SENSORS
Making Differential Pressure Sensors Smarter
designers to move beyond this piece-meal approach to a fully integrated module that combines the MEMS sensor with additional circuitry and software. This modular approach is driven by intelligent software that is programmable for each application. We call this architecture NimbleSense, and it is the industry’s first System-in-a-Sensor. This approach is the same as IC designers have used in designing many of the complex SoCs (System on a Chip) that power today’s smartphones, automobiles, data centers, etc.
easuring the comparative difference between two inputs, differential pressure sensors are a critical part of most mechanical and electromechanical devices that require precise measurement of air, gases or liquids. For example, medical ventilators utilise several differential pressure sensors to monitor both the airflow and the correct delivery prescription of air and gases to the patient. If a measurement value falls outside of the acceptable range, the differential pressure sensor ‘notifies’ the ventilator to make the correction or helps trigger an alarm so the caregiver can attend the patient and make the required adjustments. Differential pressure sensors are a key element in many other devices as well, such as industrial flow meters, HVAC systems, medical spirometers and anesthesia devices.
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While some variation of differential pressure sensing has existed for hundreds of years, today’s modern pressure sensors can trace their roots back to the late 1960s when Honeywell applied for the first patents in piezoresistive silicon sensor technology. Over the pursuant decades, the technology
has been improved by further integrating electrical and mechanical components that are manufactured using silicon processes similar to integrated circuits. This process is known as MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems).
Today’s devices, whether it be medical equipment such as respirators, consumer electronics such as smartphones or industrial ventilation systems, rely on software algorithms and in some cases machine learning technology to become highly intelligent. But not all aspects of these products have advanced at the same rate. While critical to many important applications, differential pressure sensors have changed little over the past several decades. This has resulted in product designers putting together piece-meal solutions that are not often performance optimised and lack a system-level architecture that would enable more inventive functionality.
The NimbleSense architecture Seeing this industry shortcoming, Superior Sensor Technology created a new, innovative architecture enabling product
The NimbleSense architecture enables product designers to create highly differentiated, advanced pressure sensing systems from a technology toolbox consisting of several key building blocks. This methodology greatly improves system reliability, boosts performance and provides distinct features for each specific application.
Combining processing intelligence with signal path integration and proprietary algorithms, the NimbleSense architecture leads to a much simpler system design and a higher level of sensor performance. Choosing from a wide array of market proven building blocks, product designers integrate the appropriate modules to create a differential pressure sensing system optimized for specific application requirements.
These different modules provide significant design flexibility and greatly speed up the development process. A product designer can quickly and easily develop the pressure sensing solution required for their specific end product. In addition to providing a variety of application-specific features, the NimbleSense approach has effectively demonstrated a 5 to 10x performance improvement in comparison to traditional pressure sensing approaches.
Technology building blocks Flexibility is at the core of the NimbleSense architecture. This unique technology allows you to quickly prototype and design the sensor into your product, support multiple product lines with one particular sensor, add new capabilities and features via software updates and reduce system cost through lower component count and greater product reliability.
Figure 1: NimbleSense Architecture Building Blocks
Superior Sensor Tecnnology
www.superiorsensors.com
MAY 2021 | ELECTRONICS TODAY 63
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