| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 073100370 | Speed, velocity, or acceleration | 49 |
| 20130025345 | ACCELEROMETER AUTOCALIBRATION IN A MOBILE DEVICE - Methods and apparatus for accelerometer autocalibration in a mobile device are provided. In an example, a signal is received from the accelerometer. A substantially constant state of the signal, such as that caused by a freefall of the accelerometer, is detected. When the signal remains in the substantially constant state for at least a predetermined period of time, the signal's noise level is measured. A compensating signal based upon the measured noise level is determined and can be output to the accelerometer, thus compensating the accelerometer to mitigate the noise level. In examples, the compensating signal can be a reference voltage, a reference frequency, and/or a reference pulse train. In a further example, the compensating is performed only when the noise level of the signal is within a range for at least the predetermined period of time. | 01-31-2013 |
| 20090205401 | Method and apparatus for calibrating wheel speeds - A method and apparatus for calibrating wheel speed signals measured by wheel rpm sensors in a vehicle equipped with at least one longitudinal acceleration sensor integrates the signal of the longitudinal acceleration sensor during the acceleration or deceleration phases of the vehicle, and the resulting vehicle speed signal is compared against the signals of the individual wheel rpm sensors. A determination is made as to whether a deviation that may exist for a wheel lies within a predefined tolerance range. If a deviation falls outside of the tolerance range, the parameterized tire circumference of the associated wheel is adaptively recalibrated until the deviation falls within the tolerance range. | 08-20-2009 |
| 20130036789 | ERROR CORRECTION IN ACCELERATION-SENSING DEVICES - An acceleration-sensing device having error correction includes a stator having at least one conductor affixed to a surface and a proof mass having a first conductor affixed at a first location relative to the at least one conductor affixed to a surface of the stator. The proof mass includes a second conductor affixed at a second location relative to the at least one conductor affixed to a surface of the stator, wherein an excitation signal applied to the first conductor of the proof mass brings about a force on the proof mass in the plane of motion of the proof mass that is substantially equally opposed by a force resulting from an excitation signal applied to the second conductor of the proof mass in the plane of motion of the proof mass. | 02-14-2013 |
| 20100095739 | METHOD FOR ADJUSTING RESONANCE FREQUENCIES OF A VIBRATING MICROELECTROMECHANICAL DEVICE - The present invention relates to a method for adjusting the resonant frequencies of a vibrating microelectromechanical (MEMS) device. In one embodiment, the present invention is a method for adjusting the resonant frequencies of a vibrating mass including the steps of patterning a surface of a device layer of the vibrating mass with a mask, etching the vibrating mass to define a structure of the vibrating mass, determining a first set of resonant frequencies of the vibrating mass, determining a mass removal amount of the vibrating mass and a mass removal location of the vibrating mass to obtain a second set of resonant frequencies of the vibrating mass, removing the mask at the mass removal location, and etching the vibrating mass to remove the mass removal amount of the vibrating mass at the mass removal location of the vibrating mass. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20090056411 | CALIBRATING AN ACCELEROMETER - To calibrate an accelerometer, a seismic cable that carries the accelerometer is rotated. Data measured by the accelerometer as the seismic cable is rotated is received, and at least one calibration parameter according to the received data is computed. The at least one calibration parameter is for use in calibrating the accelerometer. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20090235717 | Sensor Self-Test Transfer Standard - A system, computer program product and method of obtaining a performance parameter associated with a sensor, such as an accelerometer, is provided. The method includes applying an acceleration to the accelerometer and a first frequency to obtain a sensitivity of the accelerometer at the first frequency. A first self-test is performed on the accelerometer. The first self-test includes stimulating the accelerometer with a first self-test stimulation signal encoded with the first frequency, such that the accelerometer outputs a first signal. A self-test equivalent acceleration is then determined based, at least in part, on the first signal and the accelerometer sensitivity at the first frequency. A second self-test is performed on the accelerometer. The second self-test includes stimulating the accelerometer with a second self-test stimulation signal encoded with the second frequency, such that the accelerometer outputs a second signal. A parameter of the accelerometer is determined at the second frequency based, at least in part, on the second signal and the self-test equivalent acceleration. The parameter may be sensitivity of the accelerometer at the second frequency. | 09-24-2009 |
