Sensors Magazine articles from September 2005

Sensors Magazine archives from September 2005

Celebrations of engineering.(Editorial)
September 1, 2005... "The great themes of literature and of life," says novelist Isabel Allende, "are... love, honor, guilt, fear, redemption." To make them play out you need interesting characters and a compelling plot with risk and daring, tension and...

Two buys ...(Business Sense)(briefs)(mergers and acquisitions)(Lebow Corp.)
September 1, 2005... Schneider Electric (www.schneider-electric.com), the 85,000-employee multinational that calls itself "the world's power and control leader," has agreed to acquire all shares of BEI Technologies Inc., a leading specialist in customized sensors...

... and a launch.(Business Sense)(The Bosch Group)(Bosch Sensortec GmbH)(Brief article)
September 1, 2005... The Bosch Group, a pioneer in the field of MEMS since 1988 (today more than 300 Bosch engineers work in MEMS), has founded a subsidiary, Bosch Sensortec GmbH (maria.sidiropoulou@bosch.com). Starting with a workforce of 20, and with access...

Defense developments.(Business Sense)(Intevac, Inc. wins Most Innovative Product Award )(Brief article)
September 1, 2005... Intevac, Inc.'s (www.intevac.com) patented EBAPS sensor has won the Most Innovative Product Award at the fifth annual Soldier Technology Conference in Brussels, Belgium (www.wbresearch.com/soldiertechnolo-gyeurope/awards.html). The judges...

Calendar.(Calendar)
September 1, 2005... For a full listing of sensor-related events, go to www.sensorsmag.com/events. Carbon Nanotubes: Fundamentals and Applications and Nano Impact Summit October 17-18, Alexandria, VA www.nsti.org/courses/ ISA Expo 2005 ...

Coming soon to sensor networks: printed and organic electronics.(Business Sense)
September 1, 2005... "RFID is the first iteration of intelligent sensor networks. There will be many additional waves. Companies that are looking to create such networks in and beyond the supply chain must take a serious look at the printed and organic electronics...

Here's a family of nanobrushes for your tiny tidy-ups.(Research & Developments)
September 1, 2005... Nano devices and nano components of larger ones cry out for nano tools to tend them. Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute led by Pulickel Ajavan have responded by fabricating a family of nanobrushes with silicon carbide fiber handles...

Keep foul-ups away from the fowl line.(Research & Developments)(development of a machine which identifies plastic products in food)
September 1, 2005... Say you're digging into a nice microwaved turkey tetrazzini dinner and behold: Your fork raises something that shouldn't be in there. Ick! It's probably not metal; commercial food processors use metal detectors to find and eliminate those...

The medium is the measurement!(Destroy It Yourself)(acceleration measuerment in cars)
September 1, 2005... I used to have a car whose speedometer made an interesting statement about the designer's performance expectations: the highest speed on the dial was 85 mph. Although this limit didn't bother me much, the acceleration left something to be...

Making room for a manufacturing-centric view.(Extreme Data)
September 1, 2005... If you had a heart condition, you'd probably bypass the general practioner's office on your way to a specialist--someone who knows and understands the particulars of the heart. Makes sense! So why has it been such a leap for companies to see...

802.15.4 vs. ZigBee, hot technologies, and the benefits of wireless sensor networking.(Wireless Works)
September 1, 2005... Dear Wise Guy, I keep hearing about IEEE 802.15.4 and ZigBee. Are they the same thing? Signed, Zig Zag Dear Zag, Marketing messages seem prone to distort the fact that 802.15.4 and ZigBee are most definitely not the same...

PACs--the next platform in industrial automation: programmable automation controllers combine the best of PLCs and PCs in a new control platform to deliver greater functionality, scalability, and flexibility.(INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS)
September 1, 2005... For decades, engineers have developed industrial automation solutions with the help of programmable logic controllers (PLCs). As the challenges evolved, so have PLCs, incorporating analog I/O, network communications, and programming standards....

Electronic gimbaling: electrolytic tilt sensors improve the performance of digital compasses.(SENSOR TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN)
September 1, 2005... Like many mechanical instruments, compasses have evolved with technology. Today's electronic/digital compasses use various types of magnetic sensors--such as fluxgate magnetometers and magnetoinductive and anisitropic magne-toresistive...

Something new in high-resolution [SIGMA][DELTA] A/D converters: a passive input-current cancellation algorithm can solve the drive requirements of [SIGMA][DELTA] ADCs by enabling rail-to-rail inputs without the added power requirements of onchip buffer amplifiers and the errors they can introduce.(SENSOR TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN)
September 1, 2005... A new family of converters allows placement of large resistance-capacitance (RC) networks directly upstream of high-resolution [SIGMA][DELTA] analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) without degrading their DC accuracy. To do this, LTC2480...

