Weighing system based on MEMS resonators

A commercial weighing system, designed with a nominal measurement range spanning from 1g to 5kg, has been upgraded by integrating the resonant MEMS strain sensor. This enhancement serves as a demonstration of the potential applications of these sensors in manufacturing weighing systems with a significantly improved dynamic range and bandwidth.

Weighing system

Load cell upgrated with the MEMS sensor

Load tests within a narrow weight range 

The commercial strain gauge exhibits an equivalent noise voltage of approximately 1 µV, setting a weight resolution limit of 2 g. In contrast, the MEMS strain sensors achieve an impressive resolution limit of around 13.7 mg. During the experiments, with the adopted measurement time, the system demonstrates a dynamic range (mmax/mmin) of 107 dB when using MEMS sensors, surpassing the 68 dB range achievable with commercial metal strain gauges. This underscores the promising potential of MEMS-based strain sensing technology in the development of weighing systems with enhanced performance. Such advancements hold significance across various industrial fields, including automatic packaging and biomedical engineering.