Methods and systems for capacitive motion sensing and position control

摘要

A system (10) for detecting motion and proximity by determining capacitance between a sensor (50) and an object (12). The sensor includes sensing surfaces (52) made of a thin film of electrically conductive material (56) mounted on a non-conductive surface. In another embodiment, the sensor is a human body. The sensor senses the capacitance between a sensor's surface and an object in its vicinity and provides the capacitance to a control system (18) that directs machine movement. Because the sensor does not require direct contact or line-of-sight with the object, a machine can be controlled before harm occurs to the object.