Small MEMS gravimeter under development
5 April 2016GREAT BRITAIN – A prototype device that detects tiny fluctuations in gravity has been built. The team at the University of Glasgow said that such devices did already exist, but are bulky and expensive. This device, known as a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) gravimeter, has the potential to be very cheap and a 1-Watt field prototype around the size of a tennis ball is being developed.
Applications in engineering could include down-borehole exploration; environmental monitoring where networks of sensor arrays could monitor subsurface water levels, or determine the location of landfill sites; tunnel detection; improved mapping of existing utility asset locations.
Existing gravimeters cost in excess of USD 100,000 and weigh more than 8kg. This device is similar to but a leap in the accuracy achieved by the type of accelerometer found in smart phones, which are relatively cheaply mass-produced. A smart phone is triggered by the acceleration due to the Earth, while the gravitational attraction from a nearby human could almost trigger this new device.
The full paper can be read in the scientific journal Nature: http://goo.gl/WnpPlA
