AECVT sensors with reconfigurable capabilities for industrial imaging applications

Different synthetic electrode configurations are investigated for use in adaptive electrical capacitance volume tomography (AECVT). We evaluate in particular the spectrum of singular values of the sensitivity matrix as a function of the set of activated electrode to seek optimal arrangements that maximize the information content provided by a fixed number of measurement acquisitions (or acquisition speed). We also briefly discuss the impact of these factors on the resolution of the reconstructed images. Since field singularities near the sensing electrodes exacerbate the ill-conditioning of the reconstruction problem as number of measurements increases, spectral methods based on singular value decomposition (SVD) can be used as a means of regularization of the problem. The use of spectral analysis of the sensitivity matrix SVD is also suggested to provide design rules for the choice of optimal excitation strategies in AECVT.