energies

Article
An Implementation Method for an Inductive
Proximity Sensor with an Attenuation Coefficient of 1 †
Yuyin Zhao , Yu Fang * , Jiajun Yang, Weixuan Zhang , Xiaoxing Ge, Songyin Cao and
Xiaonan Xia
School of Information Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225100, China;
[email protected] (Y.Z.); [email protected] (J.Y.); [email protected] (W.Z.);
[email protected] (X.G.); [email protected] (S.C.); [email protected] (X.X.)
* Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +86-158-6132-8650
† This paper is an extended version of our paper published in Proceedings of 2020 Chinese Intelligent Systems
Conference, Shenzhen, China, 24–26 October 2020; pp. 455–463.




Received: 15 October 2020; Accepted: 3 December 2020; Published: 8 December 2020


Abstract: In order to achieve long-distance measurement, a bridge differential inductance detection

circuit is employed; on this basis, an automatic zero adjustment technique for sensors using an
integral–proportional-integral controller is proposed in this work to achieve consistent product
production and efficient installation and debugging, and the mathematical model of the bridge
differential inductance detection circuit is established to effectively design the controller parameters.
Furthermore, an implementation method for an inductive proximity sensor with an attenuation
coefficient of 1 is also proposed based on the bridge differential inductance detection circuit by
querying the proximity distance table in the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to detect multiple
target metal objects at the same inductive distance. Simulation and experimental results show that
the proposed method is correct and effective.

Keywords: inductive proximity sensor; integral–proportional-integral controller; automatic zero

adjustment technique

1. Introduction
Since the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a growing demand for proximity sensors
in various fields. Due to the various demands, proximity sensors have been developing in the
direction of diversification. For different applications, proximity sensors should be selected to
meet the specific requirements [1,2]. The proximity sensor is a kind of position sensor which can
operate moving objects without contact. When the object is near the sensing surface of the sensor,
it does not need mechanical contact or any pressure to make the sensor act. There are many
types of proximity sensors, including those that use quartz crystal oscillators, and they are very
accurate [3,4]. Because inductive proximity sensors have the advantages of a simple structure and
strong anti-interference ability, the application of inductive proximity sensors is becoming increasingly
extensive. With the development of aerospace and industry, high requirements are placed on the
long-distance measurement of inductive proximity sensors [5].
In order to increase the measuring distance, the mechanical principle of a metal slope is used to
realize the measurement of larger distances. The distance measuring ranges are small and strongly
dependent on the sensor size. In addition, the sensors are not by themselves able to measure translatory
movements of the target.To overcome this obstacle, users usually complete the system with a metal
incline, which is rigidly coupled with the object. The large displacement is converted mechanically into
a small change of the distance between the incline and the active face of the inductive proximity sensor.

