Sensors Magazine articles from September 2003

Sensors Magazine archives from September 2003

Having wonder full time.(Editorial)
September 1, 2003... What Do You Like Most About Your Job? A favorite aspect of mine is the opportunity to be inspired twice each year by the keynote speeches at Sensors Expo & Conference. What a treat to see and hear brilliant thinkers in science and...

AuthenTec.(ships one millionth TruePrint sensor)
September 1, 2003... As if to prove the growing popularity of biometrics, AuthenTec (Melbourne, FL, www.authentec.com), winner of several industry awards and provider of semiconductor-based fingerprint sensors, has shipped its one millionth TruePrint sensor. The...

AMI Semiconductor.(Agreements and Aquisitions, Etc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... AMI Semiconductor (AMIS, Pocatello, ID, www.amis.com) has introduced a new high-voltage, mixed-signal technology designed to reduce component count and cost, while delivering high-density ASICs with chip areas that are up to 40% smaller than...

DVT Corp.(2003 sales and earnings)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... DVT Corp. (Duluth, GA, www.dvtsensors.com), global provider of machine vision products, achieved its highest sales and bookings ever for the month of June and Q2 2003. The new records have propelled the company to a year-to-date gain of more...

The Ortec business unit of Ametek, Inc. (Oakridge, TN, www.ortec-online.com), will commercialized Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's RadScout radiation detection technology.(Agreements and Aquisitions, Etc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The Ortec business unit of Ametek, Inc. (Oakridge, TN, www.ortec-online.com), will commercialize Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's RadScout radiation detection technology. Ortec will incorporate the technology into its next generation of...

Satlantic Inc.(Agreements and Aquisitions, Etc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Satlantic Inc., (Halifax, Canada, www.satlantic.com), has entered a collaborative research and development agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to evaluate Satlantic's chemical-free nitrate sensor, the In Situ...

Calendar.(Business Sense)(High tech trade shows and conferences)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
September 1, 2003... Sensors Expo & Conference Fall 2003 September 22-25, Anaheim, CA www.sensorsexpo.com Workshop on IEEE 1588, a Precision Clock Synchronization Protocol for Networked Measurement and Control Systems September 24, Gaithersburg, MD...

Xsilogy, Inc. (San Diego, CA,www.xsilogy.com), has agreed to acquire all assets and intellectual property of Graviton, Inc.(Agreements and Aquisitions, Etc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Xsilogy, Inc. (San Diego, CA, www.xsilogy.com), has agreed to acquire all assets and intellectual property of Graviton, Inc. Xsilogy, provider of integrated wireless sensor network products, plans aggressive expansion into commercial and...

NTech Industries.(American Society of Agriculture Engineers award)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The American Society of Agriculture Engineers has honored NTech Industries (Ukiah, CA, www.ntechindustries.com) with an AE50 Award for its GreenSeeker Selective Spray System. Farmers attach GreenSeeker sensors to fertilizer spray booms to...

Barton Instrument Systems, LLC (City of Industry, CA, www.barton-instruments.com), has agreed to sell some of its assets--including Barton's oil- and gas-related products, select sales locations, and the Barton brand name--to NuFlo Technologies, Inc. (www.nuflotech.com), formerly Halliburton Measurement Systems.(Agreements and Aquisitions, Etc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Barton Instrument Systems, LLC (City of Industry, CA, www.barton-instruments.com), has agreed to sell some of its assets--including Barton's oil- and gas-related products, select sales locations, and the Barton brand name---to NuFIo...

Micron Optics (Atlanta, GA, www.micronop tics.com) and LxSix Photonics (Montreal, Canada), are collaborating to produce optical sensors.(Agreements and Aquisitions, Etc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Micron Optics (Atlanta, GA, www.micronop tics.com) and LxSix Photonics (Montreal, Canada), are collaborating to produce optical sensors. Micron is known for tunable technologies for telecom and optical sensing, while LxSix designs new photonic...

A panel of science, technology and defense experts met recently at the offices of Battelle (www.battelle.org) in Washington, DC, to develop a list of the ten most innovative technologies for the future of national security and defense.(Market Trends)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... A panel of science, technology and defense experts met recently at the offices of Battelle (www.battelle.org) in Washington, DC, to develop a list of the ten most innovative technologies for the future of national security and defense. Taking...

