27-06-2012, 04:15 PM
Future Prospects for Smart Sensor Systems
[attachment=25801]
INTRODUCTION
Smart sensor systems provide promising technical
solutions which can significantly contribute to an
improvement of quality, reliability and economic
efficiency of technical processes and products.
The term „Smart Sensors“ is often used as expression
of special features for progressive sensors who has
improved properties compared with state of the art
sensors. If we consider the meaning of this term over
many decades we remark that it was in use by many
different definitions which evolved with time. Some
researchers find this confusing because it doesn’t
have a static definition like usual in science.
By way of contrast we find that it is an interesting
approach to investigate the development of this term
in order to recognize main developments of sensor
technology in the past and to forecast the future
trends in this broadly based dynamically developing
field.
DEFINITIONS OF INTELLIGENCE AND SMART’NESS
The smartness or intelligence is a relative term and
its definition evolves with time. One definition of
smartness is to understand, to communicate and to
profit from earlier experience in dealing with new
situations.
HISTORY OF “SMART SENSORS”
The literature research shows a huge number of
papers dealing with smart sensors in different time
periods. Most of the papers were written at the
beginning o the 90ies where it seems to give an active
discussion of this term. The aspects related with this
term has some similarities but are in reality various
Brignell writes, that this term was released to the first
time in the 70’th to suggest sensors implemented in
one chip together with signal processing units [1]
STRUCTURE OF A SMART SENSOR
Considering the previous definitions, a smart sensor
should include certain elements (Figure 1). For more
reliability some measures for protection of the sensor
element should be introduced. The sensor signal is
treated by both analog and digital signal processing
measures leading to a higher level of information.
This is reached using other sensors for the correction
of influencing factors and by using suitable
characteristic models.
After digital signal processing only the main
information is transmitted by a communication
interface to the network of the higher level system.
FUTURE PROSPECTIVES FOR SMART SENSORS
The future prospects for smart sensors can be derived
from previous definitions by use of the identified
categories in section 4. In reality since the release of
the term smart sensor the details of the definitions
were changing, but every progress can be in spite of
that classified to miniaturization, improving
information and a better integration of sensors to
their environment.
[attachment=25801]
INTRODUCTION
Smart sensor systems provide promising technical
solutions which can significantly contribute to an
improvement of quality, reliability and economic
efficiency of technical processes and products.
The term „Smart Sensors“ is often used as expression
of special features for progressive sensors who has
improved properties compared with state of the art
sensors. If we consider the meaning of this term over
many decades we remark that it was in use by many
different definitions which evolved with time. Some
researchers find this confusing because it doesn’t
have a static definition like usual in science.
By way of contrast we find that it is an interesting
approach to investigate the development of this term
in order to recognize main developments of sensor
technology in the past and to forecast the future
trends in this broadly based dynamically developing
field.
DEFINITIONS OF INTELLIGENCE AND SMART’NESS
The smartness or intelligence is a relative term and