Energies 2020, 13, 6482; doi:10.3390/en13246482 www.mdpi.com/journal/energies

Energies 2020, 13, 6482 2 of 15

This method enables significant increases in the sensing range. The function of the incline is performed
by a cone located on the device shaft. However, the advantages of inductive proximity sensors, such as
linearity, accuracy and repeatability, need to find compromises with the slope conversion rate (usually
5–10). It can be seen that the method of using a mechanical slope to increase the detection distance is
limited. In [6], the displacement of a target metal object is detected by means of a permanent magnet
(auxiliary target), which increases the detection distance. However, the measurement target must be
magnetic, which limits the types of objects that can be measured. Therefore, in [7], a detection method
is studied which can not only eliminate the limitation of the mechanical conversion device and/or
auxiliary magnet target but can also allow the inductive proximity sensor to achieve high performance.
This method is realized according to the function relationship between the detection distance and
transducer impedance (Z). However, it is difficult to describe the dependence of the transducer
impedance on the transducer’s electrical and mechanical properties. Therefore, the relationship
between the transducer impedance (Z), detection distance and operating frequency can only be
reflected logically.
For long-distance measurement, a bridge differential inductance detection circuit is used in the
measurement circuit of sensors in this paper [8]. The detection circuit detects the inductance variation of
the coil in the induction surface to realize the measurement of the approach distance of the target metal
objects. This method can eliminate most external interference signals and, as far as possible, ensure the
effectiveness of the necessary information we need to enhance the anti-interference ability [9,10].
In order to achieve consistent product performance, in this paper, we propose an automatic zero
calibration method for the foundation of an integral–proportional-integral (I-PI) controller on the basis
of a bridge differential inductance detection circuit. Because the reference inductor in this paper needs
to be adjustable, this method solves the problem of the difficulty of making the reference inductor [11].
At present, most inductive sensors adopt a measurement method based on an AC damping factor.
This approach consists of an inductance coil and an external capacitance to form an oscillation detection
circuit. The smaller the detection distance, the greater the damping coefficient and the smaller the
amplitude of oscillation, and even the vibration is stopped.Therefore, the proximity of metal targets
can be measured according to the oscillation amplitude. However, the RLC which is a series parallel
circuit of resistance, inductance and capacitance of the transmission line will affect the frequency and
amplitude of oscillation, which will lead to a decrease in the measurement accuracy. The method in
this paper realizes the detection of all metal targets at the same distance, which has no attenuation to
the measured material detection distance and does not need to be recalibrated for different materials.
This method has high precision and stable performance. The inductance increment detection circuit
can cancel the self-inductance of the detection coil by setting the bias inductance and then converting
the equivalent inductance increment related to the proximity into an electric quantity. We can thus
obtain the distance information of the corresponding metal target and meet the requirements of
measurement accuracy. The capacitance range of traditional sensors such as capacitive sensors is
very small, thus placing high requirements on the accuracy of capacitance detection. Especially in the
process of sensor development, high-precision capacitance detection equipment is often required to
test and calibrate the sensor. However, there is a lack of a special instrument for the real-time detection
of micro capacitance in China and abroad. The common practice is to design and make a special
capacitance detection circuit for the sensor, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty and workload
of sensor design. In this paper, the I-PI automatic zero adjustment method is adopted, which is easy to
use and reduces the error.
Based on the analysis of the bridge differential inductance detection circuit, a measurement
method with an attenuation coefficient of 1 based on the field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is
proposed, which can detect multiple metal objects at the same sensing distance.This is the attenuation
coefficient of 1. When the common inductive proximity sensor detects metal objects of different
materials, the detection distance will change. This is due to the different attenuation coefficients
between different metals. When detecting objects made of different types of metals, different types
Energies 2020, 13, 6482 3 of 15

of sensors must be used, which greatly increases the workload of staff and reduces the consistent
reliability of products. A sensor with an attenuation coefficient of 1 solves these problems and unifies
the switching distance of all metal types; that is, the switching distance is the same for all metal
materials. This makes it unnecessary to replace new sensors when detecting the proximity of different
metal objects, thus reducing the budget and costs. This paper first introduces the operating principle
of inductive proximity sensors for long-distance measurement. On this basis, a small signal model
from control voltage to bias inductance is established. An automatic zero calibration method based on
an integral–proportional-integral (I-PI) controller is proposed, and the attenuation coefficient of 1 is
achieved by searching in the table.

2. Operating Principle of Inductive Proximity Sensor

An inductive proximity sensor is composed of a primary side transducer (located on the sensing
surface) and an electronic measuring circuit, as shown in Figure 1.

Detection coil i
Lr Rr
Metal i2
target R3 FPGA
R1 + + vo
Cs OA1 vin INA
-
ADC
-
Mixer
vs sensor R2
i1 LPF
Approach distance Sn Ls±ΔLs Rs
Transducer Electronic measuring circuit O/P

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of an inductive proximity sensor. FPGA: field-programmable gate array.
ADC: analog to digital conversion. LPF: low pass filtering.

