Sensors Magazine articles from March 2001

Sensors Magazine archives from March 2001

IVI Extends Its Reach.(Interchangeable Virtual Instruments Foundation)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Updating instruments in current-day test systems often requires not only hardware exchange, but also modifications to data acquisition and analysis software. This extra step amounts to an unfortunate waste of time and money. The...

Etec, Inc.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Etec, Inc. (Peabody, MA) is shipping orders for its Optical MEMS test systems and its Inertial MEMS (accelerometer) test systems in the FQ 2001. Revenues are approaching $1.5 million as the company adds automated MEMS test solutions to its...

Integrated Sensing Systems, Inc.(product development financing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Integrated Sensing Systems, Inc. (Ypsilanti, MI), has received a $1.98 million award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Advanced Technology Program (ATP) for development of advanced wireless micro-fabricated...

Photon Vision Systems, Inc.(expansion financing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Photon Vision Systems, Inc. (PVS) (Cortland, NY), received $250,000 in funds and tax considerations from New York state to support facility expansion on Route 281 in Homer, NY. The company will produce CMOS image sensors for applications in...

Applied Micro Medical Systems Inc.(product development financing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Applied Micro Medical Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Accumed Systems, Inc. (Ann Arbor, MI), has received approval for funding in excess of $1 million on its proposal to develop a thermal sensing catheter (TSC) to identify sites of unstable...

The Consumer Electronics Association.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The Consumer Electronics Association (Arlington, VA) has formed a wireless communications division to address the evolving business needs of the wireless sector. In association with the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), the CEA will offer...

Shenzhen Emei Industry Co., Ltd.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Shenzhen Emei Industry Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen Guangdong, China), is accepting orders for goods with customers' own trademarks or brand names, including orders with technical specification requirements. The company manufactures transducers for...

Arrow Electronics, Inc.(to distribute Connect One internet solutions)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Connect One's (Santa Clara, CA) Internet connectivity solutions will be distributed exclusively by Arrow Electronics, Inc. (Melville, NY), in a partnership that will give Arrow customers access to Internet-enabling controller chips and modems.

Crossbow Technology.(contract)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Crossbow Technology (San Jose, CA) and Arthur D. Little (ADL) (Cambridge, MA) will collaborate to provide wireless sensor data collection over the Internet. The two companies will deploy Crossbow's CrossNet architecture and products for ADL's...

GE Fanuc.(GE Fanuc Automation North America Inc. to use Phoenix Contact Inc.'s 'Inline' product)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In a recent agreement, GE Fanuc (Charlottesville, VA) will use Phoenix Contact's (Harrisburg, PA) low density I/O product, Inline, for developing its own I/O product called VersaPoint. The Inline automation system integrates fieldbus technology...

Indigo Systems.(strategic alliance with Northrup Grumman Corp. Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Indigo Systems (Santa Barbara, CA) and Northrup Grumman's Electronic Sensors and Systems Sector ([ES.sup.3]) announce a strategic alliance to develop advanced detector fabrication capabilities in the manufacture of IR detectors and imaging...

Magnet Applications Group Ltd.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Magnet Applications Group Ltd. (Horsham, PA) has been formed following the management buyout of U.S. and U.K. subsidiaries, as well as a company in France, Arelec SA. It will help solve magnetic design problems through its capabilities in...

The Global Radar Level Gauge Market.(ARC Advisory Group report 'Radar Level Gauge Worldwide Outlook')(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... The Global Radar Level Gauge Market of $203 million in 2000 will more than double by the end of 2005, according to the recently released Radar Level Gauge Worldwide Outlook. ARC Advisory Group's (www.arcweb.com) report maintains that noncontact...

IR products.(The Market for Infrared Thermometers and Thermal Imagers Worldwide report)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Revenues from IR products will grow at an average annual rate of 10.5% worldwide over the next five years, according to "The Market for Infrared Thermometers and Thermal Imagers Worldwide," a new study from Flow Research (Wakefield, MA) and...

