What are Tilt Switches and Tilt Sensors?

 

Tilt Sensor

A tilt sensor, or tilt switch, is a device used for measuring the tilt of an object in multiple axes with reference to an absolute level plane. They are small and compact instruments which make them a viable option for many applications where orientation or inclination detection is a key factor, such as warning systems on construction or agricultural vehicles.

Tilt sensors work by detecting changes in angle from a pre-set “zero” state. They are set with a maximum and minimum threshold in which the application will work or be safe to operate based on the specific application’s needs. If the tilt or inclination exceeds these threshold values in either direction, a relay will be engaged and the switch closed, thus sending an operation to an external device such as an alarm or warning light to indicate unsafe or non-working conditions.

Key applications include:

• Bank angle warning system for ride-on lawn mowers
• Safety cut-out for cranes with hydraulic levelling
• Tilt warning system for platform and hoist levelling
• Rollover warning system for agricultural vehicles
• Safety cut-out for aerial work platforms

Other Types of Tilt Switches

You may see many tilt switches today labelled as “non-mercury”. This is because tilt switches in the past, and some today, operate by opening and closing the switch using a small piece of mercury to close the circuit. Depending on the angle and direction of tilt, the bead of mercury comes into contact with an electrode on one end which would determine when it is at an angle exceeding the threshold.

Tilt ball switches are now more commonly used as an alternative to mercury ones, using a metallic ball to act as the mechanism which either opens or closes the circuit. Again, this is dependent on the angle and direction of tilt and therefore location of the ball. Ball switches are now much more common that mercury ones due to their safety and non-toxicity, but they have significant drawbacks such as a lack of noise filtering that means they cannot be used in high-vibration applications.

MEMS sensor switches have many benefits over these other types of tilt sensors. They are far more precise and reliable, as well as having an adjustable trip angle threshold. They also have the functionality to filter noise out for more heavy-duty applications.

What is the structure of a Gyro Theodolite?

 

A gyro theodolite consists of a gyroscope, theodolite and a tripod.

(1) Gyroscope
The gyroscope is the core of the system, which is mainly composed of gyro sensitive parts, electromagnetic shielding mechanism, suspension wire and guide wire, azimuth rotation servo drive device, damping device, inertial sensitive part locking device, support leveling device, photoelectric angle sensor, power supply, control and display.

The sensitive part of the gyro is equipped with a gyro motor that rotates at a constant speed. The gyro motor is suspended on the gyro frame by a suspension wire, and the power is provided by the guide wire.

The gyro sensitive part locking device is to ensure the safety of the gyro sensitive part in the transportation state, and the inertial sensitive part is fixed with the frame.

The purpose of the damping device is to attenuate the swing amplitude of the sensitive part of the gyro after the release, so that the swing state meets the north-seeking requirements, and finally overcome the northing moment, so that the sensitive part of the gyro is relatively stable in a fixed position.

The azimuth indentation servo drive system can realize the azimuth rotation of the gyro, provide rotational torque and stable transmission.

The supporting and leveling device can realize the mechanical and optical docking of the theodolite and the gyroscope, the leveling of the entire instrument and the installation and fixation of various components.

The photoelectric angle sensor includes a photoelectric angle sensor that detects the swing angle of the inertial sensing part and a grating code disk system that detects the azimuth rotation angle of the gyro.

Electro-magnetic shielding is mainly used to shield the interference of internal and external magnetic fields on gyro north finding.

The control and display part collects and processes signals through sensors, and completes the functions of locking and releasing the sensitive part of the gyro, damping control, azimuth tracking, communication, calculation, sending and displaying true north position.

(2) Theodolite
Theodolite is the bearing extraction device of the system. It is also possible to measure the geographic azimuth or coordinate azimuth of the target by aiming at the target. The theodolite has a self-collimation function, which is convenient for measurement and calibration. Usually theodolite has a serial communication interface, which can realize the serial data communication and command system with the gyroscope.

(3) Tripod
The tripod provides support for the gyro theodolite.

If interested, pls contact us : info@ericcointernational.com

How Does A Quartz Flexible Accelerometer Work?

 

Quartz flexible pendulum accelerometer is a force feedback pendulum accelerometer developed on the basis of liquid floating pendulum accelerometer. The main difference between the two is that the detection quality of the quartz flexible accelerometer is not floating, but is elastically connected to the flexible beam support, introducing elastic moment, so it has higher accuracy, strong anti-interference ability, large measurement range, and overload capacity.

The performance of flexible materials directly affects the performance of the accelerometer, and the materials that can be used as a flexible pendulum are mainly metal and quartz. The traditional liquid-floating pendulum accelerometer pendulum adopts metal materials. The thermal expansion coefficient of quartz is much smaller than that of steel, and the material performance is better than metal. In addition, quartz has high fatigue strength and low hysteresis of the material itself, which is very suitable for the pendulum of accelerometer. As soon as the quartz flexible accelerometer came out, it quickly replaced the liquid-floating accelerometer and became an indispensable key component in the inertial navigation and guidance system.

At present, quartz flexible pendulum accelerometers have been widely used in the measurement of various linear acceleration, vibration acceleration, speed, distance, angular velocity, angular displacement and other parameters, and are used in satellite microgravity measurement systems, high-precision inertial navigation systems, and rock-based drilling and oil drilling, continuous inclinometer systems, launch vehicles, ballistic missiles, spacecraft and other military and civilian fields.

What is the structure of a Gyro Theodolite?

 A gyro theodolite consists of a gyroscope, theodolite and a tripod.

(1) Gyroscope
The gyroscope is the core of the system, which is mainly composed of gyro sensitive parts, electromagnetic shielding mechanism, suspension wire and guide wire, azimuth rotation servo drive device, damping device, inertial sensitive part locking device, support leveling device, photoelectric angle sensor, power supply, control and display.

The sensitive part of the gyro is equipped with a gyro motor that rotates at a constant speed. The gyro motor is suspended on the gyro frame by a suspension wire, and the power is provided by the guide wire.

The gyro sensitive part locking device is to ensure the safety of the gyro sensitive part in the transportation state, and the inertial sensitive part is fixed with the frame.

The purpose of the damping device is to attenuate the swing amplitude of the sensitive part of the gyro after the release, so that the swing state meets the north-seeking requirements, and finally overcome the northing moment, so that the sensitive part of the gyro is relatively stable in a fixed position.

The azimuth indentation servo drive system can realize the azimuth rotation of the gyro, provide rotational torque and stable transmission.

The supporting and leveling device can realize the mechanical and optical docking of the theodolite and the gyroscope, the leveling of the entire instrument and the installation and fixation of various components.

The photoelectric angle sensor includes a photoelectric angle sensor that detects the swing angle of the inertial sensing part and a grating code disk system that detects the azimuth rotation angle of the gyro.

Electro-magnetic shielding is mainly used to shield the interference of internal and external magnetic fields on gyro north finding.

The control and display part collects and processes signals through sensors, and completes the functions of locking and releasing the sensitive part of the gyro, damping control, azimuth tracking, communication, calculation, sending and displaying true north position.

(2) Theodolite
Theodolite is the bearing extraction device of the system. It is also possible to measure the geographic azimuth or coordinate azimuth of the target by aiming at the target. The theodolite has a self-collimation function, which is convenient for measurement and calibration. Usually theodolite has a serial communication interface, which can realize the serial data communication and command system with the gyroscope.

(3) Tripod
The tripod provides support for the gyro theodolite.

If interested, pls contact us : info@ericcointernational.com