A batteryless, chipless, sensor is disclosed which includes a substrate, at least two conductive strips disposed on the substrate, a passivation layer encasing the substrate and the at least two conductive strips, wherein the conductive strips are adapted to respond to an interrogation signal from a reader having a first polarization, with a response signal at a second polarization different than the first polarization.

A vehicle window, includes at least one transducer device and transducer electronics associated with the transducer device, wherein both the transducer device and the transducer electronics are arranged at least partially within the vehicle window, wherein the transducer device and/or a compensating device associated with the transducer device and arranged at least partially within the vehicle window and/or an electrical shielding device associated with the transducer device for electrically shielding the transducer device relative to a vehicle interior or a vehicle exterior are transparent, at least in sections.

A device for measuring a moisture content in soil according to an aspect of the present invention comprises: a conductive wire structure which can be inserted into soil, includes a first and a second conductive wire, and is formed to have a predetermined structure, the first and the second conductive wire being insulatively coated and extending in parallel to and adjacent to each other; a capacitance measurement circuit for measuring the capacitance between the first and the second conductive wire by using an alternating current power source; and a moisture content calculation unit for calculating a moisture content of the soil by using the measured capacitance.

A detection device includes an electrostatic capacitance sensor including an electrode pair and being configured to detect electrostatic capacitance of a medium brought into contact with the electrode pair, and a first ultrasonic wave sensor including a first transmission unit configured to transmit an ultrasonic wave and a first reception unit configured to receive an ultrasonic wave transmitted from the first transmission unit. The transmission unit and the reception unit are positioned to sandwich the medium.

Provided herein are various embodiments of determining a cation exchange capacity of a rock sample. One embodiment of a method of determining a cation exchange capacity of a rock sample comprises equilibrating the rock sample to a relative humidity, performing a dielectric permittivity measurement on the rock sample at the relative humidity, and determining a cation exchange capacity of the rock sample based on the dielectric permittivity measurement. One embodiment of a method of determining a cation exchange capacity of a rock sample comprises receiving a dielectric permittivity measurement on the rock sample, and determining a cation exchange capacity for the rock sample based on the dielectric permittivity measurement of the rock sample and a relationship between cation exchange capacity and dielectric permittivity measurements for mineral mixtures corresponding to a range of cation exchange capacity values.

Provided is a liquid sensor or the like that is relatively easy to manufacture. The liquid sensor includes a light emitting element, an optical waveguide, a light receiving element, and a detection circuit. The optical waveguide includes a first pillar portion, a first metal plate, a second pillar portion, and a second metal plate. The first metal plate is embedded in the first pillar portion. The second pillar portion is provided at a position opposing the first pillar portion. The second metal plate is embedded in the second pillar portion. A space for liquid is formed between the first pillar portion and the second pillar portion. The first pillar portion includes a first end surface that faces the light emitting element. The first metal plate includes a first reflecting portion that is tilted relative to the first end surface and reflects light toward the second pillar portion. The second pillar portion includes a second end surface that faces the light receiving element. The second metal plate includes a second reflecting portion that is tilted relative to the second end surface and reflects the light from the first metal plate toward the light receiving element.

Embodiments herein relate to oil condition sensing systems and related methods. In a first aspect, an oil condition sensing system is included having a control circuit, a temperature sensor, and a fluid property sensor, wherein the fluid property sensor measures fluid properties including at least dielectric constant and the oil condition sensing system is configured to automatically detect when an oil change event has occurred, record the fluid property sensor data as new baseline fluid property data after an oil change event has occurred, and evaluate the condition of an engine oil based on a comparison with the baseline fluid property data. The oil condition sensing system can be configured to automatically detect the oil change event by evaluating signals from the fluid property sensor and interpret a change in dielectric constant and/or viscosity crossing a threshold value as an oil change event. Other embodiments are also included herein.

A method and apparatus for measuring an unknown impedance. The apparatus comprises a first input to receive a first signal generated by a first portion of a sensor circuit, the first portion comprising an unknown impedance and a first known resistance, the unknown impedance to vary based upon a phenomenon to be measured by the sensor circuit. The apparatus also comprises a second input to receive a second signal generated by a second portion of the sensor circuit, the second portion of the sensor circuit comprising a known impedance and a second known resistance. And the apparatus comprises control logic to, based on a difference in time at which each of the first input and the second input reach a reference voltage, determine a measurement of the sensor circuit.

A semiconductor package includes a semiconductor die including terminals, a plurality of leads, at least some of the leads being electrically coupled to the terminals within the semiconductor package, a sensor on a surface of the semiconductor die, a set of metal columns on the surface of the semiconductor die, the set of metal columns forming a perimeter around the sensor on the surface of the semiconductor die, and a mold compound surrounding the semiconductor die except for an area inside the perimeter on the surface of the semiconductor die such that the sensor is exposed to ambient air.

A droplet sensor includes an optical cover that forms part of a spheroid, a major axis of the spheroid being a vertical axis, a light emitting/receiving device disposed at a position offset from a first focal point of the spheroid along the major axis, and a reflector disposed in vicinity of a second focal point of the spheroid. The optical cover has an effective detection area between the light emitting/receiving device and the reflector. The effective detection area satisfies a total internal reflection condition at an interface with a gas, and does not satisfy the total internal reflection condition at an interface with a liquid. The reflector reflects, towards a light receiving surface of the light emitting/receiving device, light totally reflected by the effective detection area, or reflects, towards the effective detection area, light directly incident on the reflector from the light emitting/receiving device.