With a newly available product, an existing deadbolt can be converted to a smart door lock, add many sensors and obtain several new desirable functions. To get started, the Bosma Aegis Smart Door Lock simply replaces the indoor portion of an existing deadbolt with the conversion process taking about 10 minutes. The newly installed device […]
What is the difference between a gauge and an absolute pressure sensor?
Understanding the difference between gauge and absolute pressure sensing measurements is easiest to visualize with piezoresistive type pressure sensor and a diaphragm that deflects with pressure. For both types of measurements, pressure is applied to the top of the thin diaphragm. With the gauge pressure sensor, the back side is vented to atmosphere. This could […]
How has wastewater detection of COVID-19 changed in one year?
Within a few months of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, researchers started investigating how wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), extracting data from urine and feces transported through sewers, could be used in the fight to isolate, contain and prevent the virus from spreading. At the first company in the world to commercialize data from sewage, Biobot Analytics, […]
What’s the weather like today – on Mars?
Common question. New planet. It’s April and in the Gale Crater, where the Curiosity rover is currently exploring, that means early autumn temperatures: highs around 10°F and lows less than -100°F reported from its Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS). In addition to air and ground temperatures around the rover, other measurements include atmospheric pressure, humidity […]
How can CO2 sensing help overcome COVID-19?
One sensing tool that has played an important role since the beginning of COVID-19 is data loggers. Data loggers use a wide variety of sensors to measure everything from temperature to illuminance. One specific type of data logger equipped with a CO2 sensor has been used since the beginning of the pandemic to monitor and […]
What is the difference between a pressure sensor and a load cell?
A load cell is a type of force sensor and it has a direct relationship to pressure, since: pressure = force/area Eq. 1 The load cell’s electrical output is proportional to the mechanical force applied to it. The force can be hydraulic or pneumatic and the transducer is normally based on strain gauges. Other types […]
How have drone sensors advanced?
Large Predator B drones, built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and first flown in 2001, are used by the military to perform multi-mission Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions over land or sea. Sensing payloads in the MQ-9A Predator B remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), include: Multi-Spectral Targeting System Model B (MTS-B) Electro-optical/Infrared (EO/IR), Lynx multi-mode […]
What is the difference between a thermal IR sensor and a quantum IR sensor?
Infrared radiation (IR) can be detected by thermal IR and quantum IR sensors. A thermal IR sensor uses infrared energy as heat for detection and its sensitivity is independent of wavelengths. Therefore, it can detect objects in the near IR, mid IR, and far IR bands. The non-contact detectors do not require cooling after exposure […]
What is the difference between active and passive RFID?
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags are used to track and identify personnel (including implanted RFID) and inventory/assets in warehouses, work-in-process (WIP) in manufacturing plants, animals in laboratories, on farms or in the wild and to provide access control and for automatic toll collection for vehicles in consumer as well as government applications. The RFID tag is […]
How can the new temperature-sensitive COVID-19 vaccines’ temperatures be ensured?
The newly developed COVID-19 vaccines require low temperature storage to ensure their efficacy. For the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) specifically states that it should be stored in an ultra-cold freezer, thermal shipping container or refrigerator. The ultra-cold freezer’s temperature should be maintained between -80°C and -60°C (-112°F and […]
