>I'd be interested to see any schematic you have of a simpler
>sensor, as anything that has no touching parts would have a
>servicing advantage

I would just buy the Microchip development kit. Get 
http://www.microchip.com/stellent/idcplg?IdcService=SS_GET_PAGE&nodeId=1406&dDocName=en541143 
and use the slider examples directly in your application. 

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