Compensation for air gap changes and temperature changes in a resonant phase detector

The system of claim 12, wherein the compensator applies the compensation factor in response to one or more of:

• a change in resonant frequency of the sensor by more than a threshold frequency change;
• a change in resonant frequency of the sensor at a rate outside of a predetermined frequency rate change range;
• a change in a quality factor of the sensor by more than a threshold quality factor change;
• and
• a change in the quality factor of the sensor at a rate outside of a predetermined quality factor rate change range.

A system comprising:

• a sensor configured to output a sensor signal indicative of a distance between the sensor and a mechanical member associated with the sensor;
• a measurement circuit communicatively coupled to the sensor and configured to determine a physical force interaction with the mechanical member based on the sensor signal;
• and
• a compensator configured to monitor the sensor signal and to apply a compensation factor to the sensor signal to compensate for changes to properties of the sensor based on at least one of:
• changes in a distance between the sensor and the mechanical member;
• and
• changes in a temperature associated with the sensor;
• wherein the compensator comprises a quality factor detector configured to monitor a quality factor of the sensor and the compensator is configured to apply the compensation factor based on the quality factor and the compensator is configured to determine a temperature associated with the sensor based on the quality factor.

The method of claim 29, further comprising applying the compensation factor in response to one or more of:

• a change in resonant frequency of the sensor by more than a threshold frequency change;
• a change in resonant frequency of the sensor at a rate outside of a predetermined frequency rate change range;
• a change in a quality factor of the sensor by more than a threshold quality factor change;
• and
• a change in the quality factor of the sensor at a rate outside of a predetermined quality factor rate change range.

A method comprising, in a system comprising a sensor configured to output a sensor signal indicative of a distance between the sensor and a mechanical member associated with the sensor and a measurement circuit communicatively coupled to the sensor and configured to determine a physical force interaction with the mechanical member based on the sensor signal:

• applying a compensation factor to the sensor signal to compensate for changes to properties of the sensor based on at least one of:
• changes in a distance between the sensor and the mechanical member;
• and
• changes in a temperature associated with the sensor;
• monitoring a quality factor of the sensor and the compensator is configured to apply the compensation factor based on the quality factor;
• and
• determining a temperature associated with the sensor based on the quality factor.