Cantilever Assemblies and Methods of Providing Damping for Cantilever Assemblies

A vector sensor assembly comprising:

• a housing;
• a printed circuit board in the housing;
• and
• a plurality of cantilever assemblies positioned in the housing and coupled to the printed circuit board, wherein each of the plurality of cantilever assemblies comprises:
• a cantilever including an anchor configured to be coupled to a support, a tip, and an arm positioned between the anchor and the tip;
• a hollow conductive tube positioned at the tip of the cantilever;
• and
• a magnet suspended inside the hollow conductive tube with a first spring and a second spring, wherein the first spring and the second spring are positioned at a first end and a second end of the hollow conductive tube respectively, and the magnet is positioned between the first spring and the second spring, and wherein the magnet is configured to move coaxially inside the hollow conductive tube as permitted by the first spring and the second spring, wherein the magnet suspended inside the hollow conductive tube operates as a tuned mass damper (TMD) to limit a resonant response of the cantilever assembly.

A method of providing damping for a cantilever assembly, the method comprising:

• positioning a hollow conductive tube at a tip of a cantilever, wherein the cantilever includes an anchor configured to be coupled to a support, the tip, and an arm positioned between the anchor and the tip;
• suspending a magnet inside the hollow conductive tube with a first spring and a second spring;
• positioning the first spring and the second spring at a first end and a second end of the hollow conductive tube respectively, wherein the magnet is positioned between the first spring and the second spring, and wherein the magnet is configured to move coaxially inside the hollow conductive tube as permitted by the first spring and the second spring;
• and
• operating the magnet suspended inside the hollow conductive tube as a tuned mass damper (TMD) to limit a resonant response of the cantilever assembly.