Mark R Probst

US Patent:

7411401, Aug 12, 2008

Filed:

Sep 5, 2006

Appl. No.:

11/514980

Inventors:

David M. Hull - Adelphi MD, US
Mark R. Probst - Gaithersburg MD, US

Assignee:

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army - Washington DC

International Classification:

G01R 29/08
G01R 31/02

US Classification:

324457, 324 72

Abstract:

Systems and methods for reducing electrostatic platform noise in electric-field sensors due to various self-charging and discharging processes are provided. A representative method includes: identifying avoidance regions of an electrostatically-floating sensor platform that have a propensity for self-induced charging and discharging; locating a first electrode and a second electrode on the electrostatically-floating sensor platform, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are positioned and dimensioned to receive substantially equal amounts of distributed charge via self-charging; and obtaining a differential signal from these two electrodes that is proportional to an external ambient E-field of interest, while at the same time nulling out the common-mode signal that results from sensor platform self-charging and/or discharging.