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| Feeling the Earth Move
| People have been trying to predict earthquakes for centuries—using animal behavior, weather, and seismic monitoring—but have had less than stellar success. As the human population shifts from a mostly rural existence to a mostly urban one, earthquakes exact a higher price, both in property damage and in lives lost. | | | Sensing with Autonomous Mobile Robots
| | Autonomous mobile robots rely on sensors to navigate through their environment. | | | Keeping Cool
| | If you've ever worked while resting a laptop computer on your lap, you know that computers emit heat, and the more powerful the computer, the greater the heat produced. This is a problem because electronics really don't enjoy elevated temperatures. A hot computer is a slow computer or, worse, a computer that will cease functioning. | | | The Big Picture: Sensor Webs in Disaster Response Demo
| | In an increasingly wired world, knitting together data from disparate sources into an interoperable whole can present disaster managers and first responders with critical information during a major emergency or crisis. Building on a vendor-neutral interoperability framework for Web-based discovery, access, control, integration, and visualization of online sensors, the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) tested this idea in a December 2006 disaster response demo. | | | Wireless's Domestic Turf War
| | Three major wireless communications protocol rivals have made new moves in home automation , while energy-harvesting pioneer pursues its own path to the building market. | | | CityTV Questions Value of Road Sensors
| | CityTV News in Calgary, AB, Canada, reports that motorists don't
see the value in road sensors installed by the city's Roads &
Maintenance division. | |  MORE ARTICLES
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| Steep-Slope Monitoring
| | Although GPS is an efficient tool for deformation monitoring, it also is an expensive one for large projects. The authors developed a remote-controlled monitoring system using an electronic switching device for multiple antennas to monitor steep slopes at the Xiaowan hydropower station in China. | | | Getting into Pockets and Purses
| | Add one more to the list of challenges faced by consumer GPS-enabled devices: the human hand that holds them. Body loading significantly degrades receiver sensitivity. A dielectrically loaded quadrifilar helix antenna can ameliorate this condition. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Future Networks
| | The next generation of networks will move beyond disconnected device-specific networks and systems and toward a distributed infrastructure, with intelligent functions residing across the entire network, from its edge to its core. | | | Safe Boating, Everyone!
| | The cry of "man overboard!" is second only to "fire on shipboard!" as a general alarm for all hands. But what if no one sees that fellow boater or shipmate (or pet) fall into the drink? The Raymarine (www.raymarine.com) LifeTag system, using Ember's ZigBee (www.zigbee.org) networking technology, does away with that unhappy scenario. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| The Five-Minute Filter University—August Session
| | Last month we discussed a number of simple passive filters in both low-pass and high-pass configurations. Although these filters could reject out-of-band signals, this capability was relatively limited because they all had an attenuation roll-off rate of –20 dB/decade. You will find that many applications require a much greater ability to reject out-of-band signals than that provided by the passive low-pass filters we looked at. | | | The Five-Minute Filter University, July Session
| | Back in the late 1970s comedian Don Novello (a.k.a. Father Guido Sarducci) had a routine called the "Five-Minute University," which was supposed to impart to you, in the span of only five minutes, all the knowledge you would retain five years after graduating from a regular university. So, in the same spirit, I offer "Dr. Ed's Five-Minute Analog Filter Design University." | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Onset Offers Renewable Energy System Monitoring
| | The Web-based solution provides real-time remote access to performance data from green roofs, solar-power systems, wind turbines, and other similar types of systems. | | | Belimo and Tridium to Develop Next-Generation VAV Controller
| | The system will combine temperature control, wired and wireless communications options, and a software platform for developing, deploying, integrating, and managing pervasive device applications at the lowest level. | | | Five Star Introduces New Conductive Polymer Thick Films
| | The ElectroSperse P-series silver-based conductor pastes allow lower-cost printing of electrodes and interconnects for displays and touch screens. | | | Avago Introduces Ultra-Small RF Amplifier
| | Measuring 1 mm by 0.5 mm by 0.25 mm, the VMMK-2x03 takes up 5% of the volume and uses only 10% of the board area of a standard SOT-343 package. | | | Wireless Sensor Networks—Solutions and Market Opportunities