| 20090217733 | Systems and Methods for Calibrating Triaxial Accelerometers - A method for calibrating a multiple-triad triaxial accelerometer is provided. The method may include receiving accelerometer measured output from a first measurement triad and at least one additional measurement triad of the accelerometer. The method may further include aligning the output of a x, y, and z components of the first measurement triad to be substantially orthogonal with respect to each other, aligning the output of x, y, and z components of at least one additional measurement triad to be substantially orthogonal with respect to each other, and rotating the output of at least one measurement triad so the outputs of all measurement triads substantially align with each other. The method may further include storing the result of the alignment and rotation associated with at least one calibration function associated with the multiple-triad triaxial accelerometer. The alignment and rotation may be performed substantially simultaneously. | 09-03-2009 |
| 20100122565 | CONTINUOUS SELFTEST FOR INERTIAL SENSORS AT 0 HZ - A sensor with continuous self test ( | 05-20-2010 |
| 20080236241 | Travel angel detection system for mobile object - In a travel angle detection system for a mobile object having a detector installed in the mobile object to produce angular velocity outputs successively, the detector outputs are read and one output is determined as a provisional calibration value indicative of zero-point. Integrated values of differences between the calibration value and successive outputs and output variation width are calculated. When they are within predetermined permissible ranges, the mobile object is determined to be in static condition and the calibration value is corrected by an average value of the integrated values. The travel angle of the mobile object is detected from the calibrated outputs of the detector, thereby achieving accurate calibration of detector output by enabling accurate determination of the static condition. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20100000289 | MICRO-ELECTRO-MECHANICAL GYROSCOPE WITH OPEN-LOOP READING DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - A micro-electro-mechanical gyroscope includes a first mass, which is able to oscillate along a first axis with respect to a fixed body, an inertial sensor having a second mass constrained to the first mass so as to oscillate along a second axis in response to a rotation of the gyroscope, a driving device coupled to the first mass that forms a control loop for maintaining the first mass in oscillation at a resonance frequency, and a reading device that detects displacements of the second mass along the second axis, which includes a charge amplifier for converting charge packets supplied by the inertial sensor into a charge-integration signal, and a low-pass filter. A calibration stage enables modification of a voltage between the second mass and the fixed body so as to minimize a component at a frequency that is twice the resonance frequency in the charge-integration signal. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100218587 | Self-calibration of scale factor for dual resonator class II coriolis vibratory gyros - The method and apparatus in one embodiment may have: operating one of two resonators of a class II coriolis vibratory gyro in a closed loop mode and another of the two resonators in an open loop whole angle mode; sensing an angular rate by each of the two resonators; calibrating the scale factor of the closed loop resonator to yield the same integrated whole angle as measured by the open loop resonator; reversing operation of the two resonators such that the one of two resonators is operated in an open loop mode and the another of the two resonators in a closed loop whole angle mode; and alternately proceeding between open and closed loop operation of the two resonators, thereby self-calibrating scale factors respectively of the two resonators. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20090277244 | Periodic Rate Sensor Self Test - A periodic test signal ( | 11-12-2009 |
| 20100011834 | ANGULAR VELOCITY DETECTION CIRCUIT, ANGULAR VELOCITY DETECTION APPARATUS, AND FAILURE DETERMINATION SYSTEM - An angular velocity detection circuit is connected to a resonator for making excited vibration on the basis of a drive signal and detects an angular velocity. The angular velocity detection circuit includes: a self-vibration component extraction unit that receives, from the resonator, a detection signal including an angular velocity component based on a Coriolis force and a self-vibration component based on the excited vibration and extracts the self-vibration component from the detection signal; a direct-current conversion unit including an integration unit that integrates an output signal of the self-vibration component extraction unit; and a temperature characteristic compensation unit that compensates for a variation due to a temperature in an output signal of the direct-current conversion unit. | 01-21-2010 |
