Sensors

Texas Instruments has turned to 45nm RF CMOS process to squeeze a 60GHz radar, including antenna, into an 11 x 6.7mm package only 0.8mm tall. IWRL6432AOP is an FMCW radar that works over 57 to 63.9GHz and at distances up to 25m. It includes: an RF and analogue front-end, an Arm Cortex-M3 processor to configure, control and calibrate the front-end, ...

HBK is introduced a flange-mount sensor for tensile and compressive forces. Called U93A, and a more accurate update on the U93 sensors, there are two basic versions: 35mm diameter for 1 to 10kN, and 54mm diameter for 20 to 50kN. “Its small dimensions and dynamic properties make it an alternative to piezoelectric force sensors,” according to the company. “The mechanical ...

Sensor Technology has torque sensor accurate to ±0.1% of full-scale, that has its sensing head and electronics in separate housings. “This has two advantages,” according to the company. “The sensing head can fit into confined spaces, and the electronics can be located in a position where they are protected from physical damage, dust, dirt, moisture and electromagnetic forces.” Dubbed SGR530 ...

Last week Belgian fabless chip company Melexis announced a unique inductive sensing IC that includes a tiny transformer, drive circuit and sense circuit, so Electronics Weekly decided to have a closer look. No permanent magnet, external or internal, is needed, and external magnetic fields are rejected. MLX92442 only requires a nearby electrically conductive object for triggering. It comes in either ...

TDK has put an mems piezoelectric ultrasonic time-of-flight distance sensor inside a 3.5 x 3.5mm package along with its signal chain. “ICU-10201 offers the sensitivity required for obstacle avoidance or proximity sensing, which is used frequently in robotics, drones and robot vacuum cleaners,” according to the company. “The sensor provides millimeter-accurate range measurements to targets at distances up to 1.7m, ...

Diodes has created a trio of tiny magnetic field triggered sensors that operate from low-voltage rails between 1.1 and 2V. Called AH1899x, they have two power pads and a binary output that is either high or low depending on the local field. Packaging is a 1 x 1 x 0.4mm DFN1010-4. To save power, each includes measure-then-sleep logic and only ...

An ultrasound-based sensing technique developed for medicine could have wider application. The question that inspired the technique was: how do we spot leaks from the gut after gastric surgery? Neither ultrasound, CT or MRI scanning could be used to remotely determine local chemistry around the internal wound, according to Northwestern University, which teamed up with the Washington University School of ...

Imaging Development Systems (IDS) is offering Sony’s IMX662 1/2.45 inch 2.16 Mpixel sensor in both colour and monochrome cameras. U3-38C0XCP comes in a completely closed 29 x 29 x 17mm zinc die-cast housing with an integral C-mount lens holder. “The sensors belonging to Sony’s Starvis 2 series are designed for maximum light sensitivity,” according to IDS. “We offer this rolling ...

A new technique applied to avalanche photodiodes improves the operating range or sampling rate of OTDRs, says Ben White. An optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) is a fibre optic network test instrument that measures the characteristics of an optical fibre. It can determine the fibre’s length and attenuation and detect a variety of fault types. The network test instrument works by ...

Leonardo is highlighting the UK’s role in the recently launched NASA PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Climate, ocean Ecosystem) satellite, which will study the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere. It launched at the end of last week, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida (right). The craft has since successfully made contact with ground stations ...