MEMS Report Projects Enthusiasm for the Future and Includes Sensor Analysis

Many sensors use microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology.  Yole Developpement’s recently released “Status of the MEMS industry 2010” report provides an update on gyroscopes , accelerometers, pressure sensors and more. The report analyzes the evolution of the industry from the manufacturing and innovation points of views, and the strategies of the main players. The report includes information about leading players such as STM, Bosch, InvenSense (as a fabless) that are taking advantage of structural changes occurring in the industry. Sensors are among the key MEMS products at these companies.

For more information on Yole Developpement’s “Status of the MEMS industry 2010“, click here.

How Pressure Sensors Can Help Your Golf Swing

Sensosolutions SensoGlove embeds four tiny pressure sensors into a golf glove to analyze the pressure that the golfer is exerting during his/her swing. Contrary to natural instinct, an excessively tight grip does not usually provide the expected results. To achieve the right amount of pressure, a target pressure level from 1-to-18 can be set and a 1.2-inch LED display on the glove displays the actual pressure and warns if it is exceeded. Audio and visual feedback is provided 80 times per second. The sensors are located to show the user which fingers are gripping too tightly, so the grip can be adjusted accordingly.

For more information about the technology (or ordering) Sensosolutions SensoGlove, click here.

Electro-Pneumatic Analog Circuit-Card Servo Pressure Transducers

Marsh Bellofram Type 3110 and Type 3120, a series of single- (3110) and double-loop (3120) electro-pneumatic analog circuit-card servo pressure transducers are designed for space-conscious, high-performance, economical air pressure monitoring applications.

With a footprint of 2 x 2.8 inches (50.8 x 71.12 mm) and available analog monitor output ranges from 29” Hg to 600 psig, the transducers  offer user selectable, configurable (zero and span) industry standard 0-10 VDC or 4-20 mA control signals. Also, custom signal outputs are available upon request.

Two manifold block configurations are available. The first style has front ports to facilitate direct panel mounting or seamless insertion into a DIN-rail adapter tray. The second has bottom ports targeting use within multi-unit manifold system applications. An onboard pressure transducer mounted within the manifold block can achieve ±0.5% full scale accuracy.

For more information about Marsh Bellofram electro-pneumatic analog circuit-card servo pressure transducers, click here.

Portable Reflectometer Addresses Requirements in Short Optical Fiber Applications

At some point, a sensor becomes complex enough to be designated an instrument. This is the case with reflectometers.  Luna Technologies Optical Backscatter Reflectometer (OBR) 4200 is a new generation, portable, ultra-high resolution reflectometer. Designed to provide advanced inspection and diagnostic capabilities to manufacturers and installers of fiber optic assemblies and short (<500 m) networks, the units have 1000x higher resolution than the Optical Time Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) designs.  With no dead-zone and < 3 mm spatial resolution, additional measurement capabilities include: -120 dB sensitivity and 0.1 dB Insertion loss resolution.

The OBR 4200 can be used in telecommunications and data networking, commercial and military avionics, medical imaging systems, and fiber sensing applications for monitoring of infrastructure such as bridges, dams and oil pipelines.

For more information about Luna Technologies Optical Backscatter Reflectometer (OBR) 4200, click here.

Endress+Hauser Introduces Four New Analytical Sensors

The  new IP68-rated Memosens analytical sensors are “plug and play” compatible with the company’s recently announced Liquiline M CM442 four-wire, two-parameter transmitter.

The Oxymax COS61D is an Optical Dissolved Oxygen sensor that uses the luminescence principle of fluorescence quenching. It has a measuring range of 0-20 mg/l (20 ppm).

The Indumax CLS50D is a non-contacting inductive conductivity sensor that uses the toroidal principle of electrodeless conductivity. It is capable of measuring from 2µS/cm to 2,000 mS/cm.

The Turbimax CUS51D uses three different techniques to measures turbidity/suspended solids sensor. It is capable of measuring 0-9,999 NTU/0-150 g/L.