Nanotech shows it has a heart.(Research & Developments)(diabetics; smart testing technology)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The nation's 17 million diabetics could put their finger-prick test kits away for good when a major advance in biochemistry hits the market. Todd Zion, a doctoral candidate in chemical engineering, developed the technology while working at...

Liquid crystals lenses can change their focal length.(Research & Developments)(CRL Opto)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Liquid crystals are strange materials, neither true solids nor true liquids. They flow, yet have certain properties of crystalline solids in that they have orientational order but have lost their positional order. One class of liquid crystals,...

Dive right in, the water's fine.(App Snaps: application snapshots that show how handy a sensor can be)(Aqua Cat Cruises uses Onset Computer Corp.'s 10 HOBO underwater data loggers )
September 1, 2003... Dive Right In, the Water's Fine If you've ever boarded a cruise ship headed for the Bahamas, you probably ended up spending as much time under water as above, exploring various dive sites and their coves. Have you ever wondered who might be...

When airbags let loose, size does matter.(App Snaps: application snapshots that show how handy sensor can be)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... For children and smaller adults, automobile airbags may pose more of a safety threat than the fender benders that make them deploy. International Electronics & Engineering S.A. (IEE) is currently working on this problem. The approach lEE...

Eye can see clearly now.(App Snaps: application snapshots that shows how handy a sensor can be)(Ascension Technology Corp.'s laserBIRD tracker)
September 1, 2003... Sitting in a plane on a runway waiting for weather conditions to clear or circling the landing strip because the fog won't lift are likely two scenarios you don't consider when making travel plans. But every time you book a flight, those...

A novel auto-zero servo-inclinometer: a next generation servo-inclinometer exhibits accuracy of a few arc-seconds, has virtually banished the zero drift problem (even under harsh conditions), and can go without recalibration for extended periods of time.(Sensor Technology And Design)
September 1, 2003... Force-balance inclinometers overcome the limitations of spring-and-mass sensors by replacing the mechanical spring with an electromagnetic balancing force. The residual errors are mostly negligible or can be compensated--with the exception of...

Managing your data before, during and after testing: setting up your test system is only half the battle--how you store the data and access them after testing is the other half.(Intelligent Systems)
September 1, 2003... Properly planned for or not, every test system that involves taking measurements has some method for managing the acquired data. All too often, data management plans are an afterthought, resulting in misplaced or lost data files, and...

Optoelectronic sensors in medical applications: as diagnostic equipment becomes smaller, more portable, and more energy efficient, optoelectronic sensors are proving their worth in medical applications.(Putting Sensors To Work)
September 1, 2003... As diagnostic equipment becomes smaller, more portable, and more energy efficient, optoelectronic sensors are proving their worth in medical applications. Electronic components have been incorporated into medical equipment designs for...

Now for TechWOW!
September 1, 2003... If you know Sensors, you'll know this ain't Sensors. Oh, but it is! Sure, TechWOW! looks different, and the subject matter and tone are several degrees of separation from the articles we usually run. What is the same is our intent to bring you...

Declaring war on bad science: an interview with Robert L. Park.(Interview)
September 1, 2003... Robert L. Park really has it in for bad science--pseudoscience, pathological science, junk science, fraudulent science-and the bad technology it spawns. His mission to combat what he's come to call "voodoo science" led him to leave his position...

Sitting pretty.(Automotive)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Airbags are clever devices. But as smart, witty, and urbane as they are, they can't tell the difference between a normal-sized adult and a small child sitting in the front seat of a car. If you're a very small adult or a small child and you're...

Touch and go anywhere.(Automotive)
September 1, 2003... Your primary sensory cortex, which processes touch, engages when you fumble for a light switch in the dark. It also kicks in when you adjust the climate-control or sound-system settings on your BMW 7 series car. The 2002 7 series BMWs were...

Hot cars.(Automotive)
September 1, 2003... KEEPING THE TEMPERATURE in your car at a comfortable level has always been a pain. A lot of factors contribute to this dilemma: bright sunlight and shade, for starters; overzealous air conditioning; or a lousy heater. Traditional...

A key that's key to no keys.(Automotive)(remote sensor can replace car keys)
September 1, 2003... Mislaying your car keys can generate dark worries of mental meltdown. The thing is, you don't generally want to carry them around when you're home so you put them down in some completely logical place, whence they promptly disappear. Not having...

