Electronics Industry Awards – Winners Supplement
Don’t think image sensors are important for you? Think again!
By Geoff Ballew, senior marketing director, Intelligent Sensing Group, onsemi U
sing your mobile phone as a digital camera is a part of our daily (or hourly!) lives, but you might be surprised how image sensors impact many other everyday events that I, and maybe you too, take for granted. This is why we should all be excited about further improvements in sensor technology; new sensors will continue to make things we know even better and enable new luxuries or conveniences that we haven’t conceived yet. In the morning when I wake up, one of my first thoughts is COFFEE ASAP. You might choose chai, green tea or even hot chocolate but I’m sure that you want it to be made well. If you wonder how the coffee maker knows what type of pod you pop into it, an image sensor reads the QR code to know the proper temperature and volume of water for the perfect cup.
Ding-dong! Oh, there’s someone at the door. No problem, I connect through my video doorbell and can see it’s the utility company. They need access to a power pole in my backyard. It was a little tough to see details of the person because the sun was rising just above their shoulder, but they had the uniform and what looked like legitimate identification. I’ll make sure that my next upgrade includes onsemi’s AR0822 or maybe a new Hyperlux ™LP sensor for high dynamic range and 4K resolution. The extra battery life from the low- power design will be nice too. I hate changing and charging the batteries so often. They get drained faster when it is windy and the tree in the front yard triggers the motion detection. onsemi’s Wake-on-Motion feature would really help that battery life.
It’s time to go to work. Today is trash pickup day so everyone has their bins at the curb which makes backing out of my driveway tighter than usual. Good thing I opted for the surround view camera system, so I can squeeze through the obstacle course with just a few inches of clearance. My car has onsemi sensors now, but my next car will be even better with onsemi’s Hyperlux™ automotive sensors which include LFM (light flicker mitigation.)
26 November 2023
A schedule full of meetings today. Many of us are in the office so we grab a conference room with an upgraded video conferencing system using an 18 Megapixel (MP) onsemi sensor. It covers the whole room so I can turn off the camera on my laptop.
It’s lunchtime. I’m squeezed on time so I’m just going to get something from the Grab-n-Go kiosk. I wish it was like those Amazon Go stores where you scan your palm when you enter and then just grab what you need and walk out. Image sensors enable the store to track what you took and charge you for just those items. Now it’s time for dinner. On my way home,
the motorway is flowing surprisingly well, so I’m making great time in the fast lane when I see the lights go on behind me and the highway patrol officer pulls me over.
Hmm…she’s wearing one of those police body cams. Is that for her protection or mine? Maybe both. Whew, she let me off with a warning, so I’m back on
the road. Near home, I stop by a small grocery store to get something from the hot deli. The store just got a new inventory system so they can use a handheld barcode scanner and update their inventory easily, not like the manual system they used to use. I can’t wait for a robot delivery service that could make small deliveries practical that aren’t big enough to get the attention of an Instacart shopper. Anyway, time to wind down after a long day.
Figure 3. onsemi Hyperlux AR0823AT is ideal for advanced driver assistant systems
Components in Electronics
Of course, that wasn’t exactly how my day went, but I hope it inspired you to consider how many sensors you encounter on a typical day. There are even more in the factories that
Figure 1. Sensor use cases in a smart home
Figure 2. onsemi AR0822 image sensor inside a video doorbell
manufacture everyday products and the global supply chain that delivers to your local store or even your doorstep.
onsemi has image sensors and depth sensors for applications in transportation, a wide variety of industrial applications, some highly specialized sensors for medical equipment, and even sensors for satellites and spacecraft that have landed on the moon and Mars. We’re known for great image quality, innovative features, and support tools to help our customers solve their biggest challenges.
https://www.onsemi.com/
www.cieonline.co.uk.uk
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