Potential Study of Parallel Dipoles Line Technology as Tiltmeter Sensor for Geotechnical Applications

Abstract Tiltmeters with high accuracy and sensitivity are indispensable for various geotechnical applications, including soil deformation monitoring, structural inclination analysis, and seismic activity assessment. This study proposes a novel tiltmeter system utilizing Parallel Dipole Line (PDL) technology, where a diamagnetic graphite cylinder is levitated within a camelback potential field generated by parallel magnetic dipoles. Variations in the vertical position of the graphite cylinder correspond to tilt angles, which are captured by a high-resolution imaging system and processed using a Jetson Nano microcomputer for real-time analysis. Experimental results show that shorter graphite lengths can increase the measurement range. One of the test results is that 6 mm graphite can measure inclination in the range of -1.00000° to +0.99999°. In contrast, longer graphite, such as 12 mm, only reaches a range of -0.60000° to +0.60434°. In addition, the increase in graphite length and the reduction in magnet dimensions significantly help reduce oscillations during measurement, which ultimately improves system stability. The optimized PDL-based tiltmeter is capable of detecting inclination with a high resolution of up to 10⁻⁵ degrees, with critical damping used to eliminate oscillatory interference. These findings confirm that the PDL tiltmeter system offers much better precision, stability, and durability than conventional