Seeing eye to (pop)eye.(Consumer/Home)(new gaze sensor research may control phones and appliances)
September 1, 2003... IT MIGHT HAVE STARTED out as a defense against Death from a Thousand Pesters--telephone, email, PDA, cell phone, and other high-tech attention-seekers tugging at their sleeves. But the solutions Roel Vertegaal and his colleagues in the Human...

You're supposed to clean those things?(Consumer/Home)(microprocessor based optical smoke sensor prevents food burning)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... There's new hope for the kitchen klutz--the one who burns up the dinner and sometimes the oven too. Telaire's IntelliRange, a little optical smoke sensor, plugs into the cookstove and takes a whiff of the oven air. Based on the quantity and...

Just say "charge it".(Consumer/Home)(new charging system for small devices)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Let's see, which of our toys goes with us today--PDA? Mobile phone? MP3? Portable gaming device? There they all lie, higgledy-piggledy on a pad [less than] 6 mm thick, and they're all charging simultaneously. Uh-oh! Our credit cards are there...

Give me five.(Consumer/Home)(Brytech Inc. introduces voice capable bank note reader)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... What do you do when one of your five senses isn't, shall we say, quite up to snuff? Well, if you're lucky, some clever soul's come up with an artificial way to sense what you can't. As an elegant and useful example of this, we give you the Bank...

Eye only have chips for you.(Medical/Biotech)(computer chips are being developed to produce eyesight)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Researchers at Wayne State University and the Kresge Eye Institute are working on tiny computer chips that can be implanted in the eye and brain to produce eyesight. There are two versions of the chips: retinal and cortical. Retinal...

Their knee is smarter than yours.(Medical/Biotech)(MicroStrain's new sensor can be implanted to measure loads in human knees)
September 1, 2003... The use of knee prostheses is not new. But to develop better implantable devices, we need to understand their in vivo behavior. Unfortunately, little is known about the actual loads experienced by these devices. The current body of knowledge is...

Nosing out cancer.(Medical/Biotech)(Rome University researching diagnosis of cancer based on patient's breath)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ROME, researchers are joining an international "rediscovery" of an ancient diagnostic technique still practiced in Tibet, Nepal, China, and several other Asian cultures. The secret? To sniff a patient's breath. (Think of...

QC/QA for the bovine set.(Medical/Biotech)(quality control and quality assurance in bull semen handling)
September 1, 2003... New Zealand is the world's largest exporter of dairy products. To produce that much milk and cheese and other gifts of the cow, you need huge herds. But it is not safe practice to allow a bull to freshen a cow. Livestock Improvement of...

Getting to the heart of stress.(Medical/Boitech)(improved heart sensor developed quickly and inexpensively)
September 1, 2003... For almost every instrumentation vendor, portable and cheap is the way to go, and the biomedical community is no different. An example of the efforts to meet this demand can be found in the work done at the Biomedical Engineering Department of...

Calling Dr. Chips.(Medical/Biotech)(high tech patient care research in Denmak)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Tender-hearted researchers at Denmark's Center for Pervasive Computing, Arhus University, are trying to save hospital patients from bedsores and poisoning--and to preserve at least some of their privacy. They've devised beds with built-in...

Astrophyics and women's health.(Medical/Biotech)(using gamma ray lens technology to check for breast health)
September 1, 2003... Argonne physicist Bob Smither built the world's first gamma ray lens 10 years ago for use in an astrophysics telescope. Now it's looking into breast tissue to discern very early signs of cancer. As in tumors the size of rice grains. In...

Keep your business your business.(Safety/Security)
September 1, 2003... onClick's Digipad and BioMouse are designed to save your bacon and your money. First the mouse. It has a little fingerprint sensor that can be set up to recognize one or several users and designate who has access to which files. It can even...

Look Ma, no batteries.(Safety/Security)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Wireless communication means freedom. Freedom to move about untethered. Freedom from the expense and hassle of wiring installation. Freedom from connector failure. But even sensors that communicate wirelessly need power to operate. And the need...

Identifying with your keyboard.(Safety/Security)(University of Southampton and University of Twente, Netherlands researching keyboarding characteristics)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... DO YOU PUNCH, TAP, OR PRESS YOUR COMPUTER KEYS? Your digital "signature" could become a security feature if researchers Neil White and Neil Henderson at the U.K.'s University of Southampton and colleagues at the University of Twente in the...

