Capacitive sensing with a fluorescent lamp

Author(s)
Cooley, John Jacob
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Advisor
Steven B. Leeb and Al-Thaddeus Avestruz.
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Abstract
This work presents a modified fluorescent lamp that can be used as a capacitive sensing system. The lamp sensor measures changes in the electric fields emitted from the fluorescent bulbs in order to deduce the presence and motion of conductive and dielectric objects below the lamp. The prototype lamp sensor demonstrated a detection range of 10 feet for the presence and motion of a human below the lamp. Potential applications of the lamp sensor include proximity detection, motion sensing, security monitoring, activity level monitoring for power management and control and metal or dangerous substance detection.
Description
Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2007.
 
Includes bibliographical references (p. 163-167).
 
Date issued
2007
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/41255
Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Keywords
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
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