Design and modeling of a MEMS accelerometer for a novel Virtual Button user interface

Author

Effa, D. ; Nieva, P. ; Andrew, Z. ; Lancaster, S.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Mech. & Mechatron. Eng., Univ. of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

fYear

2009

fDate

26-27 Sept. 2009

Firstpage

597

Lastpage

602

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel application of MEMS accelerometers in consumer electronics for `Virtual Button´ technology. The MEMS accelerometer is designed to measure low-g acceleration and sense tapping motion on a cell phone or a similar handheld device, medical user interface, or harsh environment user interface. In this paper we outline this patent pending application and discusses the modeling and analysis of the accelerometer designed for this purpose. The analytical model results are compared to the FEA simulations showing reasonable agreement. Operating range of 0.5-20 m/s² and noise levels of less than 0.124 mg Â¿Hz are predicted. A prototype of the accelerometer has been fabricated and test results showed sensing capabilities comparable to those for consumer applications.

Keywords

accelerometers; micromechanical devices; user interfaces; MEMS accelerometer; cell phone; handheld device; harsh environment user interface; low-g acceleration measurement; medical user interface; sense tapping motion; virtual button user interface; Acceleration; Accelerometers; Analytical models; Cellular phones; Consumer electronics; Handheld computers; Medical simulation; Micromechanical devices; Motion measurement; User interfaces; MEMS Inertial sensors; Virtual Button technology; consumer electronic devices; vibration sensors;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Science and Technology for Humanity (TIC-STH), 2009 IEEE Toronto International Conference

Conference_Location

Toronto, ON

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-3877-8

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-3878-5

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/TIC-STH.2009.5444429

Filename

5444429