Rx for hospital networks.(Safety/Security)(sensor allows logon if user's card is close to remote terminal)
September 1, 2003... What's small, wireless, and knows where you are to within a meter or so? A company called Bluesoft has an answer for that. The company produces a wireless positioning module that uses time-of-flight to measure the distance between any two...

Chillin' with the Navy.(Safety/Security)
September 1, 2003... It's 1092 ft. long, 252 ft. wide, and 24 stories high--in short, bigger than a breadbox. This massive structure is the U.S.S. Carl Vinson, one of the Navy's frontline nuclear aircraft carriers. Its ventilation systems are distributed throughout...

What you said.
September 1, 2003... Our April editorial invitation to comment on the state of engineering, science, and the world in general attracted an agreeable number of responses--some insightful and others hilarious. Here's what you said. 1. Most overhyped Rich...

Knock it off with the chattering!(Research & Developments)(monitoring of "chatter" at cutting surfaces developed)
September 1, 2003... Machine tools, especially those used in cutting operations, tend to chatter against the workpiece. These unwanted vibrations can be extremely severe at the high (up to 30,000 rpm) spindle speeds required by some of the new super hard materials....

Smart sensing power on a chip digital signal controllers: using innovative system-on-a-chip architecture, digital signal controllers deliver the powerful computation, communication, and control capabilities demanded by cutting-edge smart sensing applications.(Intelligent Systems)
September 1, 2003... Using innovative system-on-a-chip architecture, digital signal controllers deliver the powerful computation, communication, and control capabilities demanded by cutting-edge smart sensing applications. Sensors--devices that detect, monitor,...

A unique angular-rate-sensing gyro: using specialized MEMS technology, integrated gyroscopes deliver significant advances in angular rate sensing--and make a fully integrated inertial measurement unit with six degrees of freedom a real possibility in the not-so-distant future.(Tech Velocity)
September 1, 2003... Using specialized MEMS technology, integrated gyroscopes deliver significant advances in angular rate sensing--and make a fully integrated inertial measurement unit with six degrees of freedom a real possibility in the not-so-distant future....

Enhancing crane safety: digitally compensated tilt sensors: crane safety systems using high performance tilt sensors help avert serious accidents, enhance production, and control cost for a highly competitive industry.(Tech Position)
September 1, 2003... Crane safety systems using high-performance tilt sensors help avert serious accidents, enhance production, and control costs for a highly competitive industry. Everyday, all over the world, cranes of all types and sizes are lifting every...

Integrated solutions for calibrated sensor: signal conditioning: this quick read will give you some tips you'll find handy for your sensor calibration and signal conditioning tasks.(Tech Signal Conditioning)
September 1, 2003... This quick read will give you some tips you'll find handy for your sensor calibration and signal conditioning tasks. Sensor manufacturers use a number of manufacturing and system techniques to calibrate sensors that detect pressure, force,...

Don't even think about lying.(Research & Developments)(Brief Article)(Column)
September 1, 2003... A recent newspaper story has left us very queasy. We read that researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are working on what could, a few generations down, amount to a "stealth lie detector." It seems that when a person decides to tell a...

MaxStream, Inc. (Orem, UT, www.maxstream.net), is offering replacements for the ProxLink wireless modem product line no longer available from Proxim, Inc.(Business Sense)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... MaxStream, Inc. (Orem, UT, www.maxstream .net), is offering replacements for the ProxLink wireless modem product line no longer available from Proxim, Inc. MaxStream's FCC-approved 9XStream-PKG 900 MHz Stand-Alone Radio Modems replace the...

BN Ventures.(Business Sense)(low cost gyroscope development for high volume applications)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... The newly established BN Ventures (Saratoga, CA, 408-741-5443) is funding the development of a highly integrated MEMS-based gyroscope. The product will provide X and Y sensing and 10[degrees]/hr. performance at less than $10 in production...

Magnasphere Corp.(Business Sense)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Security Sales and Integration named Magnasphere Corp.'s (Brookfield, WI, www.magnasphere.com) switch technology as one of the top 30 cutting-edge products among hundreds exhibited at the International Security Conference and Exposition West...

Ion Optics, Inc.(Big Deals)(SensorChip products get $2.5 million investment to complete design)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Ion Optics, Inc. (Waltham, MA, www.ion-optics .com), has received a $2.5 million investment (representing the first close of a planned $4 million series B financing), which it will use to complete the design and launch of its SensorChip...