The Viomax CAS51D photometric sensor uses UV absorption for concentration measurements. The CAS51D sensor is offered with measuring ranges of 0.1 to 50 mg/l, or 0.01 to 20 mg/l NO3-N.

For more information on Endress+Hauser IP68-rated Memosens analytical sensors, click here.

Four-wire, Two-parameter Transmitter Reduces Cost / Saves Space

Endress+Hauser’s Liquiline CM442 is a four-wire, two-parameter transmitter for analytical sensing applications. By accepting data from any two of the company’s Memosens sensors such as turbidity/suspended solids,  nitrate, SAC (UV254), ISE, dissolved oxygen, pH/ORP, chlorine, concentration and  conductivity, the transmitter avoids the cost of a second device and saves space with a simplified system.

Powered by 100-230Vac 50/60 Hz, 24Vac 50/60 Hz, or 24Vdc, the transmitters conform to Type 4X (IP66/IP67) and are NRTL certified for conformance to UL standard 61010-1 for installation in appropriate environments. The transmitters also have a single alarm output, two 4-20mA analog outputs and a backlit display.

For more information about Endress+Hauser’s Liquiline CM442 transmitter, click here.

Measuring Surface Contact and Pressure Distribution Between a Heat Sink and Its Source

Sensor Products Inc.’s Tactilus heat-sink analysis system uses a flexible sensor and hub to display heat sink data on a PC for heat-generating chips such as a CPU. Since it is flexible and only 0.015-in. thick (0.38 mm), the sensor can be placed between the CPU and heat sink without affecting the assembly. Data can easily be gathered to precisely test and correct the surface contact and pressure distribution between the heat sink and its source.

With a total sensing area of 2 in. × 2 in., the sensor pad has 625 resistive sensing points arrayed on a 25 × 25 grid. The scan speed is up to 1,000 Hertz, and the operating pressure range is 0 to 100 psi (0 to 7 kg/cm2). Accuracy is ± 10%; repeatability is ± 2%; hysteresis is ± 5%; and non-linearity is ± 1.5%.

For more information about Sensor Products Tactilus heat-sink analysis system, click here.

Reverse Engineering Process & Costing Analysis of the STMicroelectronics 3-Axis Accelerometer

Finding out how a particular sensor is constructed can provide some helpful information, especially for a competitor.  However, potential users may also want to know more about what is inside a sensor that they are considering – before they decide to purchase it. For STMicroelectronics LIS331DLH 3-Axis Accelerometer, Yole Developpement has just published a reverse engineering process & costing analysis report.

The report includes:  

    – Detailed photos & material analysis

    – Schematic assembly description

    – Manufacturing process flow & cost breakdown

    – In-depth economical analysis & selling price estimation

 Yole also has analysis for other MEMS products fom Bosch Sensortec accelerometer, InvenSense and Epson gyroscopes, Freescale TPMS, Knowles microphone, TI DLP, and more. For more info click here.

For more information about Yole Developpement analysis of the STMicro LIS331DLH 3-Axis Accelerometer, click here.

Cypress Semiconductor’s FirstTouch Starter Kit includes Kionix Accelerometer

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation selected the Kionix KXSC7 accelerometer for use in the new CY8CKIT-014 PSoC5 FirstTouch Starter Kit. The kit is based on the PSoC 5 programmable system-on-chip architecture that uses the 32-bit ARM® Cortex-M3 processor.

The KXSC7 series of Tri-axis, 2g-6, analog accelerometers have low-power consumption and several preset internal low-pass filters with an option for user-definable bandwidth if required for the application. 

In addition to the Kionix accelerometer, the starter kit includes a Thermistor, Proximity Sensing, a CapSense® touch-sensing interface, I/O’s, projects and software to allow users to evaluate PSoC5.

For more information and to order Cypress Semiconductor CY8CKIT-014 PSoC5 FirstTouchTM Starter Kit ($49.00), click here.

For more information about Kionix KXSC7 accelerometer, click here.