Telemetric position sensing using resonant frequency parameterization of a millimeter-wave metamaterial

Due to its ability to meet requirements such as e.g. telemetry, millimeter-wave transceiver technology has gained research interest for various sensor applications, including the automotive and consumer sector. This work presents a resonant metamaterial for millimeter-waves that enables telemetric position sensing. The concept is based on a resonant unit cell that can be tuned to enable position encoding. A 2D metamaterial design was developed to parametrize the resonance frequency via a geometric parameter of the structure. The tuneable range of the metamaterial was estimated using a finite element method (FEM) simulation. This allowed for a bijective mapping of resonance frequency and the geometric parameter, where a linear range for the sensor effect was selected. The resonance frequency shift encodes the absolute position via the geometry parameter of the metamaterial. A linear position encoded bar was fabricated using well-known PCB manufacturing techniques for position determination. The position encoded metamaterial was successfully tested with a vector network analyser under lab conditions. This telemetric position sensor concept offers a compact and contactless readout without mechanical interference with the moving object. The metamaterial is completely passive, resulting in low maintenance and failure issues. The overall sensor concept includes a state-of-the-art radar chip as millimeter-wave transceiver which is currently under development.