In the near term, quantum sensors are being developed that can more accurately measure EV battery capacity, assess battery safety, and reduce vehicle weight. In the longer term, quantum batteries have been proposed that could dramatically improve the speed and efficiency of battery charging. The energy remaining in an EV battery has been estimated using…
What technologies are used to make quantum sensors?
Quantum sensors rely on quantum mechanical principles like entanglement, interference (also called superposition), discrete quantum states, and coherence. They are unlike quantum computers, which need highly stable environments for operation. Some quantum sensors can operate at room temperature. As a result, quantum computers are still a work in progress, while quantum sensors are used today. […]
What are the seven types of quantum sensors?
The seven types of quantum sensors include chemical sensors, clocks, gravimeters, imaging, interferometers, magnetometers, and thermometers. Several types of quantum sensors are already in use, and more are being developed for commercialization. They can be used in a wide variety of applications from earth sciences to molecular biology and wide band gap power semiconductors. Chemical […]
What sensors are used to monitor volcanoes?
Monitoring volcanoes is complex, and it’s an important activity to ensure public safety in many areas of the world. It involves monitoring ground deformations, earthquakes and vibrations, volcanic gas, rock and water chemistry, and remote sensing from satellites. Volcano monitoring needs to be implemented on a continuous basis or in near-real-time and is an extreme […]
How is AI enabling the decarbonization of the utility grid?
The electrification of transportation, Industry 4.0, communications, agriculture, and other industries compliments the decarbonization of the utility grid to meaningfully reduce Co2 emissions. Integration of renewable energy sources will be a key to decarbonization of the grid, and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) will be used to enable wider integration of renewable energy. […]
How do micro photo sensors work and what are they used for?
Micro photo sensors have built-in amplifiers and are available in a variety of configurations, with modulated, non-modulated, and polarized light beams. They’re used to provide precise and stable sensing or positioning of materials, components, or assemblies. Some have integrated connectivity, like IO-Link and IP 67 environmental ratings. Uses for micro photo sensors include precision manufacturing […]
What are the key specifications of machine vision sensors?
Charged coupled devices (CCDs) and CMOS active pixel sensors (CMOS sensors) are the primary image sensor technologies. They rely on lenses and other optical components to deliver the image to be captured. This FAQ reviews the differences between CCDs and CMOS sensors, looks at some key specifications of image sensors and the concept of quantum […]
How many ways are there to measure temperature?
Temperature is the most commonly measured physical quantity. Thermometry, the measurement of temperature, involves a wide range of technologies. Its uses range from maintaining a comfortable and safe environment for people to industrial processes operating at over 3,000 °C and quantum computing operating at near absolute zero. This FAQ reviews some of the more common […]
What hardware accessories can you attach to a USB oscilloscope?
A wide range of hardware accessories are available for USB oscilloscopes. This FAQ reviews a few of the more popular options including a variety of probes plus wireless synchronization of multiple USB oscilloscopes and chassis that can combine and synchronize USB oscilloscopes with other instruments like arbitrary waveform generators and multimeters. Probes and more probes […]
What specialist software is available for USB oscilloscopes? part 2
This FAQ looks at software that can synchronize multiple oscilloscopes, perform mathematical functions, and transform a basic USB oscilloscope into multiple instruments. A USB oscilloscope consists of signal capture and conditioning electronics, a personal computer (PC) that can be a laptop, tablet, or desktop, plus PC software. The availability of application specialist software is a […]