Design of a data acquisition system of articulated arm coordinate measuring machines

A novel cylindrical capacitive sensor (CCS) with differential, symmetrical and integrated structure was proposed to measure multi-degree-of-freedom rotation errors of high precision spindle simultaneously and to reduce impacts of multiple-sensors installation errors on the measurement accuracy. The nonlinear relationship between the output capacitance of CCS and the radial gap was derived using the capacitance formula and was quantitatively analyzed. It was found through analysis that the thickness of curved electrode plates led to the existence of fringe effect. The influence of the fringe effect on the output capacitance was investigated through FEM simulation. It was found through analysis and simulation that the CCS could be optimized to improve the measurement accuracy.