| 20110072880 | Method and apparatus for supporting accelerometer based controls in a mobile environment - A method of processing signals from an accelerometer/gyroscopic-based input device includes providing the input device within a vehicle. An accelerometer/gyroscopic-based second device is also provided within the vehicle. The input device is manually actuated while the vehicle is in motion. First signals are transmitted from the input device in response to the manually actuating step. Second signals are transmitted from the second device in response to the motion of the vehicle. The first signals are adjusted dependent upon the second signals. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110005296 | SYSTEM FOR MONITORING SENSOR OUTPUTS OF A GAS TURBINE ENGINE - In a system for monitoring an output of a sensor for detecting an operating state of a gas turbine engine by comparing a value of an output of the sensor with a prescribed reference value, a calibration map for converting the output of the sensor into a variable that is normally used for controlling the engine is used for defining the reference value for determining the state of the sensor. Thereby, a fault of a sensor can be detected both accurately and promptly by using the existing resource without unduly complicating the control program. It is particularly desirable to monitor the output of the sensor by taking into account the current operating condition of the engine to improve the reliability in detecting a fault in the sensor. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20120055230 | ANGULAR VELOCITY DETECTION APPARATUS AND ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENT - An angular velocity detection apparatus includes a vibrator that generates a signal that includes an angular velocity component and a vibration leakage component, a driver section that generates the drive signal, and supplies the drive signal to the vibrator, an angular velocity signal generation section that extracts the angular velocity component from the signal generated by the vibrator, and generates an angular velocity signal corresponding to the magnitude of the angular velocity component, a vibration leakage signal generation section that extracts the vibration leakage component from the signal generated by the vibrator, and generates a vibration leakage signal corresponding to the magnitude of the vibration leakage component, and an adder-subtractor section that adds the vibration leakage signal to the angular velocity signal, or subtracts the vibration leakage signal from the angular velocity signal, in a given ratio to correct temperature characteristics of the angular velocity signal. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120118038 | Test system - A testing system tests or calibrates an electronic test subject while rotating the test subject within a thermally controlled chamber. The testing system includes a stationary thermal chamber, a test subject, testing electronics that receive electronic data from the test subject, and a rotating platform inside the thermal chamber to which both the test subject and the testing electronics are mounted. The testing system further includes a platform cover for the rotatable platform that rotates with the rotatable platform, and exposes the test subject to the temperature inside the thermal chamber and insulates the testing electronics from the temperature inside the thermal chamber. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20090133466 | ACCELERATION MEASURING DEVICE - A reference point defined on a two dimensional or three dimensional orthogonal coordinate space and scale reference of respective axes are estimated based on a distribution on the three dimensional orthogonal coordinate space at the time when respective axial components of an acceleration data group comprised of plural acceleration data including multi-axial components and a importance group pertaining to the acceleration data group, and the respective acceleration data are corrected based on the estimated reference point and scale reference of the respective axes. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20110179850 | CALIBRATION METHOD AND OPERATING METHOD FOR A MOTION SENSOR, AND MOTION SENSOR - A calibration method is provided for a motion sensor, in particular a pedometer, a first acceleration signal being measured as a function of an acceleration parallel to a first direction in a first calibration step, a second acceleration signal being measured as a function of an acceleration parallel to a second direction in a second calibration step, and an acceleration vector being ascertained from the angle between the first and the second acceleration signal in a third calibration step, and a phase angle between the acceleration vector and the first direction being determined in a fourth calibration step for determining a calibration signal. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20120125077 | DOWNHOLE INSTRUMENT CALIBRATION DURING FORMATION SURVEY - A downhole sensor calibration apparatus includes a rotational or gimbaling mechanism for guiding a sensing axis of an orientation responsive sensor through a three-dimensional orbit about three orthogonal axes. A method includes using measurements taken over the three-dimensional orbit to calibrate the sensor and determine other characteristics of the sensor or tool. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20110226036 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETERMINING A SIGNAL OFFSET OF A ROLL RATE SENSOR - In order to determine a signal offset (OFS_SIG) of a roll rate sensor in a vehicle ( | 09-22-2011 |
| 073100380 | Acceleration utilizing an inertial element | 28 |
