A displacement sensor measures capacitance between a rotor-stator pair. The displacement sensor includes a plurality of stators coupled to a first object. The plurality of stators is oriented parallel to an axis of motion between the first object and a second object. The displacement sensor further includes a plurality of rotors coupled to the second object. The plurality of rotors is oriented parallel to the axis of motion. Each rotor of the plurality of rotors is aligned with and configured to receive a corresponding stator of the plurality of stators to create a respective rotor-stator pair. Capacitance between the rotor-stator pairs change as a function of position of the first object relative to the second object along the axis of motion. An amount of displacement of the first object relative to the second object is determined based in part on the capacitance values.

An input mechanism, such as a crown, detects amounts of applied force. In various examples, an assembly including an input mechanism has an enclosure; a stem coupled to the enclosure such that the stem is rotatable, translatable, and transversely moveable with respect to the enclosure; a sensor, coupled between the stem and the housing, to which force is transferred when the stem moves with respect to the housing; and a processing unit coupled to the sensor. The processing unit is operable to determine a measurement of the force, based on a signal from the sensor.

A rotation angle detection apparatus includes a movable pattern prepared on an outer peripheral side surface of a rotary shaft and having a shape that changes along a circumferential direction of the outer peripheral side surface; and a stationary pattern fixedly arranged around the rotary shaft so as to face the movable pattern. An overlapping state between the movable pattern and the stationary pattern changes by rotation of the rotary shaft. A physical quantity changing according to a change in the overlapping state between the movable pattern and the stationary pattern is detected, and a rotation angle of the rotary shaft is detected based on the physical quantity.

An input mechanism, such as a crown, detects amounts of applied force. In various examples, an assembly including an input mechanism has an enclosure; a stem coupled to the enclosure such that the stem is rotatable, translatable, and transversely moveable with respect to the enclosure; a sensor, coupled between the stem and the housing, to which force is transferred when the stem moves with respect to the housing; and a processing unit coupled to the sensor. The processing unit is operable to determine a measurement of the force, based on a signal from the sensor.

A mutual and overlap capacitance based sensor may include a top stretchable layer including a first electrode configured in a serpentine pattern, a bottom layer including a second electrode, and a dielectric layer positioned between the first electrode and the second electrode. The second electrode may have a line shape which runs perpendicular to a wavelength direction of the first electrode and parallel to an amplitude direction of the of the first electrode.

A system may include electronic devices that communicate wirelessly. When positioned so that a pair of devices overlap or are adjacent to one another, the devices may operate in a linked mode. During linked operations, devices may communicate wirelessly while input gathering and content displaying operations are shared among the devices. One or both of a pair of devices may have sensors. A capacitive sensor or other sensor may be used to measure the relative position between two devices when the two devices overlap each other. Content displaying operations and other linked mode operations may be performed based on the measured relative position between the two devices and other information.

A position sensor for a linear actuator, a production method for a position sensor, a linear actuator with a position sensor, and a method for determining a position of a linear actuator. The position sensor has a capacitor arrangement and a data processing device. The capacitor arrangement has a first capacitor element and a second capacitor element arranged to be movable relative to the first capacitor element and designed to generate a capacitive signal. A data processing device is configured to determine the position of the second capacitor element relative to the first capacitor element based on the capacitive signal. The second capacitor element is made of an electrically conductive polymer.

The present disclosure relates to measuring misalignment between layers of a semiconductor device. In one embodiment, a device includes a first conductive layer; a second conductive layer; one or more first electrodes embedded in the first conductive layer; one or more second electrodes embedded in the second conductive layer; a sensing circuit connected to the one or more first electrodes; and a plurality of time-varying signal sources connected to the one or more second electrodes, wherein the one or more first electrodes and the one or more second electrodes form at least a portion of a bridge structure that exhibits an electrical property that varies as a function of misalignment of the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer in an in-plane direction.

A capacitive sensor includes an upper block; a lower block; a plurality of elastic supports for elastically supporting the upper block and the lower block; upper vertical electrodes formed to have faces perpendicular to the bottom surface of the upper block; lower vertical electrodes formed to have faces perpendicular to the top surface of the lower block and disposed to face the upper vertical electrodes such that at least parts of the lower vertical electrodes overlap with the upper vertical electrodes; and an electronic circuit including the upper vertical electrodes and the lower vertical electrodes as parts of the circuit and outputting a signal corresponding to changes in capacitances between the upper vertical electrodes and the lower vertical electrodes caused by a force or a torque applied to at least one of the upper block and the lower block.

An input mechanism, such as a crown, detects amounts of applied force. In various examples, an assembly including an input mechanism has an enclosure; a stem coupled to the enclosure such that the stem is rotatable, translatable, and transversely moveable with respect to the enclosure; a sensor, coupled between the stem and the housing, to which force is transferred when the stem moves with respect to the housing; and a processing unit coupled to the sensor. The processing unit is operable to determine a measurement of the force, based on a signal from the sensor.