Luxtron Corp.(Big Deals)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2003... Luxtron Corp. (Santa Clara, CA, www.luxtron.com), supplier of thermal metrology subsystems to the semiconductor industry, has been awarded a patent for in situ temperature measurement of wafers and other substrates during semiconductor...

N[O.sub.x], chlorine sensors.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... CL2-A1 and CL2-B2 (C[l.sub.2]), NO2-A1 and NO2-B1 (N[O.sub.2]), and NO-A1 and NO-B1 (NO) sensors from Alphasense Ltd., Great Dunmow, UK, provide stable outputs with changes as great as 95% RH. Personal monitors using these sensors will not...

Ethernet controller chip.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The AnyBus-IC Ethernet chip from HMS Industrial Networks Inc., Chicago, IL, contains a TCP/IP protocol stack and includes support for industrial Ethernet protocols, such as Modbus/FCP and EtherNet/IP. The DIL 32-sized chip supports 10/100 Mbps...

Noncontact current detector.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The Model DA30 from Extech Instruments Corp., Waltham, MA, detects AC current from 200 mA to 1000 A through shielded wires, conduit, and metal circuit breaker or junction boxes. Sensitivity adjustments help locate wires and conduits through...

ATEX, FM-certified process calibrator.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The 707Ex loop calibrator from Fluke Corp., Everett, WA, meets FM certification (Nonincendive Class I, Div. 2, Groups A-D) and complies with the latest European ATEX directive (EX 2 G EEX ia IIC T4, CENELEC Zones 1 and 2), allowing you to...

Low-noise dual filter.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The LT1568 from Linear Technology Corp., Milpitas, CA, is a 92 dB SNR, high-frequency filter building block for channel anti-aliasing or reconstruction applications. It provides a pair of matched second-order filter sections integrated on a...

Digital telemetry system.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Applied to rotating shafts of [greater than] 0.9 in. dia. using Kevlar straps, the, AT 5000 EasyApp from Accumetrics Associates, Inc., Schenectady, NY, is a miniature battery-powered digital telemetry system equipped to measure strain, torque,...

DA development software.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... National Instruments, Austin, TX, offers LabVIEW 7 Express, software that simplifies the creation of measurement and automation applications and extends LabVIEW to a wider range of targets, from embedded FPGAs to Palm OS and Microsoft Pocket PC...

Inline charge converters.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Featuring TEDS capabilities, T422 Series converters from PCB Piezotronics, Inc., Electronics Div., Depew, NY, convert charge-mode piezoelectric sensor signals into low-impedance voltage signals for use with ICP sensor signal conditioners or...

Differential pressure transmitters.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Wet/wet differential pressure transmitters from Senex Corp., Grand Island, NY, measure gases or fluids and have pressure ranges from 1 in.[H.sub.2]O through 10,000 psi. Offered in end-user or OEM versions, the sensors feature high line and...

Photoelectric sensor family.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The S50 photoelectric sensor family from Balluff Inc., Florence, KY, includes [greater than] 15 types of sensors, all in a global standard 18 mm configuration that can be used as an 18 mm tubular sensor or as a block-type sensor. The sensors...

Enclosed encoders.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Dynapar El2 and El4 Enclosed Series optical incremental encoders from Danaher Controls, Gurnee, IL, measure motor speed and shaft rotation in commercial and light industrial applications. The El2 encoder is 1.2 in. dia. and has resolution up to...

Miniature transducer.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Designed to meet the high-acceleration demands of aeronautic and automotive industries, the MT2E miniature cable extension position transducer from Celesco Transducer Products, Inc., Chatsworth, CA, withstands max. acceleration of 136 G. The...

Image processing software.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The MathWorks, Inc., Natick. MA, offers the Image Acquisition Toolbox and Image Processing Toolbox 4, MATLAB-based software that combines a direct interface to industry-standard frame grabbers and video devices with advanced image processing...

Intrinsically safe sensor.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... UL listed for use in hazardous locations, the Series RPS-409A-IS ultrasonic sensor from Migatron Corp., Woodstock, IL, can detect presence, proximity, level, volume, and distance, with sensing ranges from 4 in. to 18 ft., depending on model....