The primary transducer is actually made up of inductors and capacitors, which generate
electromagnetic fields through the excitation oscillation current inside the sensor, thus forming an
induction surface at the end face of the sensor [12,13]. When the approaching distance or motion
information of the target metal object changes, the parameters of the primary side transducer will
change, such as the quality factor and coil inductance. The electronic measurement circuit of the
sensor outputs the corresponding control signal by detecting the change signal of oscillation circuit
parameters. The control signal can be an analog quantity corresponding to the detection distance or it
can be a switch signal.

2.1. Principle of Electronic Circuits

Due to the symmetry of the bridge arm, an AC bridge circuit is usually used as a detection
circuit [14,15]. However, this method has limitations and will incur extra temperature drift [16,17].
Considering the common mode noise is effectively suppressed and the effective differential signal is
retained in the differential circuit, the bridge circuit and differential detection circuit are combined in
this paper, and the bridge differential inductance detection circuit is employed as shown in Figure 2.
When the object moves in the sensing range of the sensor, the inductance value of the coil will
become larger or smaller, but this change is small relative to the inductance value of the coil itself.
The change of inductance will lead to a change of output voltage. In this work, we use an instrument
amplifier to amplify the output voltage to meet accuracy requirements in order to reflect the change of
inductance more accurately and realize the distance measurement.
In Figure 2, vs is the high-frequency oscillation excitation source; its frequency is 1 kHz. R1 is the
current limiting resistance, OA1 is the operational amplifier; Ls is the self-inductance; ∆Ls is the change
of the coil inductance when the metal object is approaching; Rs is the equivalent resistance; Lr is the
inductance value of the reference inductance; Rr is the resistance value of the reference inductance;
R2 and R3 are the matching resistance; INA is the instrument amplifier, where Vin and Vo are the input
voltage and output voltage of the instrument amplifier, respectively; and I2 and I1 are the bridge arm
Energies 2020, 13, 6482 4 of 15

current in the upper and lower bridge arms, respectively. The inductance Lr and resistance Rr are used
in series to detect the inductance and resistance of the coil. We need to adjust the Rr to equal Rs before
the targets move into the sensing range of sensors.

Lr Rr
i2
R3
+ + vo
R1 OA1 vin INA
-
-

i1 R2
sensor
vs i1

Ls±ΔLs Rs
Figure 2. Schematic diagram of bridge differential inductance detection circuit.

We adjust the value of R7 to ensure that Lr and Ls are equal, and If the resistance is equal to R8
and R9 , then the input Vin is zero, and the output Vo of the amplifier is also zero [18]. When the metal
object is near the sensing surface for a certain distance Sn , the inductance Ls changes and produces an
increment ∆Ls . The output Vo of the instrument amplifier is thus no longer zero. With the change of
Sn , Vo will also change.The variable voltage signal is sent to the FPGA; according to the corresponding
relationship between the approach distance of the sensor and the variable voltage, the approach
distance of the target object is obtained.

2.1.1. Implementation of Bias Inductor

When the target metal object is not near the detection coil, the reference inductance value in the
electronic measurement circuit should be equal to the detection coil inductance value, meaning that the
output is zero. Otherwise, when the target metal is close to the induction head, the proximity distance
cannot be reflected truly and the required measurement accuracy cannot be achieved. This requires that
the reference inductance in the bridge differential detection circuit should be adjustable. In this paper,
the equivalent inductance Lr is realized by the general impedance converter shown in Figure 3 [19,20].

OA1
+
-

Z1 Z2 Z3 Z4 Z5
A
+
-

OA2

Figure 3. Schematic diagram of general impedance converter.

According to the virtual short and virtual break characteristics of the operational amplifier, we can
obtain the equivalent impedance formula of the general impedance converter as follows:

Z1 · Z3 · Z5
Z= (1)
Z2 · Z4
Energies 2020, 13, 6482 5 of 15

When Z2 or Z4 are capacitors and other impedance elements are resistors, the general impedance
converter can be equivalent to an analog inductance. Suppose that Z4 is a capacitor and Z4 = 1/jωC,
the formula is as follows:
R4 · R6 · R7
Z= = jωL (2)
(1/jωC ) · R5
R4 · R6 · R7 · C1
L= (3)
R5
It can be seen that the general impedance converter can be equivalent to Z = jωL from point A.
The general impedance converter has realized an equivalent reference inductance, and the inductance
of the equivalent reference inductance is Lr = R4 R6 R7 C1 /R5 . The equivalent circuit diagram is shown
in Figure 4.

