Save yourself time and money by following these easy guidelines By Debby McDowell, APEM Components Membrane switches are known for standing up to tough environmental conditions. Flexible and durable, the membrane switch can be customized with embossing, backlighting, sealing, and electrostatic discharge (ESD) shielding. Membrane switches can be made with either tactile or non-tactile feedback […]
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Wireless Sensing Applied to Rollercoaster Testing
Measuring the inertial force on a person when riding a roller coaster is an interesting challenge, especially when the coaster has a downhill drop of more than 45m and eight inversions. That is exactly what the Dragon Khan of PortAventura in Europe offers riders. To measure the inertial force on this and the Shambhala, a […]
Sensor Monitors Driver Fatigue, Seat Occupancy and More
Targeting automotive applications, Plessey Semiconductors’ PS25203 sensor can provide a contactless ECG measurement for driver fatigue monitoring or sensing seat occupancy. In addition to driver monitoring for health and alertness by detecting heart rate and respiration, the sensor can determine the occupancy of the car to adjust the ride, handling and air bag deployment depending […]
MEMS IMU Offers 10 DoF
Inertial measurement units (IMUs) with 10-degree-of-freedom (DoF) measurements provide greater accuracy for orientation sensing in platform stabilization, navigation and instrumentation applications. However, in addition to a tri-axis gyroscope, tri-axis accelerometer, tri-axis magnetometer and a pressure sensor, the sensor must also have a sensor fusion algorithm to combine the readings from each device. With its ADIS16480, […]
Magnetic Encoder Adds Option to Positioning Measurements
Designers who use Hall-effect sensors or optical encoders should check out the full capabilities of the Measurement Specialties, Inc. KMA36 universal magnetic encoder. Using anisotropic magneto resistive (AMR) technology to measure the magnetic field angle of an external magnet, the contactless sensor operates over a rotation of 360° as well as incremental positions along a […]
Wireless Sensing Simplified
With the addition of thermocouples and analog sensor nodes, MicroStrain’s LXRS wireless sensor network supports a broad range of measurement capabilities including temperature, acceleration, displacement, environmental, and most analog sensor inputs. The new sensing products include TC-Link wireless thermocouple nodes (1-ch, 6-ch and OEM) as well as SG-Link OEM wireless analog sensor nodes. LXRS (short […]
Monitoring Medical Fluids for Patients
In medical applications, monitoring fluid input and output is a common requirement. Although it is performed frequently, high precision is required for patient monitoring. FUTEK has developed a complete system to weigh intravenous (IV) or saline bag fluids. The LSB200 Miniature S-Beam Load Cell provides the sensing capability to measure the tensile force applied to […]
Gyro Enables the First Motion-Activated Screwdriver
Black & Decker’s GYRO 4V MAX Lithium-ion Rechargeable Screwdriver is the first of its kind product to use gyroscope technology. The gyro provides as a motion-enabled interface so users only have to rotate their wrist one quarter turn to the right for forward or left for reverse to automatically tighten or loosen screws. To get […]
Learn from Other Users’ Applications of Infrared Thermometers
If you are interested is using infrared (IR) thermometry but have concerns about what to expect when they are applied to a specific application, Raytek may be able to set your mind at ease. The company has established an online collection of end-user case studies it calls Application Success Stories. The case studies provide information […]
Easily Interface Position Transducers to Control Systems
By adding a Synchronous Serial Interface (SSI) to its Micropulse Generation 7 linear position transducer line, Balluff simplifies interfacing to popular control systems. Manufacturers that use the SSI include Allen-Bradley, Delta Computer, Siemens, Bosch Rexroth, and others. The SSI-output products have features including: Stroke lengths from 25 mm to 7620 mm Pressure rated to 600 bar; […]