Feature Industry comment Sensors: past, present and future
Rachael Morling interviews Karmjit Sidhu, VP, business development, and John Matlack, global business development manager, Macro Sensors, about the sensors industry, past and present and future
What effect has the recent recession had on the sensors market? Sidhu: A big effect. Mid- to large-scale companies have cut back on develop- ment of new sensor technologies and started to consolidate product lines. This trend is very noticeable in North American and Europe. To balance their financial positions to save money from the shrinking share of the lower margin, high-volume product lines, sensor com- panies are cutting back on development and releasing key people (since this was considered an overhead). However, the few small, privately-held companies that maintained investments in new products and technologies are now reaping the rewards as the recession starts to recede. Matlack: There are many answers to this question. OEMs pushed deliveries out as their business slowed. Their return to the norm was dependent on what business segment they were in – for example, the food or pharmaceuti- cal industries were less affected by the recession. Macro Sensors held stock so, as our customers ‘used their last spare’, we were able to immediately satisfy the demand.
Sensors are used across industry, but are there any sectors that have started using sensors more than others recently; and are there any industry sectors where we can expect a growing demand for sensors in the future?
Sidhu: Alternative energy (bio mass, H2, wind and landfills), heavy oil process- ing, environmental/pollution control,
home care medical equipment (O2 generators and delivery systems, kidney dialysis, etc.) and chemical sensing will dominate in the next 50 years. Matlack: In particular, the subsea oil drilling companies are now being required to instrument more than before due to the BP spill.
What technological innovations in recent years have benefited sensors and sensor users? Sidhu: MEMs technology has made the greatest technological innovations for the past 30 years and will continue to do so for another 20 years by offer- ing smaller size, lower cost and complex structures. Matlack: Smart and wireless technol- ogy. Examples of smart sensors include a pressure transducer that incorporates a temperature sensor and auto corrects
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for temperature error, or when microprocessors are used to re-linearize the sensors’ output to make them more accurate. Customers are using wireless communication to reduce the amount of cabling needed in factories or to monitor sensors in remote locations – such as pressure transducers in oil rigs in the middle of a desert.
Have the applications for sensors changed over the years? Sidhu: The addition of the lower microprocessor to the sensor has fuelled its growth significantly in automotive, medical and consumer products. These killer applications are the smart phones, crash air bags, fuel injection systems, toys, medical implants and many others that affect our lives daily. Microprocessor technology has driven sensor cost low enough so that the global economy is now effected by this revolution. Matlack: ‘Changed’ would be the wrong word. Engineers are finding more applications for sensors to control their processes. The more control you have, the more efficient you become. I guess to state one ‘change’: the aero- space industry used to have everything ‘connected’ with gears and such. Now they ‘fly by wire’.
How have sensor user/specifier demands changed in recent years? Sidhu: Sensor users/specifiers have been slow to catch up with new sensor technologies like MEMs. The ‘fear factor’ by older engineers – and there are many of them still left – has been the lack of training and understanding of newer technologies. This situation has created a wide gap between innovators and users; hence, the longer time scale for the acceptance of newer technologies. This lag will get worse as newer engi- neers, taught on ‘sensor black box’ con- cepts with no real practical knowledge, come to the market and take control. Matlack: Customers today want smaller, cheaper, more accurate and faster.
What do you expect will drive inno- vation in sensors? Sidhu: Smart sensors, sensors with built-in knowledge and easy connec- tivity will drive innovations in the sensor world. As new emerging markets in energy, entertainment,
John Matlack
“Smart sensors, sensors with built-in knowledge and easy connectivity will drive innovations in the sensor world” -Sidhu-
water management and transportation come to life, a big shift will occur with sensor networks such as land-based and wireless systems. Wireless-based sensor connectivity will win over land due to lower cost, power, and maintenance requirements. Matlack: Markets will drive the changes. The market defines a need, and sensor manufacturers engineer a solution.
“Customers today want smaller, cheaper, more accurate and faster” -Matlack-
Can we expect any exciting technologi- cal developments in sensor products in the future? Sidhu: Two big disputable sensors technologies, nano technology and electro-chemistry, will change the sensor world as we know it today. These tech- nologies offer enormous benefits from the prospective of flexibility, cost and applications that even MEMs cannot deliver. Here, the challenge will not come from mid-to large-sized compa- nies, but rather from smaller innovative companies. If you consider that today’s luxury car has 200 sensors, wait until nano sensors come on board. There will be 1500 sensors in each mid-sized car controlling everything from tempera- ture, power train, braking systems, fuel train, passenger safety, alerting emergence services during accidents, re-routing through traffic jams, etc. Matlack: I’d have to answer the ques- tion this way. Sensor manufacturers are continually inventing ways to use sensors. For example, the hydrogen fuel cell market has some very strict demands. Ten years ago, sensor manu- facturers would not have been able to satisfy them. Now we can. Also, since sensors have been made smaller and lighter than in the past, they can now be used in locations where they would not physically fit previously.
Macro Sensors
www.macrosensors.com
measurement & sensors directory 2012-2013
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