Sensors Magazine articles from August 2006

Sensors Magazine archives from August 2006

Special report.(sensorsand wireless technology)(Report)
August 1, 2006... The biennial MEMS conference held in Hilton Head, SC--officially known as The Solid State Sensors, Actuators, and Microsystems Workshop, but commonly called simply "Hilton Head"--is an inspiring event. It's the most prestigious workshop in the...

Technologies help prepare and respond.(WIRELESS, ENVIRONMENTAL)
August 1, 2006... Advance warning, leading to community preparedness and potential evacuation, is the best way to mitigate the effects of natural disasters," says Frank Koester, vice president and director of ITT Space Systems Div., Commercial and Space Science...

LBS incorporates sensors.(WIRELES)(Slocation-based services, Omnilink Systems Inc)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Cell phone providers promote location-based services (LBS) as a way to send custom messages to subscribers based on their location--as reported by GPS or radiolocation and triangulation. Now LBSs are beginning to incorporate sensors. ...

Apple and Nike instrument workouts.(CONSUMER PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... Nike's new shoes incorporate sensors that communicate with Apple's iPod to display time, distance, and pace, as well as calories burned. Runners can review workout stats by run, or by week or month. www.apple.com/enews/2006/06/01enews1.html

Sensors Expo demos linearization, wireless progress.(PRODUCT TRENDS)
August 1, 2006... Tau Research, the sensors business of Australian company Science Logic Pty Ltd., presented at Sensors Expo new technology that can allow sensor circuits to approach the theoretical limits of linearity performance. Science Logic CEO Carl...

Touchscreen table.(MEDIA WATCH)
August 1, 2006... CNN reports that Mitsubishi's new Diamond-Touch is a PC screen on a tabletop. People sit around it in specially equipped chairs and use their fingers to create and manipulate "objects" with the help of touch sensors embedded in the tabletop...

Tattletale parking meters.(MEDIA WATCH)
August 1, 2006... Cities such as New York and Baltimore have installed sonar-based parking meters that detect when a space is occupied and reset when a car moves out, says The Detroit News. The meters not only generate more income for the city but also allow...

What's your use of contact vs. noncontact sensors?(QUICK POLL)
August 1, 2006... What's your use of contact vs. noncontact sensors? Significantly more contact 0% Significantly more noncontact 55% Somewhat more noncontact 27% About Even 9% Somewhat more contact 9% ...

Calendar.(Calendar)
August 1, 2006... Get an updated list of sensor-relevant industry events: www.sensorsmag.com/events

Mesh sensor networking.(HANDY NEW PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... Accsense Inc., Santa Barbara, CA, offers a line of wireless sensor Pods that measure ambient temperature, humidity, light, noise, and vibration and automatically form a secure, self-healing mesh network with a wireless range of up to 4000 ft....

Mini unshielded proxes.(HANDY NEW PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... Balluff Inc., Florence, KY, has expanded its line of long-range mini inductive proximity sensors with 4 mm and 5 mm unshielded versions with a sensing distance to 5 mm. The sensors allow you to use smaller sensors without sacrificing sensing...

Air velocity transmitter.(HANDY NEW PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... Designed to measure air speeds and gas flows from 0-40 m/s, the EE75 air velocity transmitter from E+E Elektronik GmbH, Engerwitzdorf, Austria, uses a hot-film sensor element for high sensitivity even at very low mass flows. Working ranges for...

Bridge/strain gauge logger.(HANDY NEW PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... The OM-CP-BRIDGE110 from Omega Engineering Inc., Stamford, CT, is a portable data logger for use with strain gauges, load cells, pressure and position transducers, torque sensors, and load bolts. The device records up to 32,767 measurements and...

Contactless rotary sensor.(HANDY NEW PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... The SRH880 from Penny + Giles Controls Ltd., Christchurch, U.K., is a contactless rotary Hall effect position sensor in a rugged aluminum or corrosion-resistant SS housing. The sensor has a 12 mm dia. shaft, an 88 mm housing, and an IP68M...

Industrial wireless radios.(HANDY NEW PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... FreeWave Technologies Inc., Boulder, CO, offers the FGR-HTplus, a 900 MHz Ethernet radio for high-throughput, long-range wireless communication. Range is >60 miles and can be extended farther by using repeaters. Frequency-hopping provides...

