The term sensorization may have been used before the introduction of the Apple iPhone but it certainly has been used more frequently since that milestone [1]. The term identifies how a single device, such as a smartphone, or an application area, such as healthcare, improves with embedded sensors and it has the forward-looking potential of adding more sensors over time.
Earlier this year at the Hilton Head Workshop 2022, the MEMS and Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), a SEMI technology community, presented their Sensorization Journey [2]. October 10-12, at the MEMS and Sensors Executive Conference (MSEC 2022), industry visionaries and experts will convene at the Coronado Island Marriott Resort in San Diego to get the latest trends and innovations in sensorization for growth markets [3]. These markets include the metaverse, bio-medical, agriculture, sustainability and positioning, navigation and timing. Registration is open for MSEC 2022, hosted by the MEMS & Sensors Industry Group.
There are several examples of applications or market segments that have addressed and benefited from sensorization. Since it is intended to be value-added terminology researchers and designers have a propensity to include the term in technical articles and whitepapers. A few examples show the variety of sensors used in specific sensorization cases.
In “Design of a Scalable System for the Sensorization of Virtual TV Sets,” the authors describe how the sensorization of virtual television sets using motion capture systems allows the automation of many of the processes used in the live broadcast of a television show [4]. Normally, adding new sensors results in the increase of the load of the render computer and therefore decreases the frame rate. In contrast, the authors discuss how a centralized hardware and software architecture allows the addition of an unlimited number of sensors without directly affecting the frame rate of the render.
“Sensorization under limiting conditions integrated into a digital energy control architecture,” explains the EFFORT project consortium’s EFFORT 4.0 project [5]. The project’s objective is to develop a digital architecture for productive control and energy consumption in extreme environments (high temperatures and pressures, sand, humidity or dust in suspension), based on advanced predictive models of real-time control of the forging and smelting processes, such as cast iron and HPDC aluminum injection. Determining the extent of the extreme environment is where the sensors come into play.
The lighting segment is adapting measurable aspects such as temperature, humidity, speed of movement and even the time of day [6]. Adaptive lighting for roadways is a result of the combination of factors and their interaction for street lighting. For interior vehicle lighting, interaction and control between devices situated in the same area is based on one or several sensors linked to the driver by means of lighting sector interfaces such as DALI and 0-10V.
Surgical robotics instruments are also a target for sensorization [7]. According to the report, a surgical robotic instrument was sensorized for two degree-of-freedom (DOF) lateral force sensing. Compatible with the da Vinci Surgical System, the revised robotic instruments can be used for skills assessment in training situations and force control in specific surgical tasks. The instrument’s sensing capabilities and its performance were evaluated using a commercially available force-torque sensor. The results showed a resolution of 0.05N at 1 kHz sampling rate.
References
[1] What is Sensorization? [2] Hilton Head 2022 Workshop [3] MSEC 2022—MEMS & Sensors Executive Congress | SEMI [4] Design of a Scalable System for the Sensorization of Virtual TV Sets with Live Broadcast [5] Sensorization under limiting conditions integrated into a digital energy control architecture [6] Sensorization [7] Sensorization of a surgical robotic instrument for force sensing