| 20130042664 | Method for the functional checking of an inertial sensor and inertial sensor - A method for providing functional checking of an inertial sensor, a first test signal having a first frequency being fed in at a test electrode of the inertial sensor for exciting a vibration of a vibration mass and a first response signal corresponding to the vibration mass is recorded, a second test signal having a second frequency different from the first frequency being fed in at the test electrode, a second response signal corresponding to the vibration mass being recorded, and the two response signals being evaluated. Also described is an inertial sensor. | 02-21-2013 |
| 20130025346 | LONG-PERIOD VIBRATION SENSOR AND METHOD FOR CORRECTING OUTPUT VALUE OF THE LONG-PERIOD VIBRATION SENSOR - A long-period vibration sensor includes an overdamped accelerometer including a magnet fixed to the inside of a casing, a detection coil disposed between magnetic poles formed due to the magnet, a bobbin configured to hold the detection coil, and a support spring configured to support the bobbin in the casing so that the bobbin can vibrate in a predetermined direction, a voltage being outputted from the detection coil when the bobbin is damped, a plurality of digital filters having different frequency characteristics from one another, a selection module configured to select one digital filter from the plurality of digital filters based on an output value of the voltage outputted from the overdamped accelerometer, and a correction module configured to correct the output value of the voltage outputted from the overdamped accelerometer using the digital filter selected by the selection module. | 01-31-2013 |
| 20120167658 | INERTIAL SENSOR - An inertial sensor includes an oscillator, a drive unit for oscillating the oscillator, a sensor for sensing the amount of inertia applied to the oscillator, and a failure diagnosis unit disposed between the oscillator and the drive unit. The drive unit includes a reference potential supply unit for supplying a reference potential to the oscillator, and a drive signal supply unit for supplying a drive signal to the oscillator based on a monitor signal received from the oscillator. The failure diagnosis unit includes a diagnosis unit for diagnosing a failure based on the value of a current supplied by the reference potential supply unit to the oscillator. The inertial sensor having this structure can detect a failure in the drive unit or the oscillator. | 07-05-2012 |
| 20130081442 | Method of Correcting the Orientation of a Freely Installed Accelerometer in a Vehicle - A vehicle monitoring system includes an accelerometer installed in the vehicle in an unknown orientation. The system infers the orientation of the accelerometer in the vehicle from the acceleration signals. The proposed method detects and corrects the orientation in two steps. In the first step, the gravity vector is used to estimate the orientation in the vertical plane. Then, based on the acceleration data collected during the vehicle movement, the heading of the vehicle is estimated and the orientation within the horizontal plane is corrected. | 04-04-2013 |
| 20130031948 | GYROSCOPIC MEASUREMENT IN A NAVIGATION SYSTEM - A gyroscopic system provides measurements on the basis of a vibrating gyroscope and provides a measurement signal. A periodic control signal is applied to it; in order to rotate the position of vibration, during a half period, according to a first speed profile, from a first up to a second position; and in order to rotate the position of vibration in an opposite direction during the other part of the period, according to a second speed profile, up to a third position. The measurements are based on corrected signals, each of said corrected signals, respectively for each of the vibrating gyroscopes, being obtained by; deducting the control signal from the measurement signal of the vibrating gyroscope; and taking account of errors identified on the basis of a comparison, of the measurements provided by the gyroscopic system as a function of the position of vibration with reference measurements. | 02-07-2013 |
| 20090158811 | Apparatus and method for inspecting sensor module - The present invention provides, as one aspect, an apparatus for inspecting a sensor module including at least one held sensor in a housing having a plurality of outer surfaces. The held sensor detects acceleration or angular velocity. The apparatus includes a holding unit that has an apparatus-side surface and holds the housing in a state where one of the outer surfaces of the housing serving as a housing-side surface contacts the apparatus-side surface, a driving unit that moves the holding unit, a first obtaining unit that, in a state where the housing-side surface contacts the apparatus-side surface, obtains an output from the held sensor, at least one reference sensor that has a detection axis and is provided such that a direction of the detection axis matches a direction of a reference axis of the held sensor, and a second obtaining unit that obtains an output from the reference sensor. | 06-25-2009 |