+
OA3
-

C1 R6 R5 R4

-
OA
+ 2

Vctrl R9 S
R8 G
R7

J D

Figure 4. Circuit schematic diagram of bias inductance Lr .

It can be seen from Figure 4 that the inductance value of reference inductance Lr can be adjusted
by changing the value of R7 . In order to realize that the value of resistance R7 can be adjusted by
the electronic control signal, this paper uses the junction field-effector transistor (JFET) to realize
R7 . The JFET is a voltage-controlled device, which does not need excessive signal power. It has
a low noise figure and a wide-ranging variable resistance area. In this way, the specific value of
the voltage-controlled resistance R7 can be achieved by controlling the gate voltage of the JFET,
where R7 = Lr R5 /R4 R6 C1 . When R8 and R9 near the JFET are equal, the linearity of the JFET can be
effectively increased. The variable resistance value of the JFET is only related to the gate voltage and is
not affected by the drain source voltage Vds .

3. Principle of the Proposed Adaptive Zero Adjustment Technique

In the process of practical application, before the target metal enters the sensing range of the
inductive proximity sensor, it is essential to adjust the R7 to make Lr equal Ls. From Equation (3),
we can adjust the Vctrl applied to the JFET gate source to make the reference inductance Lr equal to the
measured inductance Ls . Then, the input Vin is zero and the output Vo of the instrument amplifier is
also zero, which is called zero adjustment. After zeroing, the Vctrl must be kept unchanged, and the
inductance value of the reference inductor remains unchanged. When the metal object enters the
sensing range of the sensor, the inductance of the coil will vary and the increment ∆Ls will be generated.
Vin and the output V0 of the instrument amplifier will no longer be 0. The V0 will be sent to the FPGA
of the later stage for processing so that the approach distance of the target can be obtained according
to the variation of inductance. The distance measurement of the target metal object is thus realized.
If the sensor has not been zeroed—that is, the reference inductance Lr in the electronic
measurement circuit is not equal to the value of Ls of the detected coil—when the target metal
is far away from the sensing range of the sensor, Vin will not be equal to zero and the amplified signal
Vo of the instrument amplifier will certainly not be equal to zero. This can lead to inaccurate distance
measurement. In order to realize the automatic zero adjustment of the sensor, it is known from control
theory that closed-loop negative feedback control must be implemented for the control quantity [21,22].
Energies 2020, 13, 6482 6 of 15

The control quantity here is the signal Vo amplified by the instrument amplifier. The error signal is
compared with the given zero. After the error signal is adjusted by the controller, the control signal
Vctrl of the JFET gate source is generated and R7 is obtained to realize the reference inductance.
As long as the negative feedback is designed and the system is stable, the reference inductance
Lr is equal to the Ls of the detection coil. The input end of the controller is zero and the output is
also zero. This realizes the automatic zero adjustment of the inductive proximity sensor. This kind
of automatic zero adjustment technology is realized by the adaptive adjustment of the reference
inductance. The adaptive adjustment of the reference inductance Lr is helpful for the accurate detection
of the inductance increment, remote measurement and the accurate measurement of the proximity of
the inductive proximity sensor.