| | The Research and Markets study reports on current trends and the future prospects of the technology that promises to revolutionize the way we live, work, and interact with the physical environment. | | | RF Digital Announces Wi-Fi Module with Years of Battery Life
| | The low power consumption of the RFD21715 is based on GainSpan's GS1010 SoC. The module also offers AES encryption, TCP/IP (IPv4), UDP, DHCP, and SNMP, which provides for remote device configuration and management. | |
| Arch Rock and Cisco Chair New Internet Engineering Task Force
| | The group has been chartered to bring interoperable IP routing to low-power wireless networks used to connect large numbers of sensors and other embedded assets. | | | Augusta Systems Releases EdgeFrontier 4.0
| | The middleware enables the creation and management of intelligent enterprise networks, featuring data from sensors and other edge assets. The enhancements in the software's latest version include additional data-integration options and more robust event-processing capabilities. | | | ADI Introduces High-Bandwidth Mems-Based Vibration Sensor
| | The ADXL001 provides reliable, continuous system-performance monitoring without interrupting normal operation of the equipment and meets the cost criteria of industrial applications. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Moving SOA onto the Plant Floor
| | If the sensor manufacturers' products already have the software "hooks" that allow the sensor data to be accessed by the SOA, the implementation has a quicker ROI. | | | MES—A Work In Progress
| | Traditionally, a manufacturing execution system (MES) is defined as a production scheduling and tracking system, which schedules and updates orders, analyzes and reports resource availability, collects execution data—such as material and labor usage, process parameters, and order and equipment status—and maintains statistical quality control. But such a static definition doesn't do this genre of software justice because MESs are a work in progress. | | | OPC—A Question of Relevance
| | For ten years, OPC's suite of standards has provided the industrial automation world with open connectivity, but the technology on which its standards are based is no longer on the cutting edge of data sharing. The foundation that rescued manufacturers, systems integrators, and software providers from the chaos of proprietary communications interfaces now has to compete with fast movers such as service-oriented architectures and Web services. The question is: Can the standards evolve, embrace new communications mechanisms, and remain relevant? | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Improving Doppler-Based Sensing Systems
| | By incorporating high-performance digital signal controllers (DSCs), with their integrated architectures and small footprints, designers can simplify Doppler-based sensing systems, enhance their performance, and reduce development cycles. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Special Report
| | It's hard to overestimate the impact of MEMS—or LabVIEW—on sensor applications. | | | So Much More
| | The Today at Sensors weblog (www.sensorsmag.com) not only gave us Sensors editors an outlet to report daily from Sensors Expo (June 5–7, www.sensorsexpo.com), but also it lets us tell you more about Expo happenings—among other things—than we've been able to before. Thank goodness, because there's much to tell! | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Future Networks
| | The next generation of networks will move beyond disconnected device-specific networks and systems and toward a distributed infrastructure, with intelligent functions residing across the entire network, from its edge to its core. | | | Mixing Multiple Wireless Technologies
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| With the variety of wireless technologies available, outfitting an industrial or commercial environment for wireless communications may involve mixing and matching technologies to find the optimal solution. Here are the issues to consider to make your mix a successful one. | | | The ΔΣ ADC Learns New Tricks
| | A new architecture is blurring the distinction between successive approximation register (SAR) and ΔΣ ADCs, creating devices that couple high resolution with high throughput, achieving exceptional measurement accuracy and ease of integration. | | | Optimizing Motion Control—Getting the Most from Resolvers
| | To take full advantage of the resolver's potential, you have to compensate for error sources. Simulating resolver and cable functions go a long way toward helping you achieve this goal. | | | 3D Image Correlation: Measuring Displacement and Surface Strain
| | 3D image correlation is a general-purpose strain measurement tool that allows us to measure 3D displacement and the true surface strains of any material without contact and without many of the difficulties associated with these measurements. | | Choosing the Right Pressure Transmitter:
| | Choosing the right pressure transmitter for your application involves more than specifying the pressure range. Don't forget to consider the technologies available, the environmental stresses and strains that will be involved, and the lifetime cost. | | Choosing the Right Pressure Transmitter:
