Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!uunet!gatekeeper.us.oracle.com!nic2.barrnet.net!decwrl!adobe!epperson
From: epperson@adobe.com (Mark Epperson)
Subject: Re: A sense of balance
Message-ID: <1993Jan31.223739.5213@adobe.com>
Sender: usenet@adobe.com (USENET NEWS)
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated
References: <1993Jan31.222056.4813@adobe.com>
Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1993 22:37:39 GMT
Lines: 14

>nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) writes:
>These are all messy mechanically.  The best approach is a sealed
>cup of liquid with four capacitive sensing plates.  This gets you 
>two axes of balance.

What about two circular PC boards with a ring of etched pads around the 
edge.  The boards would be mounted 90 degrees from each other and placed
in a spherical conductive enclosure.  The enclosure could be filled with
a conductive liquid (salt water) such that half of the sphere was full. You
could then determine if there was an electrical connection between the 
enclosure and the pads (half of the pads would be conducting at one time).
Further, you could pack the enclosure with plastic beads to prevent splashing.

- Mark Epperson
