10 Top Sensors Products of 2010

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Top Sensors Products of 2010

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Technology Assistance BCNA 2010 S. L., - a spin-off SME, has announced a starting of production and distribution of popular IC of Universal Frequency-to-Digital Converter UFDC-1 and its high speed version UFDC-1M-16 for the first time in Europe. Both ICs are fully digital, CMOS, two-cannel universal frequency-to-digital converters that can work with any sensors from frequency-time signal domain group and convert frequency, period, its ratio and difference, duty-cycle, duty-off factor, PWM signal, time interval, pulse width and space, rotation speed, pulse number and phase shift - to - digital. The UFDC-1 and UFDC-1M-16 have a high and constant selectable accuracy (programmable from 1 to 0.001 %) in a wide frequency range up to 7.5 MHz (120 MHz), scalable resolution from to 2.5´10^-7 Hz to 45 Hz and non-redundant conversion time. Both ICs can work in 16 measuring and one generating (8 MHz, quartz stabilized rectangular pulses) modes and have 3 popular serial interfaces: RS232, I2C and SPI ...

Variable Capacitance Accelerometer Series with TEDS Capabilities. Meggitt Sensing Systems, has announced the recent introduction of Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (TEDS) capabilities into its industry best-selling Endevco® model 7290D series, allowing it to be used within larger channel count applications. The model 7290D series is a high-accuracy, variable capacitance (VC) accelerometer family, offering exceptional thermal stability, reliability and performance within flight test, engine testing and other extreme temperature testing environments. Offered in five different models with available measurement ranges from 2 g to 100 g, the patented design of the Endevco® model 7290D series (U.S. patents 4,574,327; 4,609,968; and 4,999,735) incorporates a VC sensing element with gas damping and internal over-range stops, allowing the sensor to survive significant shock and acceleration loads of up to 10,000 g, with 2.5 % total dynamic accuracy. Units feature excellent non-linearity, including hysteresis, of typically 0.2 % for ranges of 2 g to 50 g ...

Incremental Magnetic Ring Encoder. ASM Sensors, Inc. has announce the addition of new magnetic encoder rings, PMIR7 series, to the POSIROT® family. These incremental encoder magnetic rings are available in three sizes to accommodate different shaft sizes and yield up to 184,320 pulses per revolution in conjunction with the quadrature encoder read head, PMIS4 series. Both units were designed to operate in harsh environments. This non-contact incremental encoder system consists of a magnetoresistive read head, PMIS4, and a dual channel magnetic ring, PMIR7. The sensor head is completely enclosed in a metal housing and generates the industry standard A, B, Z output pulses for quadrature detection with reference mark. The PMIR7 magnetic rings come in three sizes that can be quickly press-fitted onto 27, 35 or 50 mm shaft diameters. This precise and robust encoder system can generate up to 184,320 pulses per revolution ...

New Flow Meter for Compressed Air and Gases. Only by knowing your exact compressed air and process gas costs will you be able to unearth significant savings potentials. Irrespective of pressure and temperature, the EE771 flow meter from E+E Elektronik measures mass flow or volumetric flow in your supply system with the greatest accuracy. The flow meter can be used effectively to measure the consumption of compressed air, nitrogen, helium, argon, oxygen or other non-corrosive gases.The design of the new EE771 flow meter is based on the direct thermal mass flow measuring principle. At its heart is an E+E hot-film sensor element proven over several million installations in the automotive industry. Two outputs are available. They can be configured either as analogue outputs (current or voltage), switching outputs or pulse outputs for measuring consumption ...

The Most Accurate and Durable Smart Position Sensor Available in the Industry Today. Honeywell has introduced the SMART Position Sensor, 75 mm Linear Configuration, the most accurate linear position sensor available in the industry (0,05 mm [0.002 in]), enabling highly accurate motion control, and improving operation efficiency and safety. Its simple, non-contact design eliminates mechanical failure mechanisms, reducing wear and tear, improving reliability and durability, and minimizing downtime. "SMART" stands for Superior Measurement, Accuracy, Reliability, and Thinking. The SMART Position Sensor can essentially think for itself. It uses a patented combination of an ASIC and an array of magnetoresistive (MR) sensors to determine the position of a magnet attached to a moving object. For design engineers, the SMART Position Sensor provides design and interface flexibility because of its air gap of up to 3,0 ± 2,5 mm [0.118 ± 0.098 in] between the sensor and the magnet, and a variety of output options (analog standard; CAN bus and RS232 interface available) ...

