Sensors Magazine articles from March 2002

Sensors Magazine archives from March 2002

Fast, cost-efficient ISO implementation. (Guest Editorials).(International Organization of Standardization)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
March 1, 2002... Mike Delpha Competition for business grows fiercer each day. One way for your company to distinguish itself in today's tough environment--and win bids--is to establish a quality management system such as ISO 9000 (see "ISO 9000:2000--A...

The ARC Advisory Group. (Business Sense).(releases study concerning Open Control Software marketplace)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Gurney, Margaret S. The ARC Advisory Group (Dedham, MA) has released a study for industrial automation companies contemplating entry into the Open Control Software (OCS) marketplace; it can be used to assess OCS technology. The "Open...

Computational Systems Inc. (Knoxville, TN), the mechanical equipment condition-monitoring specialists of Emerson Process Management. (Business Sense).(various brief articles)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Computational Systems Inc. (Knoxville, TN), the mechanical equipment condition-monitoring specialists of Emerson Process Management (Boulder, CO), offers the Analyzer Crosstalk Program, which enables other companies' condition-monitoring...

Engineers study avalanches--from the inside. (Research & Developments).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... To find out why a peaceful snowy mountainside suddenly turns into a 300 mph (500 kph) avalanche, researchers at Montana State University-Bozeman allow themselves to be buried alive--time after time--in a little shed in the Bridger Mountains....

Food processing tags answer the question: "How's dinner coming?". (Research & Developments).(Temperature Indicators Ltd. offers canning process indicator tags)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The food processing industry is gaining a new level of confidence from a line of retort canning process indicator tags that change from purple to green after exposure to saturated steam in batch-processing retort systems. Made by the British...

www-sci.lib.uci.edu/HSG/Ref.html. (Web Picks).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... I've mentioned Martindale's "The Reference Desk" before, back when I ws talking about online calculators. But it's so much more than just calculators! My thanks to Steve Nordhauser and other readers who recommended it, because I went back and...

www.minco.com/sensorcalc. (Web Picks).(Minco Products web site)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... If you work with RTDs and are looking for an easy way to create temperature and resistance tables for them, go visit the nice people at Minco Products. The company has a link on its Web site to a free program that lets you create tables for...

www.oricomtech.com. (Web Picks).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... And finally, Oricom Technologies. Another reader recommendation, and what a gem it is, too. The company specializes in embedded systems, but its site has a ton of information and links for things like emerging technologies, and favorite web...

Capacitive density sensors help detect avalanche conditions. (Sensor Technology and Design).(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... A mountain snowpack can turn into an avalanche when the crystals in a layer of fallen snow become too rounded by the weight of subsequent storms for the pack to maintain its angle of repose. A new capacitive snow-sounding probe measures the...

Rapid prototyping for control. (Motion Control/Automation).(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2002... The drive toward increased automation and autonomy, coupled with the use of computers, has led to the pervasive use of control systems. Today, industry uses a variety of sophisticated systems, ranging from proportional-integral-derivative (PID)...

Resistive-element sensor temperature compensation: For optimum versatility, accuracy, and speed, try a conditioning system that uses temperature-driven look-up tables in its calibration schemes. (Data Acquisition).
March 1, 2002... Resistive-element sensors, most notably the Wheatstone bridge--configured piezoresistive devices, have dominated the low- to medium-accuracy pressure-sensing industry since the early 1980s. The principal source of measurement error with these...

Sensors expo[R] & conference.(schedule)
March 1, 2002... May 20-23, 2002 Featuring R&D Day, May 23, 2002 Monday 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Tuesday 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Wednesday 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Thursday 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Exhibition May 21-23, 2002 Featuring...

About the speakers.(Sensor expo and conference 2002)
March 1, 2002... Paul Salfo, Keynote Speaker Paul Saffo, Director of The Institute for the Future, is a technology forecaster famous for his studies on long-term information technology trends and their impact on business and society. Paul was a 1997...

Magnetic couplers in industrial systems: a new generation of couplers conquers noise with high speed and multiple channels. (Sensor Technology and Design).
March 1, 2002... Sensing is only half the battle in industrial control systems. Getting the sensor data where they need to go is the other half. The data path can be strewn with ground loops, noise, temperature extremes, and speed bottlenecks. For years,...

Optical micrometer. (Reader's Choice).(available from Keyence Corporation of America)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Melanie Martella The LS-7000 from Keyence Corp. of America, Woodcliff Lake, NJ, uses a high-intensity LED light source and a high-speed linear CCD, and provides a 2400 sps sampling rate, 0.01 [mu]m resolution, and [+ or -]0.15 [mu]m...

Environmental data logger. (Product News).(PDAS-II)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... AMASS Data Technologies, Inc., Ottawa, Canada, introduces the 2002 version of its PDAS-II that provides data logging capability for both SDI-12 and analog sensors. Features include user-definable custom conversion equations, alarm functions,...

