Electronic device having capacitance-based force sensing

A method comprising:

• identifying a first capacitance of at least one first pair of conductive plates of a plurality of pairs of conductive plates associated with a housing of an electronic device being in a normal state, the at least one first pair of conductive plates coupled to the housing and electrically isolated by a dielectric material, each of plurality of pairs of conductive plates, including the at least one first pair of conductive plates positioned to change relative orientation in relation to mechanical force that deforms the housing, the mechanical force being one or more of a torsion, a bending, a shearing, a compression, or a tension force, the plurality of pairs of conductive plates providing a longitudinal force sensor positioned to detect forces that deform a long axis of the housing, a lateral force sensor positioned to detect forces that deform a shorter, lateral axis of the housing, and an angled force sensor that is transverse to both the longitudinal and the lateral axes of the electronic device and detects a force exerted on a corner of the housing;
• detecting, via at least one capacitor driver coupled to the at least one pair of conductive plates, a first change in capacitance from the first capacitance to a second capacitance of the at least one first pair of conductive plates;
• identifying an amount of mechanical force based on the first change in capacitance;
• generating a first notification that indicates the amount of mechanical force;
• comparing the first change in capacitance to a threshold;
• and
• in response to the first change exceeding the threshold,
• generating a second notification that includes an indication that a potentially harmful mechanical force is detected.

A computer program product comprising:

• a non-transitory computer readable storage device;
• and
• program code on the non-transitory computer readable storage device that when executed by a processor associated with a communication device, the program code enables the communication device to provide functionality of:
• identifying a first capacitance of at least one first pair of conductive plates of a plurality of pairs of conductive plates associated with a housing of an electronic device being in a normal state, the at least one first pair of conductive plates coupled to the housing and electrically isolated by a dielectric material, each of plurality of pairs of conductive plates, including the at least one first pair of conductive plates positioned to change relative orientation in relation to mechanical force that deforms the housing, the mechanical force being one or more of a torsion, a bending, a shearing, a compression, or a tension force, the plurality of pairs of conductive plates providing a longitudinal force sensor positioned to detect forces that deform a long axis of the housing, a lateral force sensor positioned to detect forces that deform a shorter, lateral axis of the housing, and an angled force sensor that is transverse to both the longitudinal and the lateral axes of the electronic device and detects a force exerted on a corner of the housing;
• detecting, via at least one capacitor driver coupled to the at least one pair of conductive plates, a first change in capacitance from the first capacitance to a second capacitance of the at least one first pair of conductive plates;
• identifying an amount of mechanical force based on the first change in capacitance;
• generating a first notification that indicates the amount of mechanical force;
• comparing the first change in capacitance to a threshold;
• and
• in response to the first change exceeding the threshold, generating a second notification that includes an indication that a potentially harmful mechanical force is detected.