8051 microcontroller.(HANDY NEW PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... The VRS51L2070 from Ramtron Intl. Corp., Colorado Springs, CO, is an 8051-based microcontroller that delivers the power and speed of a 16-bit MCU without migrating from an 8-bit device. The microcontroller incorporates a 40 MIPS, single-cycle...

USB DA system.(HANDY NEW PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... CompactDAQ from National Instruments, Austin, TX, is a USB-based modular DA system for sensor and electrical measurements on the bench top, in the field, or on the production line. The 8-slot chassis accepts I/O modules capable of measuring up...

Chemical warfare agent detector.(HANDY NEW PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... The ChemRAE from RAE Systems Inc., San Jose, CA, is a portable chemical warfare agent detector, available as a stand-alone portable instrument or as a wireless component of the AreaRAE rapid deployment hazardous environment detection platform....

Embedded device server.(HANDY NEW PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... The Nemo10 embedded device server from Sena Technologies Inc., Milpitas, CA, is designed for OEM users who want to embed Ethernet connectivity directly onto circuit boards of equipment such as security systems, factory machinery, and medical...

Accelerometer.(HANDY NEW PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... The LCF-2530 from Jewell Instruments LLC, Manchester, NH, is a rugged, servo, flexure-suspension, fluid-damped, dual-axis accelerometer with better than 1 [micro]g resolution. Designed for applications where EMI is of concern, the device is...

Time-to-digital converter.(HANDY NEW PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... The TDC-GPX chip from Acam-Messelectronic GmbH and distributed in the U.S. by Transducers Direct LLC, Miamiville, OH, is a time-to-digital converter suited for use in navigation systems, missile defense systems, rangefinders, and medical...

Electronic compass.(HANDY NEW PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... The Revolution GS from True North Technologies LLC, Maynard, MA, is a strap-down electronic compass for users who need high accuracy, repeatability, and low power consumption in dynamic environments. The compass combines a precision 3-axis...

Capacitive sensor.(HANDY NEW PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... Schurter Inc., Santa Rosa, CA, offers the CLS 16 capacitive sensor for controlling liquid levels in nonmetal and metal tubs and tanks. The unobtrusive and flat design is suited for use in sinks, bathtubs, hot tubs, spas, and other containers of...

Magic spectacles.(University of Arizona and Georgia Institute of Technology)
August 1, 2006... One problem with every type of eyeglasses, contact lenses, and even the plastic lenses implanted after cataract removal is that they all have a fixed focal length. Auto-focus cameras don't, but they operate on a principle that wouldn't work for...

Lose the leads.(Tekscan Inc. partnering with SSI Wireles)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Tekscan and SSI Wireless have teamed up to develop a line of flexible force sensors that require no leads. The basic sensor technology has been on the market for many years and has established itshed itself in the industrial and medical markets...

No-antenna radar.(U.S. Navy Super Hornets contracts with Raytheon Aircraft Co.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... The U.S. Navy Super Hornets are being equipped with a new type of radar made by Raytheon. This technology is a departure from conventional radar in that there is no moving antenna. Instead, a computer directs the beams, each emitted by an...

Get more from a scan.(D-SPECT )(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... The D-SPECT camera, introduced at the June meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, features shorter image capture times, better image quality, and the capability of simultanrous multi-isotope imaging. Among the benefits of using more than...

Safety net for miners.(iPackets International Inc. developing iPMine-M8 810C )(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... iPackets International Inc. will use the ARM7 system-on-chip 802.11 wireless technology for its next-generation compact iPMine-M8 810C tracking device, scheduled for market later this year. It promises to deliver a new safety net for miners,...

Mems update: what's near, what's here; The biennial conferences at Hilton Head offer researchers and development engineers an opportunity to present their work in progress and to explore the commercial implications of the results.(SPECIAL REPORT)
August 1, 2006... The Solid State Sensors, Actuators, and Microsystems Workshop, or as it is more commonly known, the Hilton Head meeting, was held June 4-8, 2006, in Hilton Head, SC. This is one of the premier venues for researchers and development engineers to...

Promising plans and partnerships.(signals)
August 1, 2006... Honeywell's new industrial wireless road map includes secure network technology that will tie into the work of wireless standards bodies such as the ISA-SP100 and Wireless HART committees. Honeywell's network will support various industrial...

