Technologies for Smart Sensors and Sensor Fusion

15	Capacitive Sensing for Safety Applications

Thomas Schlegl and Hubert Zangl

CONTENTS

15.1    Introduction: Motivation, Aims, and State of the Art

15.2    Capacitance Measurement

15.2.1    Physics behind Capacitance Measurement

15.2.2    Example Applications

15.2.3    Parasitic Effects in the Open Environment

15.2.4    Shielding and Coupling

15.3    Measurement Circuitries and Modes

15.3.1    Measurement Systems in Example Applications

15.3.2    Different Approach: Electrical Capacitance Tomography

15.4    Proposed Measurement System

15.4.1    Design of the Evaluation Circuitry

15.4.2    Comparison with State-of-the-Art Capacitive Sensors

15.4.3    Measurements for a Highly Reactive Proximity Sensor on a Robot Arm

15.5    Conclusion

Acknowledgment ...