Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method (100) in particular for checking a mechanical stress acting on an inductive component (210). The method (100) comprises sensing (110) one or more measured quantities dependent on the mechanical stress when an electrical excitation signal is applied to the inductive component (210). Further, the method (100) comprises determining (120) the mechanical stress acting on the inductive component (210) based on the one or more sensed measured quantities.

In an embodiment, an apparatus is disclosed that comprises a plurality of resistors arranged as a reverse bridge and configured to convert an input voltage to a scaled output voltage. The scaled output voltage is scaled to a target format based at least in part on a range of the input voltage and a fixed value of the plurality of resistors. The input voltage is generated based at least in part on at least one signal generated by a sensor based at least in part on a measurement of a property of a measurement target. At least one of the plurality of resistors has a resistance value of R and at least another of the plurality of resistors has a resistance value of R plus or minus ΔR.

In a Force/Torque sensor employing strain gages, a hardware temperature compensation procedure substantially eliminates thermal drift of a plurality of load-sensing strain gages with changes in temperature, using trimming resistors and a single, unstressed strain gage. The strain gages are connected in a quarter-bridge configuration, in multiple parallel stages. An unstressed strain gage in quarter-bridge configuration is connected in parallel. Trimming resistors are added across one or more of the unstressed and load-sensing strain gages in a compensation procedure that substantially eliminates thermal drift of the load-sensing strain gages over a predefined temperature range.

A method for cleaning a receptor layer of a surface stress sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention includes, in a surface stress sensor that detects a change in surface stress of a thin film, the change being caused by a receptor layer disposed on a surface of the thin film, causing at least a part of a surface region of the thin film to generate heat or supplying heat to the receptor layer from the outside of the surface stress sensor. This makes it possible to easily perform efficient cleaning of a surface stress sensor such as a sensor that performs detection using a piezoresistor while avoiding structural complications as much as possible.

A control apparatus controls an array-type sensor. The control apparatus includes: a first selector/driver that is configured to select and drive one of a plurality of first lines; a second selector/driver that is configured to select and drive at least one of a plurality of second lines; a read/arithmetic circuit that is configured to read outputs of respective unit cells and perform a correction operation on the outputs; and a nonvolatile storage device that is configured to store reference data. The sensor outputs of the respective unit cells with respect to two or more reference inputs are stored as reference data in the nonvolatile storage device in a calibration mode, and a correction operation is performed on the sensor outputs of the respective unit cells using the stored reference data and results of the correction operation are output in a measurement mode.

A load sensor element includes a substrate made of a ceramic material; an inorganic layer having a surface configured to receive a load, the inorganic layer covers a portion of the substrate; a thin-layer resistance body whose resistance value changes in accordance with the load received by the inorganic layer, the thin-layer resistance body having a main body portion and a pair of end portions, the main body portion mounted on the covered portion of the substrate and sandwiched between the substrate and the inorganic layer, the pair of end portions mounted on an exposed portion of the substrate, and the exposed portion free of the inorganic layer; and a pair of electrodes electrically connected to the pair of end portions of the thin-layer resistance body and separated away from the inorganic layer and on one side of the substrate.

Provided is a temperature-pressure complex sensor with an anti-radiation property including a first sensing material which is a porous conductive film, and second sensing materials which are dispersedly disposed on a surface of the first sensing material. The second sensing materials may include a conductive structure having a two-dimensional crystal structure, and nanoparticles having a radiation shielding property which are disposed between crystal layers of the conductive structure.

A force sensor, flexible sensing element, and method for the force sensor are disclosed. The force sensor uses a flexible sense element with two flexible arms dedicated to measuring strain related to a pitch force and two flexible arms dedicated to measuring strain related to roll force. The use of two channels for each measurement provides a command lane and a monitor lane for strain measurements. Strain gauges are disposed on both the top and the bottom surfaces of each arm, thus providing two completely redundant systems. When a failure is detected in one of the systems, the redundant system can be implemented.

In an embodiment, an apparatus is disclosed that includes a plurality of resistors arranged as a reverse bridge and configured to convert an input voltage to a scaled output voltage. The scaled output voltage is scaled to a target format based at least in part on a range of the input voltage and a fixed value of the plurality of resistors. The input voltage is generated based at least in part on at least one signal generated by a sensor based at least in part on a measurement of a property of a measurement target.

The present disclosure provides digital to analog conversion circuitry comprising: a set of input nodes for receiving a digital input code; an output node for outputting an analog output signal representative of the input code; and a plurality of selectable conversion elements, wherein a parameter of each of the plurality of selectable conversion elements is configured such that a transfer function between the input code and the output analog signal is non-monotonic.