3.1. Derivation of Small Signal Model

The electronic measuring circuit is composed of a differential detection circuit and instrument
amplifier INA. According to Figure 2, we can set vs = Vm sin(ωT ), where vs is the equivalent oscillation
excitation voltage source and is connected to the operational amplifier through R1 . According to the
characteristics of the operational amplifier, the following formula is obtained:

VS
I1 = (4)
R1

According to the characteristics of the instrument amplifier and the balance characteristics of the
bridge, the following equations can be listed:

I2 ( R3 + Rr + jωLr ) = I1 [ Rs + R2 + jω ( Ls ± ∆Ls )] (5)

Therefore, we can obtain the expression of the current I2 flowing through Lr , Rr and R3 :

I1 [ Rs + R2 + jω ( Ls + ∆Ls )]
I2 = (6)
R3 + Rr + jωLr

Then, we can obtain the expression:

Vin = I2 R3 − I1 R2 (7)

By substituting Equations (5) and (6) into Equation (7), the solution is obtained as follows:

Rs + R2 + jω ( Ls + ∆Ls )
Vin = I1 [ R3 − R2 ] (8)
R3 + Rr + jωLr

If the amplification factor of the instrument amplifier is A, we can list the equation as Equation (9):

Vo = A · Vin (9)

Obviously, when R3 = R2 , Rr = Rs , Lr = Ls , the output Vo of the circuit is equal to zero.

When the target metal is outside the measuring range of the inductive proximity sensor, we first adjust
the reference inductance Lr to make Vo equal to zero. When the target metal objects enter the sensing
range of the inductive proximity sensor, the distance measurement is carried out.
The work of the inductive proximity sensor is nonlinear. When the entire system is working,
Vctrl to Lr is not linear, which is not conducive to the analysis and design. Imperfections are unavoidable
in the production processes of real devices. Despite this, and despite the fact that real devices usually
operate in regimes that are far from ideal, the sensors still work. This is related to the fact that
imperfections give rise to hidden dynamics [23]. A small signal model can reflect the dynamic
performance. In this paper, the small signal model is established by the perturbation method [24].
Energies 2020, 13, 6482 7 of 15

According to Figure 2, the equations can be listed as follows:

Rs + R2 + jωLs
Vin + ∆Vin = I1 [ R3 − R2 ] (10)
R3 + Rr + jωLr

Rs + R2 + jωLs
Vin + ∆Vin + I1 R2 = I1 [ R3 ] (11)
R3 + Rr + jωLr
where Vin is the voltage at steady state. By further simplification, the following results can be obtained:

Vin jω∆Lr + I1 R2 jω∆Lr = −∆Vin ( R3 + Rr + jωLr ) (12)

∆Vin V jω + I1 R2 jω
= − in (13)
∆Lr R3 + Rr + jωLr
Taking Laplace transformation on both sides of the equation, we obtain the following results:

∆Vin s V (s) + I1 R2 s
= − in (14)
∆Lr (s) R3 + Rr + sLr

Then, we obtain the following Equation (15):

Vin s + I1 R2 s
Gi (S) = − (15)
R3 + Rr + sLr

3.2. Zero Adjustment Based on I Regulator

In this paper, we choose R3 = R2 = 300 Ω, Rr = Rs = 36 Ω, Lr = Ls = 0.0005 H, R1 = 82 Ω,
A = 2. The JFET model is J2N4091, where R7 = R DS = −6.06Vctrl + 40.16. The integral controller
block diagram is shown in Figure 5 and the adaptive zero adjustment function is realized by the
closed-loop control method.

Vref=0 Vctrl △Lr △Vin △Vo

 I K Gi(s) A


Figure 5. Block diagram of I controller.

We can obtain the open-loop transfer function of the system according to Equation (15) without
considering the integral regulator. This is shown in Equation (16):

0.0298s
Gopen (s) = (16)
336 + 0.0005s

The logarithmic frequency characteristic curve is shown in Figure 6. It can be seen that the cut-off
frequency is 3.589 khz and the phase angle is −271.9◦ (below −180◦ ) without the regulator; thus,
the system is unstable and we need to perform correction.
The integral controller is adopted and its transfer function is shown in Equation (17):

Ki1
Gi (s) = (17)
s
The open-loop transfer function with an integral controller is shown in Equation (18):
Energies 2020, 13, 6482 8 of 15

