Sanitary appliance and method of determining use thereof

A method comprising:

• driving, by an input circuit, a first voltage at an excitation frequency;
• receiving, by a resonance circuit, the first voltage;
• responsive to receiving the first voltage, outputting, by the resonance circuit, a second voltage, wherein:
• the resonance circuit is associated with a resonance frequency,
• the resonance frequency is based on a flow of urine, and
• the second voltage changes based on (i) changes to the first voltage and (ii) the resonance frequency;
• causing, by a controller, the input circuit to change the excitation frequency and thereby change the second voltage in accordance with the resonance frequency;
• determining, by the controller, the resonance frequency based on the change to the second voltage;
• and
• detecting, by the controller, the flow of urine based on determining the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit.

A system comprising:

• a plurality of sensors, each sensor of the plurality of sensors comprising:
• an input circuit configured to drive a first voltage at an excitation frequency;
• and
• a resonance circuit configured to receive the first voltage and responsively output a second voltage, wherein:
• the resonance circuit is associated with a resonance frequency,
• the resonance frequency is based on a flow of urine on the sensor, and
• the second voltage changes based on (i) changes to the first voltage and (ii) the resonance frequency;
• and
• a controller configured to, for each sensor of the plurality of sensors:
• cause the input circuit to change the excitation frequency and thereby change the second voltage in accordance with the resonance frequency,
• determine the resonance frequency based on the change to the second voltage, and
• detect the flow of urine on the sensor based on determining the resonance frequency of the resonance circuit.