Design and simulation of a passive wireless accelerometer

Abstract

Traditional accelerometers use a cable or battery to supply power and transport data. The circuit layout is complex, which increases the failure risk and difficulty of maintenance. On the basis of the patch antenna and FMCW (frequency-modulated continuous waves) radar, this paper presents a new type of passive wireless accelerometer node that is designed with a high-frequency sampling mechanism. The working mode of the sensor system is theoretically analyzed, and a numerical simulation based on the combination of Matlab and high-frequency structure simulator is performed, obtaining the test results of the sensor under typical acceleration excitation. The acceleration test range of the sensor is designed to be ±0.2 g. The simulation results show that within the testing range, the test error for the accelerometer is 3.24%. Moreover, this accelerometer can realize simple self-positioning with a positioning accuracy of 0.3 m.