Compact Multifunctional Wireless Capacitive Sensor System and Its Application in Icing Detection

When sensors are used for the monitoring of surfaces, for example, with respect to ice aggregation, it is of interest to have a full coverage of the surface without sensor-inherent detection gaps, so-called “blind spots”. Since the components of such a sensor, like antennas and energy harvesting, also require space on the surface, the actual, effective sensing area is usually much smaller than the total surface of the device. Consequently, with an array of such sensors, it is not possible to monitor the entire surface of an object without gaps, even if the sensors are mounted directly adjacent to each other. Furthermore, the excessive size may also prevent the application of a single sensor in space constraint situations as they occur, e.g., on aircrafts. This article investigates a sensor concept in which the electrodes of the sensors are used for both radio data transmission and energy harvesting at the same time. Thus, the wireless data transmission in the 2.45 GHz Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band is combined with the sensor electrodes and also with a photovoltaic cell for energy harvesting. The combination of sensor technology, communication, and harvesting enables a compact system and thus reduces blind spots to a minimum. In the following article, the structure and functionality of a system is described and verified by laboratory experiments.