PowerMeter Designs for Smart Energy Monitoring. Microchip Technology Inc., has announced the result of its strategic partnership with Google PowerMeter-the first Reference Implementation of the Google PowerMeter API for embedded developers. Designers now have a quick and easy way to enter the global energy-conservation market, by creating products for the measurement and monitoring of energy usage with Microchip's Google PowerMeter Reference Implementation and its broad portfolio of 16- and 32-bit PIC(r) microcontrollers, energy-measurement ICs, Ethernet controllers, and radios for ZigBee and embedded Wi-Fi wireless networking. "Google is helping to foster an ecosystem of devices and utilities that will provide consumers with access to their energy information, and we're excited to be working with Microchip, a strategic partner in enabling consumer devices," said Ed Lu, Google PowerMeter program manager for advanced projects. "Microchip's Reference Implementation of the Google PowerMeter API will make it much easier to create products that are compatible with Google PowerMeter." ...

High-Performance, Low-Power MEMS Gyroscope Enables Applications in Harsh Industrial Environments. New applications for MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) motion sensors are evolving in the industrial automation, medical, and instrumentation markets where much higher performance is required than is typically found in motion sensors designed for consumer applications. To address this growing demand for more accuracy, stability, and high vibration and shock resistance, Analog Devices, Inc. has developed the high-performance, low-power ADXRS450 iMEMS® gyroscope with digital output specifically for angular rate (rotational) sensing in harsh environments. Leveraging ADI’s previous three generations of industry-leading MEMS gyroscopes, this fourth-generation device features an advanced, differential quad-sensor design that enables it to operate accurately under intense shock and vibration conditions ...

16-bit Sensor Signal Conditioner with Integrated DSP for High Accuracy Measurements. ZMD AG, has introduced a class-leading 16-bit sensor signal conditioning IC (SSC). Developed for resistive bridge sensors, the ZSSC3017 combines high accuracy amplification, 16-bit precision analog-to-digital conversion, and an 18-bit DSP for linearization and calibration functions. The highly integrated CMOS device offers performance accurate enough for altimeter/barometer systems, data merging with GPS receivers, strain gauges, medical gas and infusion pumps, and robotics. The conversion characteristics of resistive sensor bridges are generally non-linear and temperature-dependent. Sophisticated signal processing for amplification, linearization and compensation of the effects of the temperature is required. To deliver the highest possible accuracy, the ZSSC3017 features an analog front end with multiple flexible programming options, including an on-chip temperature sensor and fully differential signal paths. The IC topology uses a second-order charge-balancing ADC leading to less than ±0.5 % (FSO) accuracy error over the full industrial temperature range of -40 to +85 °C ...

Lightweight, Miniature Triaxial IEPE Accelerometer Family. Kistler Instrument Corporation has announced the North American market debut of Type 8766A, a new range of lightweight, miniature triaxial PiezoStar® IEPE accelerometers. These high-precision sensors offer simultaneous shock and vibration measurement capabilities in three orthogonal axes, with exceptional stability and performance across a very wide range of frequencies and operating temperatures. Available in ranges of ±50 g, ±250 g and ±500 g, the low-noise Type 8766A incorporates Kistler’s own proprietary PiezoStar® shear element crystal technology, together with high-gain internal hybrid microelectronics, to produce a sensor that can reliably operate over a wide dynamic frequency range, yet offer ultra low sensitivity variation over its operating temperature range, with high immunity to base strain errors. Available options include a high temperature version to +329 °F (+165 °C) and TEDS capabilities for larger channel count applications ...

Highest-resolution Miniature Digital Pressure Sensor Module with Ultra-low Power Consumption for Long Battery-life. Measurement Specialties, has just released for production, the Model MS5607-B digital pressure sensor featuring 24-bit resolution and the industry’s lowest current consumption. This device also features a fast conversion rate of 0.6 ms at 8-bit resolution to 8.3 ms at 24-bit resolution. Current consumption of 0.9 uA at one conversion per second (8-bit) to 12.5 uA  (24-bit) and resolution selection per conversion enables optimum application-specific power–performance trade-offs to be realized. This device is optimized for ultra-high precision pressure measurements in the 10 to 1300 mbar range allowing development of personal navigation (PND),  personal location devices (PLD), smart-phone inertial-navigation, in-building navigation and social alarm applications down to 5 cm ...