"smart sensor" to me means something that has advanced features such as self calibration, signal processing or built-in tests. usually "smart" means integrated uC of some kind.
@Chuck: I wrote an I2C/SMBus interface to a smart battery, which had a TI chipset for command/status info. It integrated sensors for temperature, voltage, current, as well as higher level status like State of Charge (integration of the charge/discharge status).
I'm told that the audio dropped out for many of you late in the session. For anyone who's interested, I'd like to repeat a question I asked at that time: Have you designed products that use smart sensors and, if so, what kinds of products were they? Thanks.
by plug and play, does this mean the sensor output would be the same from device to device.
That was the intent. A user could replace one sensor with another from the same or even a different manufacturer and the sensor had data regarding its calibration and other aspects that would have prevented it from being used in a system without additional effort from a knowledgible user. Industrial applications were the initial target of 1451.
@Chuck: I think a case study of the development of a smart sensor from concept (including the physics of the base sensor), through the design trades, to manufacturability issues, to deployment, would be interesting and helpful. This would perhaps some of the "hands on" flavor of Carol Lenk's latest LED session, or along the lines of some of Clive Maxfield's sessions such as the telescoped history of electronics he did for us a while back.
@rruther2: On my audio widget, it is the red triangle on the left end (in the leftmost box) of the widget. When you are actually listening, it is replacing by two vertical lines, presumably indicating Pause.
I thinka "smart" anything should be aware of being connected to a network and BIT, self-cal, accepting commands and outputting data without human intervention - "plug'n'play".
Load cells from Transducer Techniques use TEDS; saves me a lot of aggravation because it automatically scales the readout. I just plug in whichever load cell I'm using and the display and RS-232 output read directly in pounds with whatever resolution I selected previously.
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
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A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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