Tunable thin films as sensors: a family of microtunable thin-film filters originally developed for the telecom industry is enabling new classes of near- and mid-IR optical spectral sensors suitable for trace gas detection, Raman analysis, and 2D lab-on-a-chip applications.(SENSOR TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN)
September 1, 2005... Thin-film interference coatings have been used in commercial optical systems since the 1930s for purposes ranging from antireflection coatings to bandpass filters. Created by stacking transparent films of different refractive index materials to...

Magnetic flux monitoring for accurate mixture rations: if your adhesives aren't doing their work, the problem might lie in an out-of-spec ratio of mixture components.(PUTTING SENSORS TO WORK)
September 1, 2005... Superior bonding strength and long shelf life have made two-component adhesives the material of choice for automotive engineers. However, the technology to accurately measure mix ratios has been virtually nonexistent. The antiquated "Dixie Cup...

Keeping things cool.(AppSnaps)(Sensicast Systems Inc. wireless equipment)(Brief article)
September 1, 2005... For steel makers, controlling the production process is vital to maintaining the quality of the material, the health of the equipment, and the safety of the workers. Anything that causes an unplanned shutdown takes a bite out of the bottom...

Where, Oh where, has my trailer gone?(AppSnaps)(American Port Services )(AeroScout)(Brief article)
September 1, 2005... How do you find a particular tractor-trailer and track its movements when it's somewhere within a 60 acre facility full of other trailers? That's the problem American Port Services (APS) had at its cross-docking facility in Savannah, GA,...

Seeing through walls?(AppSnaps)(development of handheld radar)(Brief article)
September 1, 2005... What would you say if I told you that you could see through walls without using x-rays? No, it isn't science fiction, it's a novel use of ultra-wideband (UWB) radar. Cambridge Consultants, a Cambridge, U.K.-based R & D company with its U.S....

Product news.
September 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 100-page temperature sensor catalog.(Literature SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2005... The new 100-page RTD & Thermocouple Sensor Assemblies Handbook from Conax Buffalo Technologies provides detailed technical information in an easy-to-use format to help specifiers select the correct sensor assembly for an application. An...

MeasuringPAD.(Literature SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2005... It's a rugged hand-held instrument for rapidly collecting, monitoring, and displaying multiple sensor inputs in a wide range of manufacturing, laboratory, plant operations, and quality control applications. Configured and operated through a...

Pressure sensors & transduscers.(Literature SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2005... Kavlico's 4-color, quad-fold capability brochure has just been re-issued detailing the latest information about their standard and custom sensors and transducers. Included are typical performance specifications and features, a company profile,...

New--S17BNCSYS.(Literature SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2005... Simple Intensity[TM] ICP[TM](PCB) powered Acoustic Intensity Survey probe. Utilizing two 7052SYS Type 1.5[TM] Titanium diaphragm microphone systems, the SI7BNC probe is fully adjustable from 12.5 mm to 100 mm, permitting optimum measurement...

2004 full-line signal conditioning catalog.(Literature SHOWCASE)
September 1, 2005... New 240 page catalog of Instrument Class[R] industrial signal conditioning, data acqusitition and data communication products that protect and condition critical signals from RTDs Thermocouples, Load Cells and other sensor devices. Includes DIN...

Precision Inductosyn[R] position transducers.(Literature SHOWCASE)(Farrand Controls Div.)(Brief article)
September 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...

Non-contact rotary torque sensor.(Literature SHOWCASE)
September 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...

A Baker's Dozen: Real Analog Solutions for Digital Designers.(New to Bookshelves!)(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2005... A Baker's Dozen: Real Analog Solutions for Digital Designers Author: Bonnie Baker Published by Newnes, an imprint of Elsevier ISBN: 0-7506-7819-4 This book gives digital engineers a solid arsenal of analog solutions to...

PDF.(Mel's Picks)
September 1, 2005... Several years ago I mentioned the Software Carpentry site, dedicated to teaching basic software engineering skills to engineers and scientists. Greg Wilson, who teaches at the University of Toronto, received a grant earlier this year from the...

Sensor Platforms.(Mel's Picks)
September 1, 2005... With all the buzz about blogs (a sort of online diary) and the proliferation of blogs dedicated to every subject under the sun, it was only a matter of time before someone came up with a sensor-related one. Sensor Platforms has created the...

Mike Koss.(Mel's Picks)(Website overview)(Brief article)
September 1, 2005... Finally, something fun! Here's a simplified paper version of the Enigma code machine used by the Germans in World War II. Mike Koss has created a one-page PDF that you can print out and assemble; it captures the primary workings of the original...

Quote of the month.(Mel's Picks)
September 1, 2005... I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent. --Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)

NASA's space shuttles, designed in the 1970s to make 100 trips each over 10 years, have launched 113 times in total. Is the fleet too old to operate?(Quick Poll)(National Aeronautics and Space Administration)(Survey)(Brief article)
September 1, 2005... NASA's space shuttles, designed in the 1970s to make 100 trips each over 10 years, have launched 113 times in total. Is the fleet too old to operate? 63.4% Yes 36.6% No Quick Polls are posted on the Sensors Online site every two...