Sensor

EBE Sensors + Motion has introduced a touch sensor evaluation board for challenging environments. It implements a technology branded ‘TCRC’, which is aimed at operating panels in industry, construction machinery, medical environments and kitchens, for example. “Whether in freezing cold, tropical heat, wet, or dusty environments, TCRC sensors work reliably,” claimed EBE. “They can be operated with gloves or dirty ...

F-Tac is a robot hand that can sense touch with 100μm resolution across 70% of its grasping surface, and can grasp using that touch feedback. “The spatial resolution combined with the enormous coverage are truly novel and were not possible previously,” claimed team member Professor Kaspar Althoefer (pictured), director of the Centre of Excellence Advanced Robotics at Queen Mary University, ...

Sony Semiconductor has created a nerve cell sensing array with over 200,000 electrodes spread over a few square millimetres. Aimed at drug research, it allows experiments on nerve cells outside of a human or animal. Made in CMOS, it has 236 880 electrodes in a ~480 x 500 array across 5.5 x 5.9mm. The pixel spacing – 11.22μm square pixels ...

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed smart textiles that use acoustic waves instead of electronics to measure touch, pressure and movement. SonoTextiles work with glass microfibres that conduct sound waves; data processing is efficient thanks to use of different frequencies. The researchers have woven glass fibres into the fabric at regular intervals. At one end of each glass fibre is ...

Rhopoint Components is stocking precision current sensing resistors from VPG Foil Resistors. The 1W surface-mount RBF series measures 6.3 x 3.2mm and offers resistances between 0.01Ω and 1Ω. Tolerances down to 0.5% are available between 0.1 and 1Ω, or down to 1% from 10mΩ to 100mΩ. All the series are available with a temperature coefficient of ±25ppm/°C between -25 and ...

Vishay has released a digital ambient light sensor in a 4.38 x 1.45 x 0.6mm package, with AEC-Q100 qualification for automotive use. VEML4031X00, as it will be known, has a visible light spectral sensitivity designed to match the human eye, and also includes an ambient infra-red sensor for light source differentiation. “With an ambient light range from 0 to 172 ...

LEM had introduced two fast precision high current sensors for ac, dc and pulsed currents: a 2MHz 1,500A type and 1ns 1,000A type. IN 1500-S is for measuring up to 1.5kA across a 2MHz (±3dB) bandwidth and -40 to +50°C temperature – which is less than the -40°C and +85°C that the rest of the IN family is rated across. ...

Infineon has announced a series of three pin ASIL-B-compliant magnetic switch ICs for automotive use. “Developed in accordance with ISO 26262, the TLE4960x switches integrate diagnostic functions to support functional safety applications,” according to Infineon. “In addition, the devices are AEC-Q100 compliant and qualified to Grade 0, ensuring robust performance in harsh environments.” With the base part number TLE4960x-xM-S2, they ...

Microchip is aiming at analogue sensors with a microcontroller that can measure signals while consuming less than 3µA while sleeping with one comparator monitoring an in-coming voltage. Called PIC16F17576, it has a power-saving ‘analogue peripheral manager’ (APM). “The APM controls which peripherals are active to minimise total energy consumption and enable battery-operated applications,” according to the company. Inside the APM ...

Allegro MicroSystems today announced three ICs: two analogue current sensors and a motor driver for fans. The first current sensor, ACS37630, is designed to be sat on top of a bus bar and partly surrounded by a U-core magnetic field concentrator. “Its vertical Hall technology enables sensing parallel to the package surface, ideal for system integration with U-core magnets,” according ...