Capacitive distance sensor Package Electrostatics Toolkit Input files CapacitiveSensorL.MIN, CapacitiveSensorS.MIN, CapacitiveSensor.EIN, CapacitiveSensor.SCR, CapacitiveSensor.BAT Download CapacitiveSensor.zip Description The example is a cylindrical capacitive sensor to measure distance d to a grounded metal surface (top figure). The maximum distance is determined by the capacitance between the Probe and Shield. The Guard electrode, at the same potential as the probe, minimizes the interaction. Results The lower figure shows the variation of capacitance between the Probe and ground as a function of d. The capacitance between the Probe and Shield is approximately 4.7 pF. The maximum useful measurement distance is about 3 cm. Comments This tutorial describes the calculations in detail: Modeling a capacitive sensor with EStat .