Design and implementation of a re-configurable embedded system for capacitive sensor array interface

In this paper the design and implementation of a re-configurable embedded system for capacitive sensor array interfacing is presented. The system uses a capacitance to frequency converter to measure the sensor variations and a soft processor core (LEON3) for reading the frequency values at specified time intervals and interfacing the system to the outside world. An embedded operating system (LINUX) is incorporated to facilitate and give flexibility to the system use. The proposed sensor interface can be used in different application domains. Two measurements examples are presented: a gas sensor array comprised of 4 sensors and a multi-axial textile tensile testing apparatus with 8 sensors.