Sensors Magazine articles from August 2003

Sensors Magazine archives from August 2003

The unexpected power of sensor data: moving from univariate data to multivariate data, you can see an overall pattern emerge.(Editorial)
August 1, 2003... "PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE the value of sensor data," said John Kerastas of SmartSignal, a company with an interesting perspective on sensors. Smart Signal's patented Equipment Condition Monitoring software relies on sensor data to deliver on its...

BN Ventures.(Agreements, Acquisitions, Etc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... BN Ventures (Fremont, CA) has been founded by two MEMS industry pioneers, Janusz Bryzek and Steven Nasiri. Both were cofounders of several MEMS-based companies, including NovaSensor, ICSensors, and Sensym. BN Ventures is targeting development...

Applied Science Laboratories.(Agreements, Acquisitions, Etc.)(approved supplier to General Services Administration Federal Supply Service)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Applied Science Laboratories (ASL, Bedford, MA, www.a-s-l.com) is now an approved supplier to the General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Service, giving the company an easy and cost-effective inroad into the U.S. Government. ASL,...

Indigo Systems.(Agreements, Acquisitions, Etc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Indigo Systems (Goleta, CA, www.indigosystems.com) is offering rental of several IR camera product lines for a week or longer, along with optional filters, lenses, and digital DA and analysis software.

Cognex Corp.(Agreements, Acquisitions, Etc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Cognex Corp. (Natick, MA, www.cognex.com), supplier of machine vision systems and sensors, has become certified as an Authorized Provider by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) to award Continuing...

Calendar.(Business Sense)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Understanding and Applying Machine Vision Sensors through November 20,100 U.S.cities www.cognex.com/seminar International Wireless Symposium 2003 September 22-23, San Diego, CA www.iws2003.com Sensors Expo & Conference Fall 2003 New...

The MicroOptical Corp.(Agreements, Acquisitions, Etc.)(MicroOptical Corp. )(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The MicroOptical Corp. (Westwood, MA, www.microoptical.net) has introduced a color eyewear system featuring Bluetooth wireless technology, allowing hands-free, head-up viewing of images from compatible PDAs and PCs. It is available to...

GE Industrial Systems (Plainville, CT, www.geindustrial.com), a $6 billion unit of General Electric, has acquired SI Pressure Instruments (www.si-pressure.com), provider of pressure instruments and measurement systems for such industries as aerospace, automotive, food, and oil and gas.(Agreements, Acquisitions, Etc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... GE industrial Systems (Plainville, CT, www.geindustrial.com), a $6 billion unit of General Electric, has acquired SI Pressure Instruments (www.si-pressure.com), provider of pressure instruments and measurement systems for such industries as...

Schneider Electric (Palatine, IL, www.squared.com) has acquired Hyde Park Electronics, Inc., which pioneered ultrasonic sensor technology.(Agreements, Acquisitions, Etc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Schneider Electric (Palatine, IL, www.squared.com) has acquired Hyde Park Electronics, Inc., which pioneered ultrasonic sensor technology. Founded and located in Dayton, OH, Hyde Park this year celebrated its 40th anniversary as a family...

According to TemperatureSensorNews by Temperatures.com, the recent SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) scare has had a huge impact on the temperature sensor community and businesses.(Market Trends)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... According to TemperatureSensorNews by Temperatures.com, the recent SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) scare has had a huge impact on the temperature sensor community and businesses. Developers have been churning out new product releases,...

Smart seats focus on the fidget factor.(Research & Developments)(QinetiQ)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... When was the last time you had a center seat on a long flight and were tormented by a neighbor who just wouldn't be still? It turns out that the squirmer might be forestalling deep-vein thrombosis (DVT), or, on a more ominous note, planning to...

Through-wall vision speeds rescue operations.(Research & Developments)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Those unfortunate souls trapped under rubble after an earthquake, fire, or explosion have a much better chance of rescue and survival if they are found right away. Hostage-taking is a similarly grim scenario. Cambridge Consultants Ltd. has...

