• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.77-84
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• 2013

A small engine-oil-deterioration detection sensor was developed and installed at the tip of a dipstick gage. The sensor part was manufactured using printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing technology. A set of sensor covers was installed in order to protect the sensor and realize good signal stability. The small engine-oil-deterioration detection sensor system comprised a dual sensor having etched copper electrodes coated with gold and ceramic, a flexible PCB (FPCB) acting as electric wire, and a dummy PCB with only a lock connector. The sensor can easily be installed by insertion through the guide tube of a dipstick gage. Thus, a driver can easily handle it without further installation equipment. The sensor can determine the level of deterioration in the engine oil by estimating the corresponding dielectric constant of the engine oil.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.143-148
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• 2013

In this study, several sensor parts used to obtain better signal stability are designed, a separate control circuit for the sensor is developed, and the results obtained using this control circuit are analyzed. The capacitances of the whole sensor system are measured using the control circuit connected to an improved flexible printed circuit board and an asymmetric dual sensor coated with a ceramic material. To realize good discrimination for a small change in the measured capacitance as the engine oil deteriorates, a commercial application-specific integrated circuit is installed on the control circuit as a capacitance-to-digital converter. The absolute error of a measured signal is found to be approximately ${\pm}4fF$.