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US 5,398,885 AGranted
Discrete distributed sensors and system for spatial sensing
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsMark S. Andersson, Edward F. Crawley
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AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsMark S. Andersson, Edward F. Crawley
Estimating the term…
A sensor has a sensing region that responds to a surface property by producing an output signal. The sensor has a spatially distributed shape or sensitivity so that the output decreases away from a central part of the sensor, and thus the outputs of plural sensors combined have finite spatial transform as well as high roll off in spatial frequency. Preferably the output decreases to zero at edges of the sensor, and conditions of continuity or vanishing may be imposed on first or higher order derivatives. An edge sensor suitable for mounting at the edge of the structure has its weight function obtained by processes of reflecting and inverting the weight function at an edge. A sensor system employs plural such sensors and edge sensors to produce bounded spatial transfer functions for characterizing the structure. Embodiments of piezeoelectric, resistive, capacitive and thermal sensors are described.
An improved surface sensor for mounting in proximity to a surface of a structure to sense a property of the surface and produce an output for controlling the surface, such sensor being coupled to produce a sensing signal which responds primarily to said property of said surface and having a shape to produce signal weighting decreasing away from an interior region of the sensor so as to provide a spatially transformed output signal without aliasing that rolls off quickly with frequency.
A sensor system for sensing properties of a surface, such system comprising a plurality of identical sensors each one being mounted for sensing the property over a corresponding region of the surface and developing a signal indicative thereof, and each having a weighting such that a combination of the output signals has high roll off in spatial frequency and a finite spatial transform.
An improved sensor for mounting a plurality of identical counterparts over a surface to sense a spatial property thereof, such sensor extending over a region and having weighting distribution decreasing outwardly from a central portion of the sensor such that a combination of output signals from said counterparts has high roll off in spatial frequency and a finite spatial transform over the structure.
A surface sensor having a sensing region with spatially-distributed sensitivity that responds primarily to a property of the surface and produces an output signal, the sensitivity being in accordance with a weighting function such that superpositions and combinations of plural identical such surface sensors covering a structure have finite spatial transforms over the structure and high roll off in spatial frequency.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.