0.0298s K
Giopen (s) = · i1 (18)
336 + 0.0005s s
The correction is carried out according to the target with a phase angle margin of 45◦ at 100 kHz,
which is calculated by the following formula:
(
| Giopen (s)| = 1,
(19)
γ = 180◦ + 6 Giopen (s) = 45◦ ,

The solution is as shown below:

Ki1 = 3.086 × 104 (20)

100
100
50

(
20 log G.vods ( f ) ) - 50
- 100

- 150
- 200
- 200
4 6
1 100 110 110
1 f 10000000

- 180
- 180

- 240

(
An G.vods ( f ) )
- 300

- 360
- 360
4 6
1 100 1 10 1 10
1 f 10000000

Figure 6. Open loop Bode diagram without regulator.

By substituting Equation (20) into Equation (18), the corrected open-loop transfer function can be
obtained as shown in Equation (21):

914.264
Giopen (s) = (21)
336 + 0.0005s

The logarithmic frequency characteristic curve is shown in Figure 7. It shows that the expected
correction effect is achieved.
It can be seen from the transfer function that the system is always stable after the I-regulator is
added. From Equation (15), it can be seen that the transfer function of the system is equivalent to
the first-order inertial link after adding the integral regulator. The output of the inertial link does not
change in proportion to the input at the beginning. Until the end of the transition process, the output
can remain proportional to the input. In order to achieve zero deviation, the system should be corrected
to a type I system.Therefore, it is necessary to cascade a PI controller; the I-PI controller is used in
this paper.
Energies 2020, 13, 6482 9 of 15

100
100

50

20 log Gvo( f )  0

50

 100
100
3 4 5 6 7
100 110 110 110 110 110
100 f 10000000
50
50

12.5

( An( Gvo( f ) ) ) 25

 62.5

 100
100
4 6
1 100 110 110
1 f 1000000

Figure 7. Open loop Bode diagram with I regulator.

3.3. Zero Adjustment Based on I-PI Regulator

The control block diagram of the integral–proportional-integral controller is shown in Figure 8.

Vref=0 Vctrl △Lr △Vin △Vo

 I PI K Gi(s) A


Figure 8. Control block diagram of the integral–proportional-integral (I-PI) controller.

The transfer function of the I-PI controller is shown in Equation (22):

0.0298s K K
Giopen (s) = · i1 · (K p2 + i2 ) (22)
336 + 0.0005s s s

Then, calculation is performed according to the following conditions:

(
| Giopen (s)| = 1,
(23)
γ = 180◦ + 6 Giopen (s) = 45◦ ,

The solution is shown below:

(
K p2 = 0.034,
(24)
Ki2 = 6.279 × 105 ,

According to the corresponding relationship between the PI parameters, resistance and

capacitance, the calculation of the I-integrator is as follows:

1
Ki1 = (25)
R10 C3

1
Ki2 = (26)
R11 C2
Energies 2020, 13, 6482 10 of 15

R12
K p2 = (27)
R11

The logarithmic frequency characteristic curve is shown in Figure 9. The schematic diagram of the
integral–proportional-integral regulating circuit is shown in Figure 10. The simulation waveforms are
shown in Figures 11–13. Compared with the steady-state error of an integral regulator, the introduction
of an I-PI controller can reduce the error.
The simulation waveform of Figure 11 is the positive input voltage waveform of the amplifier,
and Figure 12 is the negative input voltage waveform of the amplifier. Figure 13 is the output voltage
waveform. Simulations show that the input and output waveforms coincide. The upper and lower
bridge arms reach balance, and the circuit realizes the function of zero adjustment. The circuit is stable,
which verifies that the control strategy is feasible and realizes the automatic zero adjustment of the
measurement circuit in this paper.

200
200

100

20˜ log Gvo( f )  0

 100

 200
 200
4 6 8
100 1u10 1u10 1u10
100 f 100000000

0
0

 75

( An ( Gvo( f ) ) ) 150

 225

 300
 300
4 6
1 100 1u10 1u10
1 f 1000000

Figure 9. Open loop Bode diagram with I-PI regulator.

