Sensors Magazine articles from August 2004

Sensors Magazine archives from August 2004

Keys to the Keynotes.(Editorial)
August 1, 2004... It's ironic that in the huge, complex production involved in automotive manufacturing today [that]... the future of the industry sits in dozens of sensors," said Donald Runkle, vice chairman of Delphi Corp. Enterprise Technologies, in a keynote...

News from Sensors Expo.(Business Sense)
August 1, 2004... When Crossbow Technology, Inc. (www.xbow.com), accepted its second 2004 Best of Sensors Expo award (see page 29), a company representative announced to the crowd at the ceremony Crossbow's Smart Dust Challenge, which will award thousands of...

Calendar.(Calendar)
August 1, 2004... (see more at www.sensorsmag.com/events) NIWeek, featuring the Sound & Vibration Summit August 17-19, Austin, TX www.ni.com/niweek Workshops on Industrial Data Communications & Networking Fundamentals of OPC TCP/IP and Ethernet...

MEMS and nano news, including spintronics.(Business Sense)
August 1, 2004... A team of veterans from the nanotechnology field and the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and semiconductor industries has launched NanoVance Inc. (www.nanovance.com), which it says "uniquely addresses the challenges of commercializing...

Quantum well + quantum dots = white light.(Research & Developments)
August 1, 2004... Scientists at Los Alamos and Sandia are collaborating on making more efficient white LEDs that could lead to reduced lighting costs on a global scale. The benefits would be tremendous: lighting consumes more electrical energy per year than any...

Raman scattering lends nanoprobe versatility.(Research & Developments)
August 1, 2004... Oak Ridge researchers led by Tuan Vo-Dinh have created a nanoprobe based on a light scattering technique that can detect and analyze chemicals, explosives, drugs, and other substances at a theoretical single-molecule level. This capability...

Short takes.(Research & Developments)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Wallace Lewis and Glen Rains at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service are figuring out a way to develop a smart wasp capable of being trained to learn and remember a wide range of chemical odors. It seems that these parasitic wasps can...

Wireless mesh networking with mother nature.(AppSnaps)(MICA2, MDA300CA )
August 1, 2004... Wireless mesh networking technology, much reported on for its potential contributions to military operations and homeland security, is also at work in a nature preserve. Some of Crossbow's MICA2 family of wireless sensors have been deployed...

Air: the great goo fighter.(AppSnaps)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Dissolved oxygen measurement is a crucial step in the activated sludge process in aeration basins. And this high-coating environment is among the most challenging applications for membrane sensors. To prevent coatings, which can put the sensor...

Please color inside the lines.(AppSnaps)(observer)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... RG Engineering, Virginia Beach, VA, makes 10-color, high-speed printing machines. The company prides itself on both speed and a low rate of registration error--a mishap that puts some of the color outside the boundaries of an image. (The effect...

Developing an IR sensor array for multizone temperature measurement: single- or dual-zone IR thermopiles are already used for noncontact temperature measurement or thermal imaging. Now Melexis is developing a low-cost IR thermopile array for automotive use.(Sensor Technology and Design)
August 1, 2004... Infrared (IR) thermopile sensors measure the amount of thermal radiation in the IR region (2-15 [micro]m). Since every object emits IR radiation as a function of its own temperature, IR thermopile sensors let you measure the absolute...

The basics of fiber Bragg gratings: fiber Bragg gratings, originally developed to multiplex signals in optical networks, are now allowing sensors to detect strain, pressure, temperature changes, and other physical properties.(Sensor Technology and Design)
August 1, 2004... Fiber-optic sensors evolved from technology originally developed for telecommunications, and the wave of investment in that sector during the nineties both improved the performance of fiber sensing components and helped reduce their relative...

Dynamic precision with embeddable DSPs: as the need for precision sensing and control increases, DSP modular systems are emerging as a viable "smart" I/O tool.(Intelligent Systems)
August 1, 2004... Modern industries such as chip, disk-drive, bearing, and optical manufacturing require precision sensing and control to repeatably produce high yields and rapid throughput, and maintain stringent workpiece tolerances. As a result, the DA,...

Best of Sensors Expo awards.
August 1, 2004... Which new products on display at Sensors Expo & Conference have the greatest potential for changing the way people work? That's the question we editors keep in mind as we sort through the nominations for the Best of Sensors Expo awards. This...