Winning the weevil war--it helps to know the enemy.(Research & Developments)(controlling crop pests)
August 1, 2003... The journey of wheat, rye, barley, and other grains from seed stock to table is long and tortuous. Farmers must contend with sometimes adverse soil and climatic conditions, weeds, and insects. Still, once the crops are harvested and binned,...

Getting it right the first time.(App snaps: application snapshots that show how handy a sensor can be.)(Boeing's Delta IV rocket fitted with FARO Technologies' laser tracker)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... On March 10, 2003, Boeing's Delta IV rocket successfully deployed into space the first satellite for the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Venicle program. On the scene was a FARO laser tracker, helping with measurement tasks critical to...

Setting the ideal air gap for a jet engine.(App snaps: application snapshots that show how handy a sensor can be.)(Capacitec Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Running a jet aircraft engine efficiently means tight control of the amount of air passing by the outer fan blades and on to the first-stage compressor. The way to accomplish this is to set the ideal air gap between the ends of the blades...

Giving colors a voice.(App snaps: application snapshots that show how handy a sensor can be.)(Color Teller )(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... That man in the yellow suit, green shirt, and purple tie might be trying to keep the spirit of Mardi Gras alive in January, or he might simply be color blind. And the woman buying a sack of grey snap beans is probably blind, period. Now they...

The role of Thermal Imaging in a predictive maintenance program: does your manufacturing or process equipment have heartburn? IR imaging will let you know for sure.(Sensor Technology And Design)
August 1, 2003... Whatever you're manufacturing or processing, your equipment and the systems comprising it have to work right--all the time. Failure can be disastrous in the liquor pumps used for pulp and paper processing, high-speed rotary stick packagers in...

Building an engine simulator for ECU testing: challenged to develop an engine simulator for hardware-in-the-loop testing of engine controller modules, engineers turned to FPGA-based reconfigurable I/O boards, enabling real-time simulation with precise, flexible timing and synchronization of I/O signals.(Intelligent Systems)(Woodward Industrial Controls; testing engine control systems )
August 1, 2003... Woodward Industrial Controls works closely with engine and turbine OEMs to develop efficient control systems. The company provides speed and load controls, as well as emission, generator, compressor, turbocharger, and ignition controls for...

Using off-the-shelf components for high-precision motion control systems: in a climate of ever-increasing cost pressures, engineers are using PC-based motion control systems to help them automate their processes more easily. And they're using off-the-shelf components to do it.(Motion)
August 1, 2003... Motion control systems have been used for a number of years to automate processes, but implementing them wasn't for the faint of heart. As the technology improves, engineers are constantly finding new applications with demanding accuracy and...

Tunable lasers for multichannel fiber-optic sensors: tunable lasers, highly manufacturable and cost-effective, are opening new opportunities for multichannel fiber Bragg grating sensors using single-fiber and single-laser technology in multiple-point interrogation systems.(Sensor Technology And Design)
August 1, 2003... Fiber-optic sensors are becoming more and more popular for measuring strain, temperature, pressure, angular rotation speed, acceleration, and many other parameters. These devices are immune to EMI and can work in harsh chemical and radioactive...

Detecting out-of-balance conditions with MEMS technology.(Putting Sensors To Work)
August 1, 2003... A vigorous spin cycle in your washing machine makes less work for the dryer, but high spin rates can shake your washer to pieces. To keep that from happening, this MEMS accelerometer detects off-balance load conditions and helps correct the...

The Spring 2003. Best of Sensors Expo Awards.(Sensors Expo Special Report)
August 1, 2003... The future centers on sensors The products on display at Sensors Expo are changing the world," said Barbara Goode, editor in chief of Sensors, as she introduced the Best of Sensors Expo awards ceremony at the June event in Chicago....

Tire pressure monitor.(Product News)(from Motorola Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Motorola, Inc., Semiconductor Products Sector, Phoenix, AZ, often the MPXY8020A pressure sensor that, incorporated into remote sensing modules, mounts onto valve stems or wheel wells. The low-power, small sensor is offered as a 4-part chip set...