PI controller
C1 R4 R5 R6 R7
- I controller
R8 +
i2
R9 R3 +
+
-
+
R1
+
OA1 vin INA -
R11
- - R10 C2
i1 R2 C3 R12
sensor
vs i1
Ls±ΔLs Rs

Figure 10. Integral–proportional-integral regulating circuit.

80mV

40mV

0V

-40mV

-80mV
0s 2ms 4ms 6ms 8ms 10ms 12ms 14ms 16ms 18ms 20ms
V(U3:+)
Time

Figure 11. Positive input voltage waveform of amplifier.

Energies 2020, 13, 6482 11 of 15

80mV

40mV

0V

-40mV

-80mV
0s 2ms 4ms 6ms 8ms 10ms 12ms 14ms 16ms 18ms 20ms
V(R14:1)
Time

Figure 12. Negative input voltage waveform of amplifier.

40mV

0V

-40mV

-80mV

-120mV
0s 2ms 4ms 6ms 8ms 10ms 12ms 14ms 16ms 18ms 20ms
V(U3:OUT)
Time

Figure 13. Output voltage waveform of amplifier.

4. An Implementation Method for an Inductive Proximity Sensor with an Attenuation

Coefficient of 1
It can be seen from Figure 1 that when the target metal is close to the sensing surface of the
detection coil, the inductance of the detection coil changes, resulting in an inductance increment ∆Ls .
∆Ls changes with the change of the approaching distance. The variable inductance increment signal
is sent to the ADC converter in the FPGA circuit through the amplified electrical signal Vo of the
conditioning circuit. In the FPGA, the algorithm program mixer is used to form the proximity distance
table. The proximity distance table is a table drawn according to ∆Ls . This proximity distance table is
made according to the corresponding relationship between ∆Ls and Sn . The proximity distance Sn
can be obtained by querying the table. For different target metal objects, different proximity tables
are stored in the FPGA, and the distance detection of different metal targets is realized at the same
sensing distance.
The corresponding relationship between ∆Ls and the proximity Sn is stored in the FPGA in the
form of a table, and the proximity distance is obtained by looking up the table. For different metal
objects, the corresponding proximity distance table can be corrected to realize the measurement of
different metal objects at the same sensing distance; that is, an inductive proximity sensor with an
attenuation coefficient of 1 is realized. The FPGA circuit in Figure 1 mainly realizes the analog-to-digital
conversion of Vo . The proximity distance table is obtained by the mixer program. The proximity
distance Sn is queried according to Vo , and then the distance signal or switch signal is output through
the low-pass filter. The application of the FPGA reduces the use of some hardware circuits and helps
to achieve high reliability from the inductive proximity sensor.
In order to realize an inductive proximity sensor with an attenuation coefficient of 1, it is necessary
to find different tables for different metals through the FPGA in order to realize the compensation
output of different metals. The overall flow chart of the FPGA look-up table method is shown in
Figure 14 below.
As can be seen from Figure 14, the signal V0 amplified by the instrument is converted to an
analog-to-digital signal through the ADC chip. The digital signal is sent into the FPGA, and the digital
signal is used as the address of the look-up table of the FPGA to be searched through. Different target
metal objects switch different look-up tables for their signal output in order to realize the output
compensation of metals with different attenuation coefficients and the on–off switching of the inductive
proximity sensor for different metals at the same detection distance.
Energies 2020, 13, 6482 12 of 15

Analog to digital Digital to

As address
Output signal of conversion ADC chip LUT lookup analog
DAC chip Switch on and
instrument amplifier table of FPGA conversion off

Figure 14. Schematic diagram of the inductive proximity sensor with an attenuation coefficient of 1.