KMI Corp.(Kessler Marketing Intelligence Corp. report 'Worldwide Markets for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing')(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Worldwide Markets for Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM)," a report by KMI Corp. (Newport, RI), forecasts that the DWDM systems market will grow with a CAGR of 43% through 2005 to reach $54 billion. Such growth reflects the demand...

MIT Microsystems Technology Laboratories.(Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Ultra Low Power Wireless Sensor Project)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The Ultra Low Power Wireless Sensor Project by MIT Microsystems Technology Laboratories, funded by the Advanced Research Projects Agency, is under way with the partnership of Analog Devices, Inc., which will provide silicon RF technology and a...

Newport.(merges with Kensington Laboratories Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Newport (Irvine, CA), a manufacturer of high-precision components, instruments, and integrated systems for the fiber-optic communications, semiconductor equipment, scientific research, and industrial metrology markets, has merged with...

SmartSignal.(integration of products with Aurion Technologies)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... SmartSignal (Lisle, IL) will integrate its Equipment Condition Monitoring (ECM) and fault-detection software with Aurion Technologies' (Dallas, TX) line of field automation products to provide an early warning of problems developing in...

Thermometrics Global Business.(joint venture with Lucky-Goldstar Electronics forms Thermometrics Technologies)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Thermometrics Global Business (Edison, NJ), manufacturer of sensors for medical, automotive, consumer, and industrial applications, announces a joint venture with Lucky Goldstar Electronics (Seoul, South Korea) to form Thermometrics...

Quatech Inc.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Quatech Inc. (Akron, OH) is repositioned to grow due to its buyout by a group of Akron-based investors. In addition to continuing its current product lines (which include data communication, data acquisition , and signal conditioning), Quatech...

RS Technologies.(joint venture with Caesar DatenSysteme)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... RS Technologies (Farmington Hills, MI) and Caesar DatenSysteme (Munich, Germany) have formed a North American joint venture to engineer and market Caesar's data acquisition equipment for vehicle testing on a range of automobiles, buses, and...

SKF.(SKF Conditioning Monitoring acquires Diagnostic Instruments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... SKF (San Diego, CA), a manufacturer of rolling bearings and accessories, has purchased Diagnostic Instruments Inc. (Edinburgh, U.K.), which designs, develops, and manufactures mobile industrial computers specializing in noise and vibration....

WPI Instruments.(now Jewell Instruments)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... An investor group led by management has purchased WPI Instruments and WPI Magnetec, Inc., from NEXIQ Technologies (formerly WPI Group, Inc.) to form Jewell Instruments, LLC (Manchester, NH). With traditional markets in the aerospace,...

Z-KAT, Inc.(working with Barrett Technology on medical robots)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Z-KAT, Inc. (Hollywood, FL), a computer-assisted surgery technology firm that develops software, instrumentation, and human-interactive robotic technologies for less invasive surgery, and Barrett Technology (Cambridge, MA), a developer of...

www.sensorjobs.com.(employment web site for sensor, control equipment sector)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Now there is www.sensorjobs.com, a Web site devoted to assisting employers, recruiters, and prospective employees in the sensor, instrument, and automation industries. This sensor-focused employment and educational portal lets visitors post...

People.(Robert J. Borel to head Superconductive Components)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Superconductive Components, Inc. (Columbus, OH), manufacturer of superconductors, and ferroelectric and optical materials for use in wire, cable, sensors, batteries, wireless, and fiber-optic. systems, named Robert J. Borel president and CEO...

Venture Development Corp.(outlook for integrated circuits market)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In "The Global Market for Power Supply and Power Management Integrated Circuits," Venture Development Corp. (Natick, MA) indicates that the market has exceeded $5.2 billion in 2000 and will grow at an average annual rate of more than 18% over...

Nanowires Improve Optical Detector Performance.(NanoSciences research)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NanoSciences is developing a high-surface-area nanowire photocathode array designed to improve the efficiency of optical detectors. The nanowires are formed by deposition of a photocathode material into a porous matrix. After deposition, part...

