What standards impact sensors?

Sensors require compliance with many industry standards and government regulations to be acceptable for different applications. One of the more stringent and well-known areas is automotive. However, industry groups in many market segments have sensor and system requirements that may be common or unique to specific applications.

Figure 1. Many organizations require sensor conformance.

Industry-specific standards

In automotive applications, government regulations, such as European Union (EU) General Safety Regulations and various New Car Assessment Programs (NCAP), require a driver monitoring system (DMS). In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandated child presence detection (CPD) systems in new cars.

ISO26262 defines an Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) of A, B, C, or D, with D being the most critical. ISO26262 also has Safety Element out of Context (SEooC) criteria that must be met to address the requirements of complex automotive system interconnectivity.

For automated driving and autonomous vehicles (AVs), SAE has five classifications for on-road vehicles in SAE J3016, SAE Levels of Driving Automation. While sensors may not be specifically identified in this specification, they require advanced technology implementations for vehicles to progress towards the highest level (Level 5) automated vehicles.

The industrial market is another application area with many standards that impact sensors. Organizations such as ASTM International, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which also has many automotive and other market standards, as well as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and others initiate and update these standards.

For consumers, the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) Matter standard announced in October 2022 aims to provide secure and easy-to-configure interconnected products for consumer applications such as smart homes.

Consumer products safety standards are necessary for the testing and evaluation of a wide variety of consumer products addressed by ASTM International (ASTM).

For telecommunications, the next-generation communications network (6G cellular) will add sensing to its capabilities. With integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) or joint communications and sensing (JCAS), radio frequency-based sensor technologies, such as radar, can be integrated into radio communications transmissions.

Overlapping standards

Some standards overlap for many different applications. For example, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) ingress protection (IP) IEC 60529 (also ISO 20653) was developed to rate and grade the resistance of enclosures of electric and electronic enclosures, including sensor packages, to water and dust, and applies to several market segments.

The European Union (EU) European Commission developed the Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Directive (2014/30/EU) to ensure that electrical and electronic equipment does not generate, or is not affected by, electromagnetic disturbances. Products that pass testing and conformity assessment can have a CE marking affixed to inform customers.

In the U.S., the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publishes numerous standards that impact sensors, such as traceable calibration certification, to indicate that the standard used in the calibration is traceable to NIST or another recognized metrology institute (RMI). In addition, ISO/IEC 17025-accredited calibration is recognized internationally.

Unique standards

However, there are many distinct applications with rather unique requirements. Elevators, fire hydrants, and air quality standards provide examples.

For elevators and escalators, ASME A17.1-2022, or, in Canada, CSA B44-2022, defines new and clarifies existing requirements for the means of detecting persons or objects between the doors (2D sensing) or approaching the elevator (3D sensing).

To ensure that fire hydrants are ready to work, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) NFPA 291 Standard requires fire hydrant flow testing every 5 years and performing fire hydrant inspections annually. In addition, the internationally recognized Joff Standard provides guidelines for flow and pressure testing of fire hydrants to ensure sufficient water capacity is available for firefighting.

For testing outdoor air quality, ASTM International’s air quality committee developed D8406 and, more recently, D8559 to standardize performance tests and criteria for ambient outdoor air quality sensors.

Key takeaway

The important takeaway from this blog is that industry insiders know the many standards they must meet. Sensor suppliers seeking to provide their products to new markets need input from industry experts to avoid pursuing applications where standards or government regulations could exceed their current product’s capabilities or where significant effort will be required to qualify an existing product for a new application.