Using Capacitive Sensors to Measure Glue Thickness
I was looking around for a comparison of what feels like the hundreds of capacitive touch sensors out there to find the best one for Adafruit (it’s more time consuming than you’d think!), and I came across an interesting page from Lion Precision detailing some of the many ways capacitive sensors are used for precision measurements in industrial settings (this stuff doesn’t just make its way into smart phones!). One of the more interesting was measuring glue thickness on paper with capacitive sensors. There’s even a short video that does a good job of illustrating the measurement process. Curious about some other potential uses of capacitive sensors or probes? Check out the application section here.
I’m always really interested in the way sensors get used in commercial and industrial settings, and it’s a great way to get the wheels turning in your own head. Have any interesting app notes or presentations on neat ways to measure things? … post them up in the comments below!
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