Big Winds Test Structural Aerodynamics.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... How do you evaluate the aerodynamic properties of an entire house? A wind tunnel big enough to do the job would run about $200 million! So rather than taking a house to a wind supply, researchers at NIST, Texas Tech University, Oak Ridge...

Advanced PCTF Reduces Sensor Real Estate.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Remtec's plated copper on thick film (PCTF) technology allows designers to reduce package size, increase circuit density, and improve the thermal and electrical performance of microelectronic circuitry required for sensors and a variety of...

WEB PICKS.(wireless business sites, paper airplanes and Lego)(Brief Article)(Column)
March 1, 2001... As there's a huge interest in all things wireless, I'd like to point you to the following list of wireless business sites, courtesy of John Notor. There's a healthy mix of academic, industry, and organization-type sites listed, so knock...

Monitoring Your Equipment.(SmartSignal software)
March 1, 2001... SmartSignal software may just outperform the standard threshold approach to anomaly detection. The software's detection engine can monitor an aggregate of correlated sensors from an instrumented system and detect subtle deviations from normal...

Diamagnetic Levitation: The Invisible Force.(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... Until recently a laboratory curiosity, diamagnetism has entered the commercial world as part of a hybrid levitation system in which a diamagnetic force provides the necessary control stability and permanent magnets supply the lift. Imagine...

The Next Generation of Position Sensing Technology Part 1: Theory and Design.
March 1, 2001... NCAPS is a new noncontact angular position sensor [1] featuring an inductive attenuating coupler that measures phase shift rather than the magnitude of the coupling signal. The original implementations were for a 360[degrees] rotary sensor, but...

Trends in Automotion.(PC-based lean control architecture)
March 1, 2001... PC-based lean control architecture is rapidly gaining popularity-and improving productivity, efficiency, and reliability along the way. Today's manufacturing plants must operate faster, more efficiently, and with more flexibility than ever...

Protect Your Circuits.(polymeric positive temperature coefficient circuit devices)
March 1, 2001... PPTC devices provide resettable circuit protection and offer many benefits, especially compared with single-use fuses. Polymeric positive temperature coefficient (PPTC) circuit devices protect against harmful overcurrent surges and...

Sandia's Minirobot Turns on a Nickel, Parks on a Dime.(robot under development at Sandia National Laboratories)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... A tiny untethered robot measuring 1/4 cu. in. and weighing [less than]1 oz, is under development at Sandia. Powered by three watch batteries, it rides on track wheels at 20 ipm and consists of an 8K ROM processor, temperature sensor, and two...

Humidity Sensor.(from Honeywell Sensing and Control)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Suited for low-drain, battery-operated systems, the HIH-3610 from Honeywell Sensing and Control, Freeport, IL, is a laser-trimmed, thermoset polymer capacitive RH sensor with onchip integrated signal conditioning. They device provides a linear...

Noncontact Linear Sensors.(Ametek Patriot Sensors' The Brik)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... The Series 955 magnetostrictive device The Brik, from Ametek Patriot Sensors, Clawson, MI, gives absolute position repeatable to 0.01% of the sensing distance; span length is 6-140 in. in 0.1 in. increments; null zone is 3.00 in. A...

Noncontact Magnetic Potentiometer.(Baumer Electric Ltd.)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Designed for use in motion control applications, the MDRM sensor from Baumer Electric, Ltd., Southington, CT, has a mechanical rotation range of [+ or -]80[degrees] and generates a linear voltage signal. A small rotor positioned in front of the...

USB Chromatography Modules.(Data Translation Inc.)(Universal Serial Bus)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... DT9821 and DT9822 DA modules from Data Translation Inc., Marlborough, MA, can resolve from 60 ppb at 24 bits to 1 part in 65,536 at 16 bits and are targeted at industries such as environmental, pharmaceutical separation sciences, biotechnology...

Incremental Linear Encoder.(Heidenhain Corp.)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... The LIM front Heidenhain Corp., Schaumburg, IL, is suited for handling, woodworking, or packaging machines that need relatively simple encoders with high tolerance to airborne liquid or particles. Available measuring lengths are up to 28 m with...