Ethernet temperature sensor. (Product News).
March 1, 2002... Originally developed for jet-engine test cells, the Model 9046 Ethernet intelligent temperature scanner from Aero Systems Engineering (ASE), Inc., St. Paul, MN, developed with Pressure Systems, Inc., of Virginia, integrates 16 high-accuracy ([+...

Small shock detector. (Product News).
March 1, 2002... A small, high-volume shock detector mounted in a TO-5 package, the Model 2479M4 from Endevco Corp., San Juan Capistrano, CA, measures shock levels up to 20,000 g peak. A self-generating piezoelectric seismic sensor produces a high-impedance...

Ethernet switch. (Product News).
March 1, 2002... Hirschmann Electronics, Inc., Automation and Network Solutions, Pine Brook, NJ, introduces the Mach 3000 Series modular Gigabit Ethernet switch with software version 2.20. Additions include HIPER Ring to improve redundancy mechanisms, quality...

Reaction torque sensors. (Product News).
March 1, 2002... The Series 2300 and 2508 from the Force/Torque Div., PCB Piczotronics, Inc., Depew, NY, are high-accuracy, strain-gauge reaction torque sensors for lubricant studies, torsion testing, brake testing, bearing friction, dynamometers, stepping...

Thread detection system. (Product News).
March 1, 2002... Able to detect UNC, UNF, ISO coarse, and ISO fine threads without contact, the KD-2440 from Kaman Instrumentation Corp., Colorado Springs, CO, operates by inserting sins inductive sensor into a tapped hole. The sensor can distinguish between...

Hall sensor microsystems. (Product News).(available from Sentron AG)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The ISA single-axis and 2SA two-axis CMOS IC Hall sensors from Sentron, AG, Zug, Switzerland, respond to a magnetic field parallel to the chip surface. The integrated CMOS sensor systems include Hall elements; biasing circuit, amplifier; and...

Telemetry system. (Product News).
March 1, 2002... The miniature 2040HSi from Advanced Telemetrics Intl., Spring Valley OH, measures real-time torque on front wheel drive half-shafts or other split-axle shafts for automotive and racing test engineering applications. Consisting of a transmitter,...

SBC for embedded control. (Product News).
March 1, 2002... The 4.14 by 3.41 in BL2100 Smartcat from Z-World, Davis, CA, is available in 4 configurations (2 with Ethernet; 2 without) for embedded control and DA applications. All models feature 40 digital I/O, 3 RS-232/485 ports a Rabbit 2000...

Weather Station data logger. (Product News).
March 1, 2002... The HOBO Weather Station from Onset Computer Corp., Bourne, MA, uses plug-in sensors to record research grade temperature, RH, dew point, rainfall, photosynthetic light (PAR), wind speed, and barometric pressure. Used with Box-Car Pro software...

Bluetooth test set. (Product News).
March 1, 2002... For use in the development and manufacture of Bluetooth devices in the wireless networking industry, Agilent Technologies, Inc., Palo Alto, Ca, introduces the E1852B dedicated Bluetooth test set. The unit establishes a link using standard...

Ethernet Control Pressure Module. (Product News).
March 1, 2002... The compact ENETCPM from Scanivalve Corp., Liberty Lake WA, supplies pneumatic pressures or relay logic on demand as well as pneumatic control pressures to analog ZOC and digital DSA pressure scanners. The ENETCPM contains 8 digital circuits...

Endospore detection system. (Product News).
March 1, 2002... In gated fluorescence mode, the USB2000-FL spectrometer from Ocean Optics, Inc., Dunedin, FL, can detect and quantify fluorescence from Bacillis endospores. The 5 s procedure involves taking test samples wiped from a surface and adding them to...

Vibration analyzer. (Product News).
March 1, 2002... Available in 4-, 8-, or 16-channel configurations, the portable ZonicBook from IOtech, Inc., Cleveland, OH, accepts ICP accelerometer and microphone inputs directly, simultaneously sampling all channels at 51.2 kHz with a separate...

Fan failure predictor. (Product News).(Microchip Technology Inc. offers the TC670)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... In the TC670 predictive fan failure IC from Microchip Technology Inc., Chandler, AZ, a resistor divider is adequate for setting the rpm alarm level and predicting fan failure without software. The TC670 senses bin revolutions and asserts a...

Wireless Ethernet bridge. (Product News).
March 1, 2002... The iNET 900 from Microwave Data Systems Inc., Rochester, NY, is a long-range, high-speed, industrial FHSS wireless point to multipoint Ethernet bridge. Capable of a 30+ mi. range and up to 512 Kbps data rate for IP/Ethernet communications, the...

Pressure transducer kit. (Product News).(Validyne Engineering Corp.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The re-rangeable DP15 10-In-One pressure transducer kit from Validyne Engineering Corp., Northridge, CA, contains a variable reluctance sensor with 10 replaceable sensing diaphragms, O-rings, bleed screws, gaskets, AC power adapter, portable...

Wish list.
March 1, 2002... Flowmeter We require a flow measuring device to monitor a flow of 12% phosphoric acid solution at room temperature, with a flow rate of 30-100 ml/min. We prefer an inline device such as a paddle wheel or turbine Hall effect. The output can...