Machine Vision: adding the third dimension; Electronic perception technology is a new way to make direct, rather than derived, depth measurements of target objects.(Intelligent Systems)(Cover Story)
August 1, 2004... All objects occupy three-dimensional (3D) space. Accurate electronic representations of these objects must therefore measure, calculate, or estimate in three dimensions as well. This requirement applies to all systems that attempt to find,...

Accelerometers jump into the consumer goods market: accelerometers are being incorporated into electronic devices to measure tilt, motion, position, vibration, and shock. Among the benefits are ease of use and improved performance.(Putting Sensors to Work)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2004... Micromachined silicon accelerometers have come a long way from their original airbag assignments. It's foreseeable that we will soon be interacting with more than 100 accelerometer applications every day, from PC peripherals to home networking...

Frost & Sullivan names company and new product of the year.(Business Sense)
August 1, 2004... Market research firm Frost & Sullivan (www.frost.com) has presented its 2004 Sensors Company of the Year Award to Allegro MicroSystems Inc. (www.allegro micro.com), and its 2004 Sensors New Product of the Year Award to Honeywell...

Suppliers respond to auto market growth prediction.(Business Sense)
August 1, 2004... Market researchers at Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com) forecast that automotive safety applications for semiconductors will achieve a compound growth rate greater than 10% through 2008 to a market size of nearly $6.8 billion. So...

Vibration analysis, monitoring.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The portable ZonicBook/618E from IOtech, Inc., Cleveland, OH, combines signal conditioning and DA hardware with software that determines the analysis and monitoring features of the system. The Ethernet engine is powered by a PowerPC processor....

Modbus Toolkit.(Product News)(Modbus-IDA)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Modbus-IDA, Hopkinton, MA, offers the Modbus Toolkit, a set of tools for developing and maintaining Modbus-conforming devices. It contains relevant specifications, implementation guides, and sample source code. Testing and diagnostic tools help...

Variable filter array spectrometer.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The compact, portable InfraCal variable filter array spectrometer from Wilks Enterprise, Inc., South Norwalk, CT, uses a detector array with a linear variable filter, allowing you to obtain spectra on a variety of materials in plant, field, and...

Distance measurement sensors.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... DME 5000 laser sensors from SICK, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, are for use in applications requiring precise distance measurement. The short-range sensor measures distances up to 70 m, with 0.05 mm resolution and 0.5 mm repeatability. The midrange...

Bluetooth development board.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Cobalt Blue from Vitronics Inc., Eatontown, NJ, lets you add low-power, wireless Bluetooth capability to your product. The general-purpose developer board draws 10 mW typical in standby mode and includes 8 MB flash memory, 128 KB program flash...

Temperature controller.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The Series 59 microprocessor-based temperature controller from Fenwal Controls, Ashland, MA, is a heating/cooling control for OEMs. New features include added power input choices, more sensor options, 4 relay output options, alarm and time...

Mesh networking software.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... MeshConnex software suite from MeshNetworks, Maitland, FL, is an ad hoc networking software suite targeted at wireless OEMs, allowing them to mesh-enable any radio technology. It is a cross-platform, radio-agnostic implementation of the...

Small DACs.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The nanoDAC family of DACs from Analog Devices, Inc., Norwood, MA, includes the AD5641, which is supplied in an SC-70 package and features 14-bit resolution, guaranteed monotonic behavior, and max. power consumption of 100 [micro]A at 5 V....

Long-range laser sensor.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The BOD 63M from Balluff Inc., Florence, KY, is a laser time-of-flight sensor able to detect or measure stationary or moving objects up to 6 m long or at a distance of up to 6 m. The sensor bounces a Class II laser beam off the objects and...

Pulsed laser vibrometers.(Product News)(Brimrose Corp. of America)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Brimrose Corp. of America, Baltimore, MD, offers the Opticalhead Series NMM 2000, which uses pulsed laser sources and photo-EMF sensors for noncontact vibration measurements. Sensitivity is ~nm vibration amplitudes with [micro]W avg. laser...

Tiny sensor board.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The 1.25 in. dia. MTS510CA from Crossbow Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA, is a sensor board with an accelerometer, a light, and a microphone/acoustic sensor and is designed to mate with the company's quarter-sized MICA2DOT processor/radio board....