Moisture-proof temperature sensors.(Product News)(BetaTHERM)(Galway)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... BetaTHERM, Shrewsbury, MA, and Galway, Ireland, offers NTC thermistor-based moisture-proof probes that feature an overmolded design. These sensors are suited for a range of applications, from evaporator coil and industrial case refrigeration to...

Short-range RF products.(Product News)(Microchip Technology Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... For short-range unidirectional RF communications, Microchip Technology Inc., Chandler, AZ, offers 3 microcontrollers with integrated transmitters and 2 receivers, supporting frequency bands from 260-930 MHz. Combining the rfPIC12F675...

Piezoelectric accelerometer.(Product News)(from Endevco Corp.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Weighing 1 g, the Model 2222D from Endevco Corp., San Juan Capistrano, CA, is an industry-standard miniature accelerometer designed for vibration and shock measurement of lightweight objects. Featuring a flexible dynamic range when used with a...

High-res magnetic encoder.(Product News)(from Encoder Devices)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... ED-14 Series encoders from Encoder Devices, Plainfield, IL, are available in standard resolutions of 100, 128, 256, 500, 512, and 1024 quadrature ppr with shafts, housings, and terminations that can be modified to fit existing or unique...

Radiometric software.(Product News)(from Indigo Systems)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... RTools from Indigo Systems, Goleta, CA, is a software toolkit for acquiring, radiometrically calibrating, processing, analyzing, and archiving data from advanced digital IR imaging systems. RTools contains the RDac module for real-time DA; RCal...

Miniature accelerometer.(Product News)(from PCB Piezotronics Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Designed for shock testing and stress screening of PCBs, disc drive mechanisms, cellular phones, PDAs, and other electronic items, the Model 352B01 from PCB Piezotronics, Inc., Vibration Div., Depew, NY, is a 0.7 g, 8 by 6 mm ICP accelerometer...

Small sensor/connector combo.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Balluff Inc., Florence, KY, introduces the M5 small sensor connector and a family of 10-30 VDC sensors designed for use with it. Sensors have 4 mm dia. (smooth barrel) and 5 mm dia. (threaded barrel); M5x0.5 locking ring connector cables have...

Test data management software.(Product News)(VI Technology Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Arendar .NET software from VI Technology, Inc., Austin, TX, lets you create a centralized relational database for your test stations, allowing you to configure, store, and retrieve test data from any location at any time. The software is...

Temperature/humidity sensors.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Washdown Series combination humidity/temperature sensors from Automation Components Inc. (ACI), Middleton, WI, are designed for washdown or wipedown areas. Suited for HVAC or monitoring applications involving cleanrooms, laboratories, and...

2-wire gear-tooth sensor.(Product News)(from Allegro MicroSystems Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The 8.0 mm dia. by 5.5 mm long ATS645 from Allegro MicroSystems, Inc., Worcester, MA, is a differential digital gear-tooth sensor with a 2-wire, back-biased package, peak detecting algorithms, and automatic gain control. Capable of true...

Compact flash A/D card.(Product News)(Analog and Digital Peripherals Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... A compact flash 16-bit A/D card, the DATAQ CF2 from Analog & Digital Peripherals, Inc. (ADPI), Troy, OH, is programmable with Windows CE and can be used with handheld PCs and compact-flash-adapted laptops. The Type 2 compact flash card offers 6...

Open-channel portable flowmeter.(Product News)(from TTI Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Mainstream Portable from TTI, Inc., Williston, VT, is an ultrasonic area-velocity flowmeter for open channels and partly filled pipes. It is suitable for use on any liquid containing bubbles or suspended solids, since its velocity probe...

Narrow-angle tilt sensor.(Product News)(Fredericks Co.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The True-Tilt metal electrolytic tilt sensor from The Fredericks Co., Huntingdon Valley, PA, has an angle range of [+ or -]3[degrees], resolution of 1 arc-second, and null repeatability of [less than or equal to] 5 arc-seconds. Featuring...

