Today, advertisements for Camp Lejeune lawsuit settlements are frequently seen on cable and network TV. Another frequently cited water disaster occurred in Flint, Michigan. Detecting lead in drinking water On April 25, 2014, the City of Flint changed its water supply source from Lake Huron water (supplied by Detroit) to the Flint River. Subsequently, water […]
How can sensors protect vulnerable areas? Pt 2
Part 1 of this four-part blog addressed air quality monitoring in cities and populated areas. Less densely populated areas such as a rain forest may require different approaches. In addition, water quality monitoring in outdoor locations as well as clean drinking water from processing stations provide additional sensing opportunities. Part 2 will address these areas. […]
How can sensors protect vulnerable areas? Part 1
Clean air and water are essential for life. Protecting these valuable, essential elements, starts with sensors to detect threats from intentional or unintentional contamination. Today, available sensing technologies target different locations/areas to ensure the safe ongoing supply of fresh air and water. Using a variety of different sensing techniques, the key to broad and localized […]
How can sensors help an electrolyzer provide green hydrogen?
Energy storage is an essential part of the pursuit for the increased use of renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and hydroelectric power. Electrolyzers allow hydrogen-based storage and avoid the reliance on batteries and their raw materials such as lithium, graphite and cobalt that are frequently sourced from China. When renewable energy sources […]
How do sensors improve home appliances? Part 2
Part 1 of this blog discussed sensors in the laundry room in washing machines and dryers. In the kitchen, similar to the laundry room, basic functions can be designed in using established sensing techniques. In the typical home, the refrigerator is the second-largest consumer of electricity (13.7%), with the air conditioner being number one. So, […]
How do sensors improve home appliances? Part 1
Today’s home appliances are increasingly connected for remote monitoring and control and smarter due, in part, to numerous sensors. The sensors help even lower-end appliances implement their basic functions and, more importantly, enable smarter, top-end appliances. While sensors provide these capabilities for several home appliances, this two-part series will describe sensing functions for large appliances […]
What are submersible sensors?
The International Electrotechnical Commission’s (IEC’s) standard IEC 60529 (and International Organization for Standardization’s ISO 20653) identifies the ability of an electronic device (sensor) to withstand water or dust intrusion with IP68, IP69 and IP69K ratings. An IP68 product should prevent or withstand water ingression for a depth exceeding 1 meter as specified by the manufacturer […]
When should passive or active RFID be used?
The main difference between passive and active radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags is the absence (passive) or presence (active) of an internal power source. Because of these primary differences, there are several secondary differences. Understanding these differences is the key to properly selecting the most appropriate RFID system for a specific application. Passive RFID Since they […]
How can sensors protect a diamond center vault?
In Belgium’s’ Antwerp Diamond District, eighty percent of the world’s rough diamonds passed through a three-square-block area. The Diamond Squad, the world’s only specialized diamond police, provided 24-hour police surveillance and 63 video cameras monitored the district. In this area, the Antwerp Diamond Center vault was thought to be impenetrable. In addition to having a […]
How can sensors save energy and improve sensor node battery life?
In a battery-powered, wireless sensing node, the biggest energy consumer typically is the RF transmitter. The transceiver should have extremely low power in active, wait and even sleep modes. A one-second snapshot of the current consumption in the various portions of the transmission cycle shows the current draw of 15 mA for the 7.5-ms receive […]