Signal conditioner unit.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The CellMite 100 embedded digital signal conditioner from Electro Standards Laboratories, Cranston, RI, can be directly integrated into a standard strain gauge transducer to transform it into a smart sensor. It is also available as a compact...

Compact DA system.(Product News)(DataWorks, LLC.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The DAX-2408 from imc DataWorks, LLC, Madison, WI, is tailored for use in transportation engineering and testing, and features CAN busbased DA, 4 counter/encoder channels, 16 digital inputs, 8 digital/relay outputs, and universal measurement...

General-purpose accelerometer.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The Model 786T from Wilcoxon Research, Inc., Gaithersburg, MD, has an internal temperature sensor, allowing it to measure both acceleration and temperature. Sensitivity is 100 mV/g, acceleration range is 60 g peak, amplitude nonlinearity is 1%,...

TEDS accelerometers.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The 8762(X) M10 Series 20 mm cube accelerometers from Kistler Instrument Corp., Amherst, NY, measure vibration in 3 orthogonal axes and incorporate TEDS. Sensing ranges for the 3 models are 5, 10, and 50 g. In low-impedance voltage mode, the...

Humidity sensor.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The dime-sized capacitive-polymer HS-2000 Series humidity sensor from Precon Inc., Memphis, TN, provides RH and temperature outputs in either analog or digital formats. Calibrated before shipment, the sensor is accurate to [+ or -]2% RH and [+...

Vortex flowmeters.(Product News)(A.W. Co.)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... KVM Series vortex flowmeters from A.W. Co., Franksville, WI, have flow ranges from 0.4-1000 [m.sup.3]/hr. for liquids and 2.5-9750 [m.sup.3]/hr. for gases. The meters are manufactured in accordance with FDA standards, with no bores or welded...

Spread-spectrum transceiver.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... A miniature 900 MHz spread-spectrum transceiver module, the XE900SL10 from Xecom, Inc., Milpitas, CA, transmits with output power up to 10 mW and provides a range of 300 ft. or more in obstructed environments. In sleep mode, the device performs...

Industrial-grade vision sensors.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Cognex Corp., Natick, MA, offers the In-Sight 5100 and 5400 vision sensors that use a 1/3 in. CCD (640 by 480 pixels) and acquire up to 60 full frames/s (8-bit resolution), with higher speeds possible using partial acquisition. The sensors...

Sensor cables and connectors.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Automation Systems Interconnect (ASI), Inc., Carlisle, PA, offers a line of sensor cables and connectors for use with inductive, capacitive, and photoelectric sensors. The 3- and 4-wire cables are available in PVC and PUR, in standard lengths...

High-shock accelerometer.(Product News)(Model 5004)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Designed to measure shock levels to 100,000 g. the Model 5004 from Columbia Research Laboratories, Inc., Woodlyn, PA, has a 100,000 Hz natural frequency, allowing it to measure 10 [micro]s-duration shock without ringing or distortion. The...

Flexion beam load cells.(Product News)(MB490, MB491)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... MB490 strain-gauge-based load cells from DS Europe S.r.L., Milan, Italy, are for general-purpose, weighing, automation, machine tool, medical, and vehicle applications. The Series includes the Model MB491, which measures compression and has...

USB-based DA module.(Product News)(PMD-1608FS)(Data Acquisition)(Universal Serial Bus)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The PMD-1608FS from Measurement Computing Corp., Middleboro, MA, provides 8 simultaneously sampled 16-bit analog inputs with continuous multichannel sampling rates up to 100 Ksps and burst sampling rates to 200 Ksps. The 3.25 by 3.125 by 1 in....

Temperature sensor.(Product News)(DS600)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The DS600 analog-output temperature sensor from Dallas Semiconductor, Dallas, TX, measures its own temperature and outputs a voltage proportional to the temperature in [degrees]C. The factory-calibrated device has a linear voltage output, with...

Research pyrometer.(Product News)(FMP-RS spectropyrometer)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Designed for research and development, the FMP-RS SpectroPyrometer from FAR Associates, Macedonia, OH, displays and stores temperature, temperature accuracy, emissivity, and the thermal spectrum. The device uses modular optics and fiber-optic...

Communications analyzer.(Product News)(I-Spy32)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... I-Spy32 from MSE-Tetragenics, Butte, MT, is a serial communications analyzer that includes software and the compact I-Spy box to connect two serial devices. The hardware and software work together to help you troubleshoot problems with...

