Of course, GPS is important, but radar and the automatic identification system (AIS) use various sensors to track and report on ship positions in real-time. Sensor fusion is being developed for autonomous shipping. And there are hydrophones combined with other sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to identify and track whale movements […]
Sensor Tips
What sensors do you need to land on the moon?
NASA is developing several sensor systems and algorithms for use on Artemis moon landings. It’s called the Safe and Precise Landing – Integrated Capabilities Evolution (SPLICE) technology suite. It consists of three primary elements: An inertial measurement unit (IMU) and a camera for terrain relative navigation. Second is Doppler LiDAR to determine the lander’s velocity […]
Hall switches feature ASIL B safety ratings
TDK Corporation has upgraded its Micronas Hall-effect switch family, HAL 15xy, for automotive and industrial applications – All now defined as SEooC (Safety Element out of Context) ASIL B-ready, according to ISO 26262. Modules equipped with HAL 15xy can more easily fulfill higher safety criteria in automotive applications such as brake fluid level sensing, seat […]
Barometric pressure sensor targets mobile device apps
Bosch Sensortec introduces the BMP581, a barometric pressure sensor that couples low power consumption with extreme accuracy to provide altitude tracking in wearables, hearables, or IoT devices. This capability makes it ideal for applications such as fitness tracking, fall detection, indoor localization, and navigation, enabling new use cases that were previously impossible. This extreme level […]
High-resolution multispectral line scan camera
Teledyne DALSA has announced the release of its multispectral Camera Link HS (CLHS) line scan camera—a new model of the award-winning Linea product line. This latest high-resolution line scan camera provides spectrally independent RGB and NIR outputs making it uniquely capable of handling some of the most challenging inspection applications by detecting defects both on […]
What sensors does NASA use to monitor Martian weather?
The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) on the Perseverance rover is characterizing the surface weather as well as the dust particle size and morphology. Understanding dust behavior is a key to predicting Martian weather. Dust influences Mars’ weather the way that water controls Earth’s weather. Two of MEDA’s weather-related goals are: determination of the destructive […]
Keysight’s Innovation Challenge is back for 2022
The student competition for IoT designs to mitigate climate change and reduce energy consumption is back on track for 2022. Registration opens April 4. After a two-year COVID-19 hiatus, Keysight Technologies has rebooted its IoT Innovation Challenge. The Keysight Innovation Challenge 2022 student competition challenges students to design IoT devices that sense our world and […]
How are ultrasonic MEMS sensors being used for 3D obstacle detection and collision avoidance?
In addition to radar, LiDAR and camera sensing used in 3D obstacle detection and collision avoidance in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in vehicles, ultrasonic sensing has been used as well. Traditionally, the ultrasonic sensors used transducer-based technology to provide a microphone to transmit and receive the ultrasonic signal in passenger vehicle parking applications. Using Infineon’s […]
PIGAs can indeed fly – and are still the best, Part 3: History and future
The PIGA is the oldest accelerometer and widely used in rocketry and guidance, and still the best – but MEMS-based devices are getting closer. The previous parts looked at the principle and operation of the PIGA. This part looks briefly at its history and refinement and the MEMS-based versions of the PIGA being developed and […]
PIGAs can indeed fly – and are still the best, Part 2: Operation
The PIGA is the oldest accelerometer and widely used in rocketry and guidance, and still the best – but MEMS-based devices are getting closer At the core of each single-axis PIGA is a gyroscope. The performance of this gyro – which is unrelated to the orientation gyros – plays a large role in determining the […]