| 20100071439 | Method of Aligning an Axisymmetric Vibrating Sensor Inertial Navigation System and Corresponding Inertial Navigation System. - The method of aligning an inertial unit having an axially symmetrical vibrating sensor that generates vibration comprises the step of establishing the vibration in a position for which the sensor presents variation in drift error that is the smallest relative to variation in drift error for other positions of the vibration. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20130055787 | CORIOLIS GYROSCOPE HAVING CORRECTION UNITS AND METHOD FOR REDUCING THE QUADRATURE BIAS - A Coriolis gyroscope comprises a mass system that can be excited to perform vibrations parallel to a first axis, whereby a deflection of the mass system due to a Coriolis force along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis is detectable. At least one first correction unit and at least one second correction unit, which each comprise a plurality of stationary correction electrodes and moving correction electrodes whereby the stationary correction electrodes extend in the direction of the first axis and are firmly connected to the substrate by corresponding anchor structures, and the moving correction electrodes are provided as a part of the mass system. A method for reducing the quadrature bias of a Coriolis gyroscope of this type comprises applying at least temporarily constant corrective voltages to the correction units. | 03-07-2013 |
| 20130067984 | LINEARITY ENHANCEMENT OF CAPACITIVE TRANSDUCERS BY AUTO-CALIBRATION USING ON-CHIP NEUTRALIZATION CAPACITORS AND LINEAR ACTUATION - A system and method are disclosed for automatically calibrating capacitive transducers to neutralize feed-through capacitance using linear actuation. The method includes starting with an initial neutralization capacitance, applying no electrostatic force and two known electrostatic forces to a proof mass of the transducer, recording the transducer output changes due to the applied forces; and determining how to revise neutralization capacitance based on the changes. The method can use a binary search to find a final neutralization capacitance providing the best linearity. The method can include comparing the final linearity to a threshold linearity. The electrostatic forces can be applied using a charge control method where the electrostatic force is a linear function of the actuation duration. The linear actuation can be used for continuous self-test of capacitive sensors. | 03-21-2013 |
| 20090013754 | OUTPUT CORRECTION CIRCUIT FOR THREE-AXIS ACCELEROMETER - A sensor unit for a three-axis accelerometer enabling reduction in chip size. The sensor unit is connected to an accelerometer that detects a plurality of acceleration values for a plurality of axis directions. The sensor unit includes a correction value generation circuit that sequentially generates a plurality of correction values for correcting the plurality of acceleration values. A correction circuit is connected to the correction value generation circuit to sequentially correct the plurality of acceleration values with a plurality of correction values and generate a plurality of corrected acceleration values. | 01-15-2009 |
| 20090013755 | Calibration jig and algorithms for accelerometer - The present invention provides a calibration system for accelerometer and the method of using the same. The calibration system includes a hexahedral calibration jig placed on a calibrated platform and a calibration module. The calibration jig includes at least four planes that are arranged in parallel or vertical with each other. The calibration module may be performing three algorithms for calibrating an accelerometer and calculating parameters for coordinate transfer. | 01-15-2009 |
| 20110277532 | Method for calibrating an acceleration sensor and electronic device - A method for calibrating an acceleration sensor includes the following sequential steps: ascertaining acceleration values as a function of three spatial directions; for each of the three spatial directions, generating a comparison value from the acceleration values; comparing each of the comparison values to a first threshold value; calculating a cumulative value as a function of at least one acceleration value for each of the three spatial directions; comparing the cumulative value to a second threshold value; and calibrating the acceleration sensor when, in the third method step, for each of the three spatial directions, the comparison value is less than the threshold value, and when, in the fifth method step, the cumulative value is greater than the further threshold value. | 11-17-2011 |
| 20110167891 | Apparatus and Method for Calibrating MEMS Inertial Sensors - The transduction scale factor for a MEMS gyroscope is calibrated without moving the MEMS device based on measurements of the resonator resonance frequency and the accelerometer resonance frequency as well as a distance value that may be a fixed distance value or a measured distance value. The measured distance value may be obtained by measuring the quality factor of the resonator or accelerometer and deriving the measured distance value from the quality factor measurement. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20100251800 | Robust Self Testing of a Motion Sensor System - A method for self-testing a dual-mass linear accelerometer in which a self-test voltage is applied to urge the two masses to move in opposite directions. Self-test signals are then applied to obtain a differential mode signal to detect masses repositioned in opposing directions. During testing, common disturbances to the two masses are rejected as common mode signals. | 10-07-2010 |