RFID news: 3G WiFi, major merger.(Ekahau Inc, introduced T301-A WiFi equipment )(Savi Technology Inc. contracts with Lockheed Martin Corp.)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Designed for tracking assets and people via Ekahau's RTLS system, which supports all existing enterprise WiFi networks, Ekahau Inc.'s new T301-A WiFi tag has a battery life of up to five years. The tag provides two call buttons for triggering...

Big potential ... under construction.(wireless sensors)(Brief article)(Column)
August 1, 2006... What is the potential business value of wireless sensing?" asks Harbor Research in the June issue of its Currents newsletter. "And are the technologies and standards yet where they need to be for explosive adoption across all vertical markets?"...

Case study: wireless sensors open the door to energy management; A convenience store chain solves a complex problem with wireless connectivity and power-harvesting technology.(WIRELESS)
August 1, 2006... To maximize the efficiency of refrigeration equipment and reduce overall operating costs, XtraMart convenience stores turned to National Resource Management (NRM), a provider of remote energy management solutions. NRM's retrofit of the...

Designing intelligent 4-20 mA transducers: intelligent transmitters are only as good as their components. Here's how ADCs, and other low-power devices, come into play.(INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS)
August 1, 2006... Modern industrial automation applications--such as PLCs, factory process control, and intelligent transmitters--all demand high-performance, low-power components. Current-mode data transmission is no exception. Intelligent 4-20 mA current-mode...

Design considerations for a distributed test system: when you're setting up a test system, you'll need to pay attention to measurement functionality, instrumentation bus capability, and software.(SENSORS AT WORK)
August 1, 2006... As users have benefited from distributed processing to separate tasks and enable higher performance for tasks in computing systems, many are applying similar concepts to test systems. Some applications, such as systems with equipment residing...

One-chip linear position measurement with Hall sensors: check out this Hall effect sensor design that allows you to use magnetic tape of any length for error-free, easy assembly.(SENSOR DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY)
August 1, 2006... Logging linear movement can be a complicated and expensive business. A variety of measuring systems can be used, depending on the accuracy required and distance to be measured. The simplest of these is the sliding potentiometer, which supplies...

How to build a DSSS radio.(direct sequence spread spectrum)(Column)
August 1, 2006... The Do-It-Yourself DSSS Transceiver A couple of months ago, when I told you I'd been thinking of building my own radio, you explained how fixed-frequency and spread-spectrum radios operate (www.sensorsmag.com/WWbuild). I've decided now...

MES--a work in progress.(manufacturing execution system)
August 1, 2006... Traditionally, a manufacturing execution system (MES) is defined as a production scheduling and tracking system, which schedules and updates orders, analyzes and reports resource availability, collects execution data--such as material and labor...

The five-minute filter University, august session.(HANDS-ON SENSOR ENGINEERING)
August 1, 2006... Last month we discussed a number of simple passive filters in both low-pass and high-pass configurations. Although these filters could reject out-of-band signals, this capability was relatively limited because they all had an attenuation...

Online vision tutorial.(RECOMMENDED RESOURCES AND ODDMENTS)(Banner Engineering Corp)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... Banner Engineering maintains a lovely set of sensor tutorials online. This month I'm highlighting their machine vision tutorial. If you aren't familiar with the topic and you need to understand what a machine vision system consists of and why,...

Job search site.(RECOMMENDED RESOURCES AND ODDMENTS)(Indeed.com)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... My thanks to Mike Parker for pointing out Indeed.com, a job search site that aggregates job postings from multiple sources. It's got a clean, Google-ish interface, and lets you sort by job title, location, company, job type, and whether the...

Personalized ringtones.(RECOMMENDED RESOURCES AND ODDMENTS)(Brief article)
August 1, 2006... The relationship between music and mathematics is very well established, but now, courtesy of Wolfram Research, there's a new twist. WolframTones are ringtones generated from simple computational programs, music theory, and some algorithms to...

Calvin and Hobbes.(RECOMMENDED RESOURCES AND ODDMENTS)
August 1, 2006... You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help. --Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes comic strip.

How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion.(NEW TO BOOKSHELVES)(Brief article)(Book review)
August 1, 2006... How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion Author: Daniel H. Wilson Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN: 1-58234-592-9 In case you didn't pick this up from its title, this book...