Patent ID: 11946821
Assignee: THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. A sensor apparatus, comprising:
a capacitor including
a first substrate having a first electrode;
a second substrate having a second electrode; and
a dielectric layer having a section of dielectric material that encapsulates a plurality of apertures and that does not fill the plurality of apertures, the first and second electrodes being separated by the section of dielectric material and arranged with an overlapping area with respect to one another; and
sensor circuitry coupled to the capacitor and configured to detect normal and shear forces applied to the sensor apparatus based on changes in capacitance derived from changes in at least one of a distance between the first and second electrodes and the overlapping area of the first and second electrodes.