Sensors Magazine articles from December 2005

Sensors Magazine archives from December 2005

Aye, robot.(DARPA Grand Challenge 2005, sensor-rich autonomous robotic vehicles race)(Editorial)
December 1, 2005... "Autonomous ground vehicles can travel long distances across difficult terrain at militarily relevant rates of speed." --official DARPA announcement, October 8, 2005 It's been compared with the Wright brothers' quest for flight and the...

Driver, the road would like a word with you.(Speedlnfo installs radar sensors to measure average traffic speeds)
December 1, 2005... Five-one-one. Dial it and you'll get traffic reports updated every four minutes. At least that is the case in the San Francisco Bay area, where Speedlnfo (www.speedinfo.com) has installed 300 solar-powered radar sensors to cover more than 900...

Wireless goes for government.(California installs sensors to detect radioactive materials, provides safety readiness exercise)(In-Q-Tel Inc. finances Ember Corp.)(Dust Networks gets Flex Your Power award)(Brief article)
December 1, 2005... The city of Mountain View, California held a public safety readiness "dirty bomb" exercise, on November 10, to simulate an explosion scenario. A key part of the infrastructure was a grid of radiation "sensor packs" by Forward Threat Control...

Defective sensors affect 175 device models.(Imaging-Resource.com writes an article on faulty image sensors in digital cameras)(Brief article)
December 1, 2005... Faulty CCD image sensors in digital cameras, camcorders and PDAs have given seven major manufacturers headaches. Imaging-Resource.com, a Web site for digital camera enthusiasts, broke the story last month (see...

Adaptive antenna arrays give more bang for fewer bucks.(National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Georgia Institute of Technology, and University of Colorado (Boulder) researches and develops antenna array systems)
December 1, 2005... An adaptive antenna array system being investigated by NASA, Georgia Tech, and the University of Colorado at Boulder researchers could dramatically decrease the cost of building and maintaining ground stations, and yet disseminate...

Spectral reflectance evaluates the nutritional value of forage.(Research & Developments)
December 1, 2005... Even if you're not raising lambs, an innovative use of spectral reflectance technology now under development might hold out promise for some other project you are considering. Right now it's directed at determining the amount of nutrition an...

Wash up, pay up.(Banner Engineering Corp. offers magnetic sensors for electronic car wash applications)(Brief article)
December 1, 2005... On most days, the timer at a self-serve car wash shuts down the session after a set period. But during slow times, some car washes offer each driver an open-ended sudsing experience. The problem then becomes one of telling the timer that the...

Putting IR on slag patrol.(Westar Energy Inc., infrared radiation)
December 1, 2005... Westar Energy's electric generating plant at St. Mary's, KS, is the largest in the state. Its three coal-fired boilers, 85 ft. wide and 14 stories high, are vertically divided by an interior center wall. Each side produces 1.5 million hp, and...

Virtual weapons training.(VxWin software of KUKA Robotics Corp.)(Brief article)
December 1, 2005... Simulation is now the favored way to train military personnel on the use of sophisticated weapons systems. The benefits are intuitively obvious--but what kind of software can handle such a complex assignment? One answer comes from KUKA, best...

In search of a low-cost temperature sensor: part 2.(Hands-on sensor engineering)
December 1, 2005... Last month we explored the possibility of using voltage drop across a silicon small-signal diode as a temperature sensor. Although this property varies vs. temperature in a consistent manner, it has two significant drawbacks: unit-to-unit...

Dashboards--a single view of the truth.(Enterprise intelligence from your sensors)
December 1, 2005... The whole point of data integration is to provide timely access to all the data pertaining to your operations and business processes. But you don't want to be inundated with irrelevant data. You want only the data that pertain to what you're...

Reliability in various and changing environments.(Mesh, mobile, M2M--what do you want to know?)(wireless communication networks)
December 1, 2005... Factors Affecting Reliability I want to understand what makes some wireless systems more reliable than others. Signed, Seeking Reliability Dear Seeking: Three environmental factors affect how reliably one radio can receive...

Evaluating a capacitively coupled, noncontact electrode for ECG monitoring: A new device capable of measuring electrocardiogram (ECG) interbeat intervals through clothing is being considered by the U.S. Army for its Future Force Warrior system uniform of the future.
December 1, 2005... The capacitively coupled noncontact electrode (CCNE), a new device that measures electrocardiogram (ECG) interbeat intervals through clothing, underwent a 40-person human trial at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) this past...

Increase operational visibility by integrating sensor data with enterprise applications: new software tools now make it possible to integrate sensor technology with an overall information framework. This eliminates worries about integration headaches or cumbersome architecture revisions.(INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS)
December 1, 2005... Companies of all sizes are deploying sensor technologies to track assets and automatically detect changes in temperature, motion, location, and other physical conditions. But it is only when sensor data are fully integrated with enterprise...

Optical technologies for sensing voltage and current: brush up on seven optical technologies you can use to detect electric or magnetic fields.(SENSOR TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN)
December 1, 2005... Research on optical systems has been propelled during the past several years by the telecommunications industry. Among the immediately identifiable benefits of this research are: * Modulators that can modulate an optical signal at speeds...

Enhancing drum level measurement for boiler control: a multivariable transmitter enables-more accurate and sophisticated control of drum fluid level, a critical measurement for boiler control.(SENSOR TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN)
December 1, 2005... A boiler drum is a vessel where water is converted to steam by the application of heat. For proper boiler control, there must always be sufficient water present in the drum to produce steam and prevent damage to the drum. At the same time, the...

Product news.
December 1, 2005... Product News is but a sampling of the many, many products we've seen recently. The ones included this month reflect a trend, are different enough to make me sit up and take notice, or are nice implementations of current technology. At the...

New--S17BNCSYS.(Literature SHOWCASE)
December 1, 2005... Simple Intensity[TM] ICP[TM][.sup.(PCB)] powered Acoustic Intensity Survey probe. Utilizing two 7052SYS Type 1.5[TM] Titanium diaphragm microphone systems, the S17BNC probe is fully adjustable from 12.5 mm to 100 mm, permitting optimum...

Non-contact rotary torque sensor.(Literature SHOWCASE)
December 1, 2005... Based on a revolutionary new technology using SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave) strain sensing elements, TorqSense offers a superior solution to non-contact rotary torque or viscosity measurement in industrial applications. Optional RPM Pickoff...

Precision Inductosyn[R] position transducers.(Literature SHOWCASE)
December 1, 2005... Farrand Controls--manufacturers of precision Inductosyn[R] and Electrosyn[R] transducers used for accurate measurement of angular or linear position displacements. Rotary transducers provide absolute and incremental position information...

Practical design techniques for sensor signal conditioning.(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2005... Practical Design Techniques for Sensor Signal Conditioning Publisher: Analog Devices, Inc. ISBN: 0-916550-20-6 This softcover book is divided into ten sections and starts off with an introduction by Walt Kester explaining its focus...

It's been one hell of a year, and I use that descriptor advisedly. Every year I use this month's column to plug charitable causes.(Habitat for Humanity)(Brief article)(Column)
December 1, 2005... It's been one hell of a year, and I use that descriptor advisedly. Every year I use this month's column to plug charitable causes. This year, I'd like to focus on long-term help. After the emergency needs are met, the people dealing with the...

Another of my favorites is Heifer International, a charity that aims to end hunger by providing a sustainable source of food and income in the form of oxen, cows, bees, sheep, llamas, goats, ducks, rabbits, and, well, the list is pretty long.(Heifer Project International)(Brief article)
December 1, 2005... Another of my favorites is Heifer International, a charity that aims to end hunger by providing a sustainable source of food and income in the form of oxen, cows, bees, sheep, llamas, goats, ducks, rabbits, and, well, the list is pretty long....

On a lighter note, how about an online advent calendar?(Mel's Picks)
December 1, 2005... On a lighter note, how about an online advent calendar? Here's a particularly good one, courtesy of Leslie Harpold. * http://harpold.com/advent/

Quote of the month.(Mel's Picks)
December 1, 2005... The whole point of society is to be less unforgiving than nature.

How much do you worry about data integrity?(Quick Poll)
December 1, 2005... How much do you worry about data integrity? 37.5% Quite a bit, so I make regular checks to verify it 31.2% It keeps me awake at night 15.6% Not much, my applications don't require extreme accuracy 15.6% Not much, I've taken all...