Mixed-signal microcontroller.(Product News)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The VMXI016-QAI16 from Goal Semiconductor, Montreal, QC, Canada, is based on a single-cycle 8051 processor and includes 56 KB flash memory, 1280 bytes of RAM, and 24 programmable I/O. It integrates a hardware arithmetic unit that can be used to...

RTD input modules.(Product News)(966EN Resistant Temperature Device)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... BusWorks 966EN modules from Acromag, Inc., Wixom, MI, interface up to 6 RTD or resistance signals directly to an Ethernet Modbus/TCP 10/100 network and do not require intelligent controllers or backplanes for operation. Each unit accepts...

Test, measurement software.(Product News)
August 1, 2004... Data Translation, Inc., Marlboro, MA, offers version 4.0.6 of both DT Measure Foundry test and measurement software and DT Measure Foundry/Real-Time Streaming. Both types of software let you create executables for royalty-free distribution. In...

Miniature proximity sensors.(Product News)
August 1, 2004... IT and IE miniature inductive sensors from IFM Efector Inc., Exton, PA, include sensors with 2 mm flush or 4 mm nonflush sensing ranges and are DC pnp, NO with a SS housing. IT miniature sensors are 6.5 mm dia. by 30 mm long with smooth bodies....

Temperature logger.(Product News)(EBI 85)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The compact, sturdy ebro EBI 85 from Dresser Instruments, Stratford, CT, has compression strength of 20 bar, an IP68 rating, and a temperature measurement range of -85[degrees]C to 85[degrees]C. Resolution is 0.1[degrees]C, accuracy is [+ or...

18-bit sampling ADC.(Product News)(ADS-953)(analog to digital converter)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... DATEL, Inc., Mansfield, MA, offers the ADS-953 sampling ADC with 18-bit resolution, 1.0 Msps sampling rate, and -95 dB peak harmonics. The device also features no pipeline delays, and its proprietary gate array provides all timing and control...

8-channel frequency counter.(Product News)(P635)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... The P635 from KineticSystems Co., LLC, Lockport, IL, is a single-width 3U module for the PXI platform, which features 8 frequency measurement channels. The module can monitor pulse sources from 0.06 Hz to 100 kHz and has filtering and...

CMOS cameras.(Product News)(complementary metal oxide semiconductors)
August 1, 2004... EDC-3000C color and EDC-3000D monochrome cameras from Electrim Corp., Princeton, NJ, use a 1.3 megapixel sensor in a 1/2 in. optical format and offer 1280 X 1024 pixel resolution for scientific and machine vision applications. The sensors...

Rotary position sensor.(Product News)(RS60)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... Designed for rugged outdoor environments, the RS60 noncontact rotary Hall effect position sensor from Power Components of Midwest, Inc., Mishawaka, IN, can be programmed to suit each application from [+ or -]20[degrees] up to [+ or...

16-channel DA modules.(Product News)(DI-710)(data acquisition)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... DI-710 Series DA modules from DATAQ Instruments, Inc., Akron, OH, provide 14 bits of resolution, up to 512 MB of memory on a removable multimedia card, a built-in channel gain scan list, and a computer interface via USB or Ethernet. Units are...

Remote facility monitoring.(Product News)(DualVision 724 system)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... To provide optimized, blended images for analysis, the DualVision 724 system from Mikron Infrared, Inc., Hancock, MI, uses separate thermal imaging and video cameras in an environmentally sealed, temperature-controlled enclosure. Software lets...

Dew point transmitters.(Product News)(rod held current meter)(RHCM-10, RHCM-20, RHCM-30)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... RHCM Series chilled-mirror dew point transmitters from Omega Engineering, Inc., Stamford, CT, have dew point accuracy of [+ or -]1[degrees]F. RHCM-10 sensor electronics are housed in a rugged enclosure that can be wall mounted, while RHCM-20...

Plug-and-play sensor boards.(Readers' Choice)(MTS400, MTS 420)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2004... MTS400/420 Series environmental monitoring boards from Crossbow Technology, Inc., San Jose, CA, are multifunction boards that incorporate sensors for temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, light, and acceleration; GPS is optional. You can...

Mel's picks.
August 1, 2004... Are you in the reliability business? Waging an ongoing battle to keep machinery running smoothly? You may want to check out reliabilityweb.com, a site dedicated to helping maintenance and reliability professionals keep everything going. There...