Described herein is a sensor including a sensing electrode structure and a motion-responsive structure in capacitive communication with the sensing electrode structure, the sensing electrode structure and the motion-responsive structure being separated by a first dielectric layer, the motion-responsive structure comprising a liquid metal mass within a matrix in which the liquid metal mass is movable based upon movement of the sensor, and the sensing electrode structure comprising a first electrode, and a second electrode spaced from the first electrode to form a capacitor.

An analog floating-gate (AFG) inclinometer where a plurality of AFG sensors are provided to detect the presence of a discharge caused by settling of a conductive liquid droplet contained in a sealed microchannel under gravity. A plurality of sensor port electrodes associated with the AFG sensors are placed along the length of a curved sealed microchannel of the inclinometer at specific positions calibrated to corresponding angular inclinations. Discharge detected at a specific AFG sensor port during measurement due to the movement of the conductive liquid droplet under gravity is used in determining a surface inclination being measured.

The present invention discloses an electronic circuit for acousto-optoelectronic angle indication and a level gauge thereof. The electronic circuit for acousto-optoelectronic angle indication comprises a main control circuit (a), a power circuit (b), a key circuit (c), a sensor module circuit (d), an LED indicator module circuit (e), a buzzer module circuit (f) and a data storage module (g). The control circuit (a) comprises a microcontroller (U2), a capacitor (C2), a capacitor (C3), a capacitor (C4), a capacitor (C5), a capacitor (C6), a capacitor (C8), an electrolytic capacitor (E1), a resistor (R11), a resistor (R12) and a resistor (R20). The invention realizes an acousto-optoelectronically indicated design circuit device with high precision, so that the current angular value state can be accurately displayed through acoustic and photoelectric changes by simply placing a measuring device on a test plane.

Inclinometers with a parallel dipole line (PDL) trap system are provided. In one aspect, an inclinometer includes: a PDL trap having a pair of dipole line magnets, a transparent tube in between the dipole line magnets, and a diamagnetic object within the transparent tube, wherein the diamagnetic object is levitating in between the dipole line magnets; and a sensing system for determining a position z of the diamagnetic object in the PDL trap and for determining an inclination angle using the position z of the diamagnetic object in the PDL trap. Techniques to detect the diamagnetic object position using optical, capacitive and manual methods are described. A method for determining an inclination angle using the present inclinometers is also provided.

A method for measuring a dip angle of oppositely crossly placed paired quartered ring-quartered circle nested polar plates. An annular coplanar capacitance measuring head of a sensor unit consists of four quarter round metal plates and four quarter circular-ring-shaped metal plates, the eight metal plates are coplanar and concentric with one another, and a quarter round metal plate and a quarter circular-ring-shaped metal plate corresponding to the same sector angle form a capacitor. Two annular coplanar capacitance measuring heads are arranged on two round insulating substrates, the two round insulating substrates are used as two bottom surfaces of a cylindrical container, the cylindrical container is transversely arranged, and an insulating liquid equal to volume of the cylindrical container is injected into the cylindrical container in a sealing manner. Potential leads extract potentials of the sixteen metal plates and are connected to an input end of a capacitance measuring unit, and the capacitance measuring unit is connected to a dip measuring unit. When the cylindrical container tilts, the relative positions of the two annular coplanar capacitance measuring heads and the insulating liquid are changed, and a dip angle value can be calculated by measuring the change of a capacitance value. Also disclosed is a device for measuring a dip angle of oppositely crossly placed paired quartered ring-quartered circle nested polar plates.

A capacitance module may include a substrate, a set of electrodes formed on the substrate where a first generally linear electrode of the set may be aligned with a second generally linear electrode of the set; a controller in communication with the set of electrodes; and memory having programmed instructions configured to cause the controller, when executed, to measure a change in capacitance; and determine a tilt of an object in proximity to the substrate based, in part, on the measured change in capacitance.