Coaxial Reaction Torque Sensor.(Lebow Products Inc.)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... The moisture-resistant Model 2404-146 from Lebow Products Inc. Troy, MI, measures the reaction torque on the housing of an assembly under test and is available in 7 capacities from 50 in.-lb. to 5000 in.-lb. Standard output is 15 mV/V nominal...

Digital Multimeter/Thermometer.(Omega Engineering, Inc.'s HHM290)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The HHM290 from Omega Engineering, Inc., Stanford, CT, is a full-function multimeter with a built-in IR sensor and laser sighting for noncontact temperature measurement. As a thermometer, the unit has an optical FOV of 10:1 and digital...

Analog Output PCI Boards.(Keithley Instruments Inc.)(Peripheral Component Interface)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Keithley Instruments, Inc. Cleveland OH, offers the KPCI 3130 Series of universal analog output source boards. The KPCI-3130 offers 8 analog output channels with 32 high-current digital I/O lines and the KPCI 3132 provides 2 analog output...

Low Noise Preamplifier.(Barnes Engineering Div.)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Used with the appropriate Barnes Engineering pyroelectric detector, the Model PAPY Series miniaturized preamplifier from BF Goodrich Aerospace, Barnes Engineering, Shelton CT, Can eliminate the need for a return fiber to the FTIR spectrometer...

Wide-Angle Tilt Sensor.(Fredericks Co.)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... The MCL sensor from The Fredericks Co., Huntington Valley, PA, is a wide-angle dual-axis electrolytic tilt sensor for general-purpose applications that offers metal containment construction and is adaptable to tape and reel automated placement....

Temperature Switches.(ON Semiconductor L.L.C.)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... NCT51 and NCT52 switches from ON Semiconductor, Phoenix, AZ, offer accurates of [+ or -]0.5[degrees]C, typically consume 17[micro]A, and assert a logic signal when their die temperature rises above a factory-programmed threshold. Units have a...

Micro-Focus Laser.(from StockerYale Canada)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... StockerYale Canada, Inc., Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada, introduces a model of the Lasiris Micro-Focus Laser (MFL) Series, which projects a 5.5 [micro]m [+ or -]0.75 [micro]m line at 1/[e.sup.2] out of an operational 5[degrees] fan angle laser...

IR Emissions Monitor.(the IRidium form City Technology Inc. for vehicle emissions monitoring)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The IRidium from City Technology Ltd., Portsmouth, England, is an IR bench for vehicle emissions monitoring that carries the California Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) approval. The 32 by 42 by 150 mm device uses nondispersive IR spectrometry...

Portable Flue Gas Laboratory.(multimeasurement apparatus from TTI Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... A multimeasurement apparatus for analyzing flue gas emissions, the Eurotron GreeLine Mk2 from TTI, Inc., williston, VT, can be configured with up to 6 electrochemical cells for different gas concentration measurements ([O.sub.2], CO, NO,...

Wireless Communication.(LightBridge 155 system from Laser Wireless Inc)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The LightBridge 155 system from Laser Wireless Inc., Lancaster, PA, transmits data, video, and voice through the atmosphere on a beam of light at 1-155 Mbps with a range of 2.5 km. The system consists of 2 laser transceivers that provide a...

Ultraminiature Sensors.(from Banner Engineering Corp)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The VS2 Series convergent-mode sensors from Banner Engineering Corp., Minneapolis, MN, use a visible red-sensing beam that provides a 15 or 30 mm range (depending on model) and repeatability of 160 [micro]s. A narrow sensing focus lets the...

High Speed DA System.(from Yokogawa Corporation of America)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The WE7000 from Yokogawa Corp. of America, Newnan, GA, is a portable PC-configurable system that combines the functions of a digital oscilloscope, function generator, high-speed digitizer, temperature recorder, and counter. The modular DA...

