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Development of a MEMS-based barometric pressure sensor for micro air vehicle (MAV) altitude measurement

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Abstract

A pressure sensor can be used for altimetry as pressure varies with altitude. In this work, a MEMS-based bulk-micromachined piezoresistive pressure sensor is developed for micro air vehicle (MAV) application. The sensor chip has meander shaped diffused piezoresistors, placed at optimum locations determined using FEM simulations for enhancing sensitivity. Post process wet bulk micromachining is carried out to realize the sensor diaphragm, while protecting the processed wafer side. Excellent sensitivity, non-linearity and hysteresis of 34.78 mV/bar, < 0.12% and < 0.2%, respectively is obtained from static characterization of optimum sensor chip. For the operating altitude range of the MAV, the variation of output voltage of pressure sensor module (obtained by integrating the sensor chip with circuitry) with altitude is characterized inside a test chamber.

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Acknowledgements

Authors would like to acknowledge the generous support of the Director, CSIR-CEERI, Pilani. The authors would like to thank all the scientific and technical staff of Smart Sensors Area at CSIR-CEERI, Pilani. The financial support by CSIR through PSC-201: MicroSenSys and ESC107: Technology Solutions for Micro Air Vehicle are gratefully acknowledged. Dr. S. C. Bose, Mr. M. Santosh, Mr. Naresh Kumar and Miss. Anjali Bansal are also acknowledged for development of sensor module and help in sensor characterization. The authors would also like to thank Mr. Pankaj Akula and Dr. C. M. Ananda from CSIR-NAL, Bangalore for characterization of pressure sensor module in aircraft air data test chamber.

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  1. CSIR–Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute (CEERI), Pilani, Rajasthan, India

    S. Santosh Kumar & Amit Tanwar

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  1. S. Santosh Kumar
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  2. Amit Tanwar
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Correspondence to S. Santosh Kumar.

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Santosh Kumar, S., Tanwar, A. Development of a MEMS-based barometric pressure sensor for micro air vehicle (MAV) altitude measurement. Microsyst Technol 26, 901–912 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-019-04594-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-019-04594-x

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