RESETTABLE LATCHING MEMS SHOCK SENSOR APPARATUS AND METHOD

摘要

The Resettable Latching MEMS Shock Sensor provides the capability of recordingexternal shock extremes without consuming electrical power. The deviceincorporates a shock sensitive suspended proof mass, spring-loaded contacts,latches, and actuators for device reset. The device can be designed,hardwired, or programmed to trigger at various shock levels. The device can befabricated in a simple micromachining process that allows its size to beminiaturized for embedded and portable applications. During operation, thedevice consumes no quiescent power. The device can be configured to close acircuit, switch an interrupt signal, or switch some other electrical triggersignal between devices at the time of a shock extreme being reached, or it canbe configured to latch and be polled at some time after the shock limit hasoccurred.