Dew-point, RH transmitter.(Product News)(from Kahn Instruments Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Optidew from Kahn Instruments, Inc.; Wethersfield, CT, measures dew point from -76[degrees]F to 194[degrees]F (or 0.5%-100% RH) with accuracy of [+ or -] 0.36[degrees]F dew point. Offered in wall (with integrated sensor), bench/panel (with...

Tiny combustible gas sensor.(Product News)(from City Technology Ltd.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Designed for use in fixed and portable instruments for industrial safety applications, the MICROpeL 75 from City Technology, Ltd., Portsmouth, U.K., is a 17 x 17 x 4 mm pellistor that uses catalytic combustion to measure combustible gases or...

Measurement system.(Product News)(Lion Precision)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The GageMaster flora Lion Precision, St. Paul, MN, is a reconfigurable multichannel system for measuring displacement, vibration, thickness, high-speed motion, and spindle error motions, and includes 2 channels for capacitive and/or inductive...

Signal analyzer and recorder.(Product News)(OROS)(Dulles)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... OROS, Meylan, France, and Dulles, VA, offers the portable OR36, with 4, 8, 12, or 16 channels, 40 kHz real-time bandwidth, and software for noise and vibration R&D and test measurements. Other features include [+ or -] 40 V range, 24-bit...

MEMS dynamics analyzer.(Product News)(from Polytec PI Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The MMA-300 from Polytec PI, Inc., Auburn, MA, is an integrated laser Doppler vibrometry and stroboscopic video microscopy system for full-field 3D characterization of MEMS dynamics. The MSV-300 scanning laser vibrometer maps out-of-plane...

Polarization-maintaining fiber.(Product News)(Coming Inc.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Coming Inc., Photonic Technologies, Corning, NY, offers PM polarization-maintaining flame-retardant optical fiber, suitable for use in telecommunications applications that require low flammability and in sensors, systems requiring a vacuum, and...

Dual-gas analyzer.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Sensor Electronics, Minneapolis, MN, offers a dual-gas optical analyzer that simultaneously monitors and measures two gases. The gas family spectrum covers ~70 hydrocarbons as well as carbon dioxide and water vapor, allowing the analyzer to...

Chilled-mirror hygrometers.(Product News)(from GE General Eastern Instruments)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Optica Series chilled-mirror hygrometers from GE General Eastern Instruments,Wilmington, MA, offer NIST-traceable humidity, temperature, and pressure measurements as well as data logging and Ethernet connectivity. The units are available in...

Ultrasonic level transmitter.(Product News)(from K-TEK Corp.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Ksonik III from K-TEK Corp., Prairieville, IA, continuously measures level in challenging liquid and solid applications over spans to 60 m with 0.25% F.S. accuracy. Electronic circuitry provides instant variable gain and power control of...

Low-cost magnetostrictive sensor.(Product News)(from MTS Systems Corp.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The EP2 position sensor from MTS Systems Corp., Sensors Div., Cary, NC, is equipped with preassembled, shielded wire connections and electronics in a small, robust package suited for specialty machine designers. Each sensor has a waveguide...

6 DOF acceleration data recorder.(Sensors Express Readers' Choice)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Measuring and recording triaxial linear acceleration as well as angular rates for roll, pitch, and yaw, the MotionMaster from Instrumented Sensor Technology, Inc. (IST), Okemos, MI, is battery powered and can record data for up to several days....

Web picks.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... If you're a PIC microcontroller pro, you may already know about PICList.com, a site dedicated to the PIC and other, similar microprocessors. If you're just beginning to work with microcontrollers, check out the site. You'll find a moderated...

Check these out!(Web Picks)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... FYI: The following companies have recently created a Web site, redesigned an existing one, or added new materials or tools. New/Redesigned Actaris, Neptune Liquid Measurement Div. www.neptuneflowmeter.com Active Sensors Ltd....

Quick poll www.sensorsmag.com.(Web Picks)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... Quick Poll appears on the Sensors Online site and is updated every two weeks. At left you can see how Sensors Online visitors weighed in on a recent question. Cast your vote in the current Quick Poll on our homepage, www.sensorsmag.com. ...

Quote of the month.(Web Picks)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. Sameul Johnson (1709)-1784)