A Hybrid Position and Displacement Sensor

Sensor Products has recently filed two patents for, and introduced, the ASET® sensor for measuring interfacial stresses in real time. The sensor does not measure force, but rather the amount of surface area under compressive load. The principle of the ASET, which is a hybrid of a position and a displacement sensor, lies in treating the entire sensing element as a potentiometer. In the typical linear format design of the ASET sensor, not only can surface area of contact be determined, but position along the line can be sensed as well.