface texture of the target [20] and the sensor head is relatively large compared to other systems due to the integrated electronics and optical detector
This paper describes the development and characterisation of a new displacement sensor head, which utilises commercially available and inexpensive (USD 0.71 each) infrared (IR) transmissive sensors, known as slotted photo-microsensors (SPMs) or photo-interrupters
Summary
Displacement is one of the fundamental variables which are required to be measured, indicated, transmitted or controlled in many industries or scientific fields for various applications. Compared to other sensor technologies, laser interferometers and optical linear encoders provide a good solution in terms of nanometre resolution over longer distances such as a few metres of range Their price, complexity of installation, alignment and relatively large space requirement for operation can be prohibitive in many applications [19]. The triangulation based optical displacement sensor operation is dependent upon the surface texture (energy reflectance characteristics of surfaces being examined) of the target [20] and the sensor head is relatively large compared to other systems due to the integrated electronics and optical detector They have been found to have significant issues of self-heating, requiring periods of tens of minutes to achieve thermal equilibrium. Temperature compensation is required for pure displacement measurement applications, increasing complexity of the system [26]
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