| | Choosing the right pressure transmitter for your application involves more than specifying the pressure range. Don't forget to consider the technologies available, the environmental stresses and strains that will be involved, and the lifetime cost. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Future Networks
| | The next generation of networks will move beyond disconnected device-specific networks and systems and toward a distributed infrastructure, with intelligent functions residing across the entire network, from its edge to its core. | | | Optimizing Motion Control—Getting the Most from Resolvers
| | To take full advantage of the resolver's potential, you have to compensate for error sources. Simulating resolver and cable functions go a long way toward helping you achieve this goal. | | Choosing the Right Pressure Transmitter:
| | Choosing the right pressure transmitter for your application involves more than specifying the pressure range. Don't forget to consider the technologies available, the environmental stresses and strains that will be involved, and the lifetime cost. | | | Advances in IR Temperature Measurement
| | The latest developments in IR sensors not only help you optimize your manufacturing processes and business operations but also enable you to meet industry standards for final product quality and reliability. | | | Pick the Right Camera Interface
| | Perhaps Camera Link's biggest advantage is blazing speed—up to 3.6 Gbps. Another is deterministic communication back to the camera electronics that allows on-the-fly control of camera functions such as frame rate, zoom, etc. | | | Moving SOA onto the Plant Floor
| | If the sensor manufacturers' products already have the software "hooks" that allow the sensor data to be accessed by the SOA, the implementation has a quicker ROI. | | | A Machine That Watches
| | During an automated manufacturing process, the product typically moves along a production line at either constant or variable speeds. The first task of optoelectronic inspection is to discard that motion. For example, machine vision systems use triggers and shutters and photoelectric sensors use gates to freeze the object at a particular point in time so that it can be analyzed. | | | A Twelve-Step Sensor Selection Checklist
| | Selecting a device to measure a physical property, such as temperature, can be a confusing process. But shortcuts and inattention to detail can get you into a real jam. Here, in chronological order, are the steps I try to use most of the time, especially when the measurement is really important. The underlying concept is akin to the carpenter's maxim: Measure twice; cut once. | | | Understanding Integrated Hall Effect Rotary Encoders
| | Linear Hall sensors generate a DC output voltage proportional to the strength of an applied magnetic field and can be used for high-resolution angle sensors when placed near a diametrically magnetized magnet. The rotating magnet generates a sinusoidal waveform, one full wave per revolution. This type of setup can be used only for a limited angular range because the output voltage (in relation to the rotation angle) is ambiguous at angles >90? in both directions from the zero crossing point. | | | MORE ARTICLES
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| Five Star Introduces New Conductive Polymer Thick Films
| | The ElectroSperse P-series silver-based conductor pastes allow lower-cost printing of electrodes and interconnects for displays and touch screens. | | | Thin-Film Batteries Move Toward Commercialization
| | The Frost & Sullivan report "Advances in Thin-Film Batteries" has also identified growing interest in replacing conventional batteries with thin-film batteries in applications such as RFID tags, sensors, smart cards, and labels, as well as portable devices. | | | Saint Barnabas Medical Center Converts to Masimo SET Technology
| | The hospitalwide conversion achieves technology and sensor standardization, creates process efficiencies, and reduces costs. | | | GE Fanuc Awarded $1 Million Contract by Macawber Beekay
| | The technology company will provide controller and HMI systems to the material-handling facilities in India to address the region's need for pollution control and energy conservation. | | | Wireless Sensor Networks—Solutions and Market Opportunities
| | The Research and Markets study reports on current trends and the future prospects of the technology that promises to revolutionize the way we live, work, and interact with the physical environment. | | | ICON Releases Global Research Needs Assessment
| | The report details the findings of two international workshops, involving a diverse group of stakeholders, to define research needs for predicting nanotechnology's risks. | | |
Streetlight Grid Turned into Back-Haul Network
| | The ZigBee-enabled BrownBetty system uses a mesh network with nodes placed on existing streetlight infrastructure to create a backhaul communication network. | | | First Universal, Affordable Smart Label Chip
| | IDS-SL13A RFID chip from IDS Microchip lowers price barrier by up to a factor of 10; opens multiple new markets for automatic data-logging/tracking systems. | | | Augusta Systems Technologies Power Smart Grid Project
| | Allegheny Power uses new, intelligent communications and control network to enable the next generation of electric utilit |
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