BeBop Sensors has announced a new smart fabric sensor designed for next-gen human interaction. The Note Touch reference design includes a small fabric sensing array (16×16 nodes) and a software toolkit to experiment with touch interfaces on any curved or flat surface and rapidly bring new ideas to market. Using gestures such as taps, swipes, and multi-touch, […]
Wearables
wireless MCUs support latest BLE 5.3 Spec
Renesas Electronics Corporation announced that it is developing new microcontrollers (MCUs) that will support the recently released Bluetooth 5.3 Low Energy (LE) Specification. The new devices will be part of the Renesas Advanced (RA) Family of 32-bit Arm Cortex-M microcontrollers, joining the RA4W1 Bluetooth 5.0 LE device introduced last year. Renesas expects to have the […]
Nuances of low power MCUs for wireless sensors and wearables
The optimization of microcontrollers (MCUs) in power-sensitive applications such as wireless sensor nodes and wearables is all about maximizing power management effectiveness. To minimize power consumption, low-power MCUs typically operate at frequencies below 50 MHz, compared with hundreds of MHz or even 1+ GHz for conventional MCUs. These power-optimized MCUs also use low-power peripherals; they […]
Is it time for printed temperature sensors?
IDTechEx thinks so. In recently updated IDTechEx report, “Printed and Flexible Sensors 2022-2032: Technologies, Players, Markets,” market researchers concluded that the “demand for printed temperature sensors is forecast to grow substantially over the next decade, with an increasing number of companies developing this technology.” The report explains that the new class (printed and flexible) of […]
Tiny CO2 sensor from Infineon Technologies bestowed Switches & Sensors LEAP Award
At four times smaller and three times lighter than its NDRI counterparts, the tiny XENSIV PAS CO2 sensor from Infineon Technologies captured the judges’ attention, earning it the LEAP Award in Switches & Sensors. More than 100 entries were received for the annual competition which celebrates the most innovative and forward-thinking products serving the design […]
Rohde & Schwarz wins coveted Leap innovation award
A vector signal generator covering both existing wireless frequencies as well as bands in the emerging 5G area won its creator, Rohde & Schwarz, a 2021 Leap Award. The Leap Award competition addresses products across 12 categories. More than 100 entrants were received for the annual event which celebrates the most innovative and forward-thinking products […]
Ambient light sensor for wearables and mobile detects UV-A
Monitoring vital signs such as pulse or oxygen saturation in the blood via smartphones and smartwatches has been available for several years. The corresponding UV channel of the ambient light sensor TSL2585 from ams OSRAM detects the amount of UV-A radiation in natural sunlight. This enables the user to be warned of excessive UV-A radiation. Thanks […]
Where are wearable sensors worn?
Anywhere you want to wear them. While this sounds like an exaggeration, with sensors embedded in clothing and other form factors besides wrist-worn devices, it is essentially true. Image source: Rise of Wearables and future of Wearable technology INVIZA, a company that designs and builds ‘FashTech,’ announced that it is taking pre-order sales for INVIZA®SOLE […]
Thin-film common-mode filters for mobile devices
TDK Corporation has developed the TCM0403M Series of miniaturized thin-film common-mode filters for mobile devices. The 0403 case size (0.45 x 0.3 x 0.23 mm) is 58 % smaller and 56 % lighter than previous products. With their high common-mode attenuation characteristic, these products reduce intruding noise and improve wireless signal reception sensitivity. The common-mode […]
Ultra-low capacitance TVS diodes offer 3.8-V clamping
TDK Corporation has extended its range of TVS (transient voltage suppression) diodes characterized by their extremely low capacitance values for bidirectional overvoltage protection to include the ULC series (Ultra Low Clamping & Capacitance). The SD01005SL-ULC101 (B74111U0033M060) type has a minimum capacitance of ~0.5 pF and the SD0201SL-ULC101 (B74121U0033M060) type of ~0.6 pF, both at 1 […]