| 20110000275 | System and Method for Testing of Transducers - A transducer test system for testing accelerometers or velocity transducers includes a signal conditioner and a shaker that can be used in a field environment, for example by an avionics technician at an aircraft. A test transducer and a reference transducer, which is a known-good version of the test transducer, are mounted onto the shaker and electrically connected to the signal conditioner. The technician shakes the two transducers simultaneously by manually shaking the shaker. The signal conditioner receives and compares the signals output from the test and reference transducer in order to determine the operating condition of the test transducer. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110146369 | Fail Safe Self Test for Motion Sensor Modules - A short duration test activation signal is applied to the test activation port of a motion sensor module and the test activation status port observed with an error flag being set if a corresponding signal does not appear at the test activation status port within a predetermined time period. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20100192662 | METHOD FOR CALIBRATING AN ACCELEROMETER OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE, AN ACCELEROMETER, AND AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE HAVING AN ACCELEROMETER WITH IMPROVED CALIBRATION FEATURES - An accelerometer with improved calibration features, an electronic device having an accelerometer with improved calibration features, and a method of calibrating an accelerometer of an electronic device are provided. In accordance with one embodiment, there is method of calibrating an accelerometer of an electronic device, the accelerometer having at least a primary sensing axis and a secondary sensing axis, the second sensing axis being oriented parallel to the primary sensing axis and in the opposite direction of the primary sensing axis, the method comprising: measuring acceleration calibration data using the primary sensing axis and the secondary sensing axis of the accelerometer; determining calibration parameters in accordance with measured calibration data from the accelerometer; and storing the calibration parameters in a memory of the electronic device. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100116020 | WIDE-BAND ACCELEROMETER SELF-RECOGNISING ITS CALIBRATION - A wide-band, single-axis or multiple-axis accelerometer or acceleration-measuring sensor, self-recognising its calibration is described, comprising at least one accelerometric detecting unit, such group being composed of at least two accelerometric transducers adapted to read, in a parallel way, different frequency bands, at least one electronic circuit for conditioning and digitising signals coming from the accelerometric detecting unit and at least one microprocessor adapted to read the signals through the conditioning and digitising electronic circuit and to recombine them for every measuring axis into at least one global output signal. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20090293583 | Self-calibrating laser semiconductor accelerometer - A self-calibrating laser accelerometer system that continuously removes bias errors from acceleration measurements under dynamic operating conditions has a frame with a pair of essentially identical mass modulated accelerometers positioned within the frame. Each accelerometer includes a proof mass mounted to the sensing element frame by a flexure suspension. The proof mass is arranged to rotate about an output axis in response to acceleration of the sensing element frame along an input axis. The first proof mass includes a secondary mass that is movable between a first stable position on a first side of the output axis and a second stable position on a second side of the output axis to provide mass modulation of the first proof mass and to provide a selectively reversible polarity to the input axis and to provide self-calibration of bias. | 12-03-2009 |
| 20120036915 | SENSOR SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CALIBRATING A SENSOR SYSTEM - A sensor system having a substrate and a mass which is movably suspended relative to the substrate is described, the sensor system including detection arrangement for detecting a deflection of the seismic mass relative to the substrate along a deflection direction, the detection arrangement including a first measuring electrode affixed to the substrate and a second measuring electrode affixed to the substrate, and a first overlap, which is perpendicular to the deflection direction, between the first measuring electrode and the seismic mass along the deflection direction is greater than a second overlap, which is perpendicular to the deflection direction, between the second measuring electrode and the seismic mass. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20100199744 | Method and Apparatus Of Improving Accuracy Of Accelerometer - A method and apparatus for calibrating or adjusting an accelerometer, wherein the accelerometer is held stationary to obtain the signal outputs from the accelerometer, representing component vectors making up the composite vector of 1 | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100011835 | ERROR-CORRECTION METHOD AND ERROR-CORRECTION DEVICE FOR AN ACCELERATION SENSOR - An error-correction method for an acceleration sensor having a plurality of electrodes and a seismic mass. The error-correction method which makes it possible to correct systematic errors at low expense includes the following steps: applying a voltage in order to deflect the seismic mass; measuring a first current caused by the deflection of the seismic mass; measuring a second current caused by the deflection of the seismic mass; and determining a correction variable on the basis of the first current and the second current. | 01-21-2010 |