5. Experimental Results
The experimental results verify the efficacy of the automatic zero adjustment technology and the
inductive proximity sensor with an attenuation coefficient of 1. The FPGA chip is xc7a35tfgg484-2 from
Xilinx. The ADC chip AD9280 and DAC chip AD9708 were created by the Analog Device Company.
The instrument amplifier was INA101HP from Texas Instruments. The waveform of the voltage source
is shown in Figure 15. The output voltage Vo waveform after automatic zero adjustment by the I-PI
controller is shown in Figure 16. The picture of the prototype is shown in Figure 17. We can see that
the experimental waveforms coincide with the simulation waveforms, and the circuit achieves the
function of zero adjustment.

Figure 15. Excitation source waveform.

+input

output

-input

Figure 16. Experimental waveform.

In this paper, three kinds of metal targets are tested. Firstly, the copper is tested. The look-up table
of the FPGA is switched to the copper look-up table, and the target metal that is outside the detection
range is close to the sensor. At this time, the voltage of the multimeter is 0. When the copper reaches
the detection distance, the multimeter changes to the supply voltage of the sensor. The distance at
this time, which is the reclosing distance, is then recorded. Then, the copper is slowly moved away
from the inductive proximity sensor. When the multimeter jumps to zero again, the distance at this
time, which is the distance when it is disconnected, is then recorded. The above process is repeated,
Energies 2020, 13, 6482 13 of 15

and three sets of data are recorded. The measurement processes for A3 steel and magnesium aluminum
alloy are similar. It is only necessary to switch the FPGA look-up table to continue the experiment.
Table 1 shows the test data; the unit of distance is mm. It can be seen from Table 1 that an inductive
proximity sensor with an attenuation coefficient of 1 is realized; that is, different metal objects can be
measured at the same distance, and we can obtain the proximity distance of the object from Table 1.
The automatic zero calibration technology of the I-PI controller designed in this paper is helpful for
high-precision measurement.

Table 1. Test data sheet of different metals (unit: mm).

Target Effective Available Repeatability Distance at Reclose Return

Distance Error Action Range Accuracy Disconnection Distance Error

42.2000 43.0729 0.8729

Copper 0.9716 36.45–44.55 4.05 42.4756 43.1716 0.6960
42.3743 43.0712 0.6969

44.4238 45.1153 0.6915

A3 steel 0.7978 36.45–44.55 4.05 44.4265 45.2206 0.7941
44.5273 45.2216 0.6943

41.9885 42.6791 0.6906

Alumin 0.6948 36.45–44.55 4.05 41.9903 42.6815 0.6912
41.9917 42.6833 0.6916

Figure 17. Picture of the engineering prototype.

6. Conclusions
In this paper, a bridge differential inductance detection circuit and the FPGA are used as the
electronic measurement circuit of sensors, and automatic zero adjustment technology is proposed to
meet the consistency needs of product production and improve the efficiency of use of the design.
Because the bridge differential inductance detection circuit can effectively suppress the common
mode noise and leave an effective differential mode measurement signal, it can achieve the remote
measurement of sensors. In addition, by searching for the proximity distance table corresponding
to different metal objects in the FPGA, the measurement of different metal objects under the same
induction distance is realized; that is, measurement with an attenuation coefficient of 1 is achieved,
and the proximity of the objects can be obtained. The method studied in this paper is convenient for
the production of inductive proximity sensors for the use of customers.
Energies 2020, 13, 6482 14 of 15

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, Y.Z. and Y.F.; Methodology, Y.Z.; Software and investigation, X.X. and
W.Z.; Validation, Y.Z. and J.Y.; Formal analysis, Y.F. and X.G.; Writing—review and editing, S.C. and Y.F. All authors
have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This work was supported in part by the equipment pre-research project under Grant 31512040201-2,
in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 61873346, in part by the Open Project
Fund of Yangzhou University Jiangdu Institute of High-end Equipment Engineering Technology under Grant
YDJD201902, in part by the General competitive projects of science and technology plan in Hanjiang District
of Yangzhou City under Grant HJM2019008 and in part by the Jiangsu Natural Science Foundation under
Grant BK20181218.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Abbreviations
The following abbreviations are used in this manuscript:

FPGA Field-programmable gate array

I-PI Integral–proportional-integral
JFET Junction field-effect transistor

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