Microelectromechanical powerline monitoring apparatus

A microelectromechanical power line monitoring apparatus, comprising:

• a microelectromechanical power line attachment assembly including a housing for supporting
• a connection mechanism for attachment to a power line,
• a first field plate receiving a first electrostatic voltage potential signal from said power line,
• a second field plate receiving a second electrostatic voltage potential signal from said power line, and
• a printed circuit board, said printed circuit board including
• a power circuit electrically connected to said first field plate and said second field plate, said power circuit processing said first electrostatic voltage potential signal and said second electrostatic voltage potential signal to generate a device operating voltage signal,
• a plate electrically connected to said first field plate to receive said first electrostatic voltage potential signal from said power line,
• a microelectromechanical cantilever electrically connected to said connection mechanism and positioned proximate to said plate so as to define a gap therebetween, said gap possessing an electric field corresponding to said first electrostatic voltage potential signal, said microelectromechanical cantilever responding to said electric field to produce an induced variable frequency voltage signal,
• self-excitation circuitry connected to said cantilever and said power circuit, said self-excitation circuitry using said device operating voltage signal and said induced variable frequency voltage signal to produce self-excited oscillation of said cantilever corresponding to said electric field in said gap, said self-excited oscillation resulting in a variable frequency voltage signal associated with said cantilever, and
• an output device to transmit an output signal corresponding to said amplified variable frequency voltage signal;
• and
• a microelectromechanical base assembly including
• an input device to receive said output signal, and
• processing circuitry to process said output signal to reconstruct a signal on said power line.