Position determination based on electrical capacitance tomography

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to calculate the two‐dimensional (2D) centre position of objects with known shapes based on the reconstruction image of a square sensing area estimated with simulated and measured data by using electrical capacitance tomography (ECT).

Design/methodology/approach

A 2D electrostatic finite element model is used to calculate the capacitances between electrode pairs. A reconstruction algorithm with low computation time provides suitable images for subsequent image processing techniques. The results based on numerical data are verified by measurements.

Findings

It is possible to calculate the centre position of up to four rods (cross‐sectional area about 5 per cent of the measuring area) with an accuracy of 3 per cent in both coordinate directions related to the dimensions of the measuring area.

Originality/value

The paper presents an efficient method for position determination of several objects with known shape and uniform permittivity distribution by using ECT measurements with low‐cost electronic for industrial application.

Citation

Gebhardt, S. and Scheinert, G. (2011), "Position determination based on electrical capacitance tomography", COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 1224-1236. https://doi.org/10.1108/03321641111133145