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handbook of modern sensors

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6.3 Capacitive Occupancy Detectors 233<br />

Fig. 6.3. An intruder brings in an additional capacitance to a detection circuit.<br />

be concealed inside wooden or masonic structures and is virtually undetectable by<br />

electronic means thanks to its low emission resembling natural thermal noise.<br />

6.3 Capacitive Occupancy Detectors<br />

Being a conductive medium with a high dielectric constant, a human body develops a<br />

coupling capacitance to its surroundings. 4 This capacitance greatly depends on such<br />

factors as body size, clothing, materials, type <strong>of</strong> surrounding objects, weather, and<br />

so forth. However wide the coupling range is, the capacitance may vary from a few<br />

pic<strong>of</strong>arads to several nan<strong>of</strong>arads. When a person moves, the coupling capacitance<br />

changes, thus making it possible to discriminate static objects from the moving ones.<br />

In effect, all objects form some degree <strong>of</strong> a capacitive coupling with respect to one<br />

another. If a human (or for that purpose, anything) moves into the vicinity <strong>of</strong> the<br />

objects whose coupling capacitance with each other has been previously established,<br />

a new capacitive value arises between the objects as a result <strong>of</strong> the presence <strong>of</strong> an<br />

intruding body. Figure 6.3 shows that the capacitance between a test plate and earth 5 is<br />

equal to C 1 . When a person moves into the vicinity <strong>of</strong> the plate, it forms two additional<br />

capacitors: one between the plate and its own body, C a , and the other between the<br />

body and the earth, C b . Then, the resulting capacitance C between the plate and the<br />

earth becomes larger by C<br />

C = C 1 + C = C 1 +<br />

C aC b<br />

C a + C b<br />

. (6.9)<br />

With the appropriate apparatus, this phenomenon can be used for occupancy detection.<br />

What is required is to measure a capacitance between a test plate (the probe) and a<br />

reference plate (the earth).<br />

4 At 40 MHz, the dielectric constant <strong>of</strong> muscle, skin, and blood is about 97. For fat and bone,<br />

it is near 15.<br />

5 Here, by “earth” we mean any large object, such as earth, lake, metal fence, car, ship,<br />

airplane, and so forth.

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