Microgravity Generation Using Tilting Board for Resolution Evaluation of MEMS Accelerometer

• Published in: Sensors and materials Vol. 30; no. 12; p. 2919
• Main Authors: Takayasu, Motohiro, Tsuji, Ippei, Ito, Hiroyuki, Yamane, Daisuke, Dosho, Shiro, Konishi, Toshifumi, Ishihara, Noboru, Machida, Katsuyuki, Masu, Kazuya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tokyo MYU Scientific Publishing Division 01-01-2018
• Subjects: Acceleration; Accelerometers; Microelectromechanical systems; Microgravity
• ISSN: 0914-4935
• DOI: 10.18494/SAM.2018.1840

We describe microgravity generation and the resolution evaluation results of a sub-1-mG microelectromechanical system (MEMS) accelerometer (1 G = 9.8 m/s2). To realize input acceleration below 1 mG, we show the principle of generating microgravity acceleration by adjusting the tilt angle. The change in acceleration induced by a tilting board is quantitatively analyzed, and the capacitance change of the MEMS accelerometer as a function of tilt angle is measured. The analytical results show that the tilting board has the potential to generate microgravity. The experimental results reveal that the sub-1-mG MEMS accelerometer can realize the detection of sub-1-mG-level acceleration.