Research on a novel magnetic tilt sensor designed using Hall elements and ferrofluid

Abstract

Abstract In this study, a simple, adjustable, bidirectional tilt sensor was designed using a pair of linear Hall effect sensors and magnets. Theoretical analysis and experimental results of the sensor system were presented. The working principle of the designed sensor is based on sensing the magnetic field of a mobile magnet which displaces with respect to the tilt angle. Two magnet sets were placed at the two ends of the system to apply repulsive restoring forces on the mobile magnet. The mobile magnet was coated with a light hydrocarbon based ferrofluid as a lubricant to reduce friction. Fixed Hall effect sensors were placed face to face at the two sides of the mobile magnet to monitor the magnetic field of the mobile magnet. It was shown that both experimentally and theoretically, it is possible to measure the approximate tilt angle linearly and quadratically by calculating the sum and difference of the Hall sensor voltages for the relatively small movements of the mobile magnet. Moreover, the system was also examined for the different sets of side magnets. For three different side magnet configurations, approximately 0.7, 1.1 and 1.68 V/rad sensitivity values were observed in the linear range.