| 20100326166 | METHOD OF CORRECTING THE GAIN OF A CAPACITIVE MEMBER, AND A DEVICE FOR IMPLEMENTING THE METHOD - A method of correcting the gain of a capacitive member having electrodes that are movable relative to each other including the steps of successively applying to one of the electrodes, reduced bias voltages having opposite signs and a common value below a threshold for which a remanent field generated by said reduced bias voltages can be measured, making corresponding measurements of the output signals from the capacitive member; taking an average, and correcting the gain of the capacitive member as a function of the measured output signal. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20110120208 | Method for adjusting an acceleration sensor, and acceleration sensor - A method for adjusting an acceleration sensor which includes a substrate and a seismic mass, the acceleration sensor having first and further first electrodes attached to the substrate on a first side, counter-electrodes of the seismic mass being situated between the first and further first electrodes, the acceleration sensor having further second electrodes on a second side and further fourth electrodes on a fourth side opposite the second side, an essentially equal first excitation voltage being applied to the first and further first electrodes in a first step for exciting a first deflection of the seismic mass along a first direction, the first deflection being compensated in a second step by applying a first compensation voltage to the further second and further fourth electrodes. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20120272711 | ADJUSTING A MEMS GYROSCOPE TO REDUCE THERMALLY VARYING BIAS - A method for calibrating a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) vibrating structure gyroscope is provided. The method includes obtaining an indication of a position of at least one proof mass with respect to at least one drive electrode and applying an electrostatic force to the at least one proof mass as a function of the indication, the electrostatic force configured to position the at least one proof mass in a first position with respect to at least one drive electrode. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20080236242 | Self-calibrating accelerometer - The method and apparatus in one embodiment may have: a sensing element for an accelerometer having a bias, the sensing element having a rectangular plate supported by flexures which allow rotation about a transverse center line thereof; a center of mass (CG) of the sensing element having two stable positions, one on each side of an axis of rotation defined by a centerline of suspension; a secondary mass within a proofmass translates in-plane to move the center of mass to thereby effect a self-calibration mechanization that continuously measures and nulls the accelerometer's bias under dynamic operating conditions. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080223107 | Self-calibration of scale factor for dual resonator class II coriolis vibratory gyros - The method and apparatus in one embodiment may have: operating one of two resonators of a class II coriolis vibratory gyro in a closed loop mode and another of the two resonators in an open loop whole angle mode; sensing an angular rate by each of the two resonators; calibrating the scale factor of the closed loop resonator to yield the same integrated whole angle as measured by the open loop resonator; reversing operation of the two resonators such that the one of two resonators is operated in an open loop mode and the another of the two resonators in a closed loop whole angle mode; and alternately proceeding between open and closed loop operation of the two resonators, thereby self-calibrating scale factors respectively of the two resonators. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20130133396 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR QUADRATURE ERROR COMPENSATION - The present invention concerns an MEMS sensor and a method for compensation of a quadrature error on an MEMS sensor, which is intended for detection of movements of a substrate, especially accelerations and/or rotation rates. At least one mass arranged on the substrate and mounted to move relative to it is driven by means of drive electrodes. The mass/es execute a movement deviating from the prescribed movement due to a quadrature error. A deflection of the mass/es occurring due to Coriolis force and quadrature error is detected with detection electrodes. It is proposed according to the invention that a capacitance change be detected as a function of drive movement of the mass/es by means of compensation electrodes. A compensation charge dependent on the quadrature error of the MEMS sensor is generated on the compensation electrodes. For compensation, the distorted or incorrect charge generated by the quadrature error in the detection electrodes is compensated with the compensation charge. | 05-30-2013 |