Temperature transmitters.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Endress+Hauser, Inc., Greenwood. IN, offers iTEMP temperature transmitters, including the TMT 162, a HART smart transmitter capable of single or dual sensor input. The company also has a selection of DIN-rail-mounted transmitters and hockey...

Digital frame grabber.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The PicPort-Pro-CL-Stereo CameraLink digital frame grabber from Leutron Vision, Burlington, MA, features an FPGA-based architecture and support for 64-bit/66 MHz PCI bus operation. The card acquires images from 2 base or 1 medium CameraLink...

Miniature proximity sensor.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The SM400 Microsonic Thru-Beam family of ultrasonic proximity sensors from Hyde Park Electronics, Inc., Dayton, OH, have ranges up to 205 mm and operate in small-object applications where space is limited. The sensors sense objects in harsh...

Optical sensor interrogator.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The si425 from Micron Optics, Inc., Atlanta, GA, provides fast, accurate, and reliable peak wavelength data for up to 512 fiber Bragg grating sensors on four optical fibers, allowing you to monitor optical sensors in oil pipelines, dams,...

Monitoring software.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... TempElert from Innovative Tech Works (ITWorks), Chico, CA, logs information from thc company's TempTrax temperature probes or switch sensors, and can be configured to send customizable alerts via email, alphanumeric pagers, cell phones, and...

Magnetostrictive sensors.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... TLM Series noncontact position sensors from Novotechnik U.S., Southborough, MA, provide absolute linearity to [less than] [+ or -] 30 [micro] with either their SSI or DyMoS interface, over stroke lengths from 100-4500 mm. The low-profile...

Rigid RTD surface sensor.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The high-temperature Model 22493 from RdF Corp., Hudson, NH, is designed to measure surface temperatures in areas where the sensor itself may be subjected to vibration and to high temperatures up to 1500[degrees]F. It may be bolted, welded, or...

Diagnostic connector.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Woodhead Connectivity, Northbrook. IL, offers the Brad Harrison Diagnostic D-Sub connector that can perform comprehensive test functions to speed up implementation and troubleshooting in Profibus applications up to 12 Mbaud. The connector has a...

DA system.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Performing both data capture and measurement, the DM3000 Data Platform from Western Graphtec, Inc., Irvine, CA, is available in 8-or 16-channel plug-in configurations and allows you to mix and match voltage (up to 500 V), temperature, sound or...

PID EDA tool for FPAAs.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Anadigm, Inc., Campbell, CA, offers the AnadigmPID Tool, part of its AnadigmDesigner 2 V2.3.0 EDA software, that lets you build an analog PID controI loop on the company's FPAAs (analog equivalents of FPGAs). You specify the top-level control...

Embedded I/O.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Sealevel Systems Inc., Liberty, SC, offers eI/O, a modular embedded industrial I/O architecture that lets you mix and match 8-input or 8-output modules for relay, opto-isolated I/O, A/D, D/A, and other common I/O, as appropriate. Interface is...

Rugged tilt sensor.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The Schaevitz T435 from Sherborne Schaevitz (originally Sherborne Sensors Ltd.), Basingstoke, UK., is a high-precision, closed-loop, gravity-referenced tilt sensor that is 41 mm high and [less than] 37 mm dia. Ranges from [+ or -]3[degrees] to...

Current-loop transmitter.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Useful Devices, Inc., Stockbridge, GA, offers its 420TX01-001 that provides a 4-20 mA output from any resistive or IC sensor input and is housed in a DIN-rail-mountable package. The loop-powered transmitter has span, zero, and linearization...

Front-end controller.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Festo AG & Co. KG, Esslingen, Germany, offers the FEC620 and FEC660, two PC-based miniature controller variants that have analog inputs and outputs, allowing them to perform compressed air metering and monitoring using pressure sensors, air...

Dual-mode level sensor.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... The dual-mode levelprox from Turck Inc., Minneapolis, MN, is an ultrasonic level sensor that has both a reverberation and an echo mode. The sensor determines the level of the media by evaluating the returning echo; echo mode lets you detect...

Process temperature monitor.(Product News)
September 1, 2003... Mounted directly at the process (or to one of the company's RTDs), the TR Series monitor from IFM Efector Inc., Exton, PA, interfaces with a 2-, 3-, or 4-wire Pt100 or Pt1000 RTD in an existing process and displays fluid temperature from...