2D rotary sensor based on magnetic composite of microrods

This study presents a two-dimensional rotary sensor employing the impact of an externally exposed magnetic field on the inductance of coils with cores composed of suspended magnetic microrods. A mixture of polydimethylsiloxane and nickel microparticles in the average size of about 8-20 mu m was utilized as the inductor coil. Interestingly, the variations in the coils' inductance were effectively used to sense the rotations in both azimuth and elevation. A readout circuit was designed to convert the coils' inductance to voltage and demonstrated a conversion coefficient of 8.6 mV/degrees in azimuth and 19.1 mV/degrees in elevation. Due to the inexpensive utilized material and relatively simple fabrication process, the proposed rotary sensor can be a great candidate for this application.