Cooled Photodiode Hybrids.(from Advanced Photonix Inc.)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Advanced Photonix, Inc., Camarillo, CA, introduces a thermoelectrically (TE) cooled PIN photodiode hybrid assembly for high-precision, low-light level detection applications. The assembly consists of a 33.3 [mm.sup.2], low-leakage, silicon PIN...

Rotary Torque Sensor.(from Key Transducers )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Senes 4100 sensors from Key Transducers Div., PGB Piezotronics, Inc., Depew, NY, use noncontact rotary transformers to send excitation voltage to, and receive measurement signals from, the rotating strain-gauge sensor, capacities are 50 in.-oz....

Serial DA Software.(from TAL Technologies)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... CE-Wedge from TAL Technologies, Inc., Philadelphia, PA, is a data collection program designed to interface serial devices, such as bar code scanners, calipers, micrometers, and scales, to any Windows CE program. You configure CE-Wedge, then...

Fatigue Load Sensors.(from Columbia Research Laboratories)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The DTD 2684 Series from Columbia Research Laboratories, Inc., Woodlyn, PA, comprises integral, fully encapsulated, temperature-compensated strain sensors that allow you to monitor undercarriage structures and aircraft control surfaces for...

Vibration-Resistant Pressure Sensors.(the 3000 Series transducers )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Featuring thin film sensing elements, the 3000 Series transducers from Gems Sensors, Inc., Plainville, CT, operate in pressures from 500-10,000 psi and temperatures between -55[degrees]F and 120[degrees]F. Drift is [less than]0.06% per 6 yr....

Multiphysics Modeling Software.(FEMLAB 2.0 )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... FEMLAB 2.0 from Comsol, Inc., Burlington MA, lets you create and analyze full 3D models described with partial differential equations. Built-in CAD tools let you build and modify problem geometries in 2D work planes that the software then joins...

Laser Control System-on-Chip.(field programmable mixed signal C8051F001)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Cygnal Integrated Products, Inc., Austin, TX, introduces the field programmable mixed signal C8051F001 that combines a 12-bit analog DA system with high speed programmable 8051-compatible CPU and in system programmable flash memory Optimized...

Pressure Sensor Package.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Six times smaller than its predecessor, the Mini PAK (M-PAK) pressure sensor package from Motorola Sensor Products Div Austin, TX, incorporates a single monolithic silicon diaphragm with the strain gauge and a thin film resistor network...

Optical System Layout Software.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... OLIVE software from Edmund Industrial Optics, Barrington, NJ, runs under Windows 95/98/2000/NT and lets you simulate the optical bench; you grab, add, or move the lenses with your mouse and the software traces the rays and images in real time....

TCP/IP Controller.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The LogicFlex embedded DOS controller from JK Microsystems, Inc., Davis, CA, is a compact SBC with TCP/IP and Ethernet. The controller offers preinstalled DOS an Ethernet packet driver, and digital I/O lines for monitoring and control...

High-Temperature Data Loggers.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Models HT100 and HT120 (with piercing tip) from Dickson Co., Addison, IL, are waterproof SS data loggers that can monitor and withstand temperature from -40[degrees]C to 125[degrees]C. The HT100 is 0.688 in by 3.69 in. The loggers are suited...

Cylinder Feedback Transducer.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The backPack from Balluff, Inc, Florence, KY, uses enhanced magnetostrictive technology, to track the pneumatic cylinder's own magnetic spud for position sensing to [less than]0.2 [micro]m resolution. Linearity is [+ or -]0.02%, hysteresis is...

Fiber-Optic Switch.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The Model 4185 fiber-optic switch/converter from Electro Standards Laboratories, Cranslon, RI, lets you access 2 separate fiber-optic 100Base-FX ports from a 100Base-TX Fast Ethernet port (COMMON port); the fiber-optic/twisted pair copper...

WISH LIST.(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2001... Current/Polarity Sensor Development Opportunity I am trying to find a company that would be interested in further developing a new type of current sensor that has specific applications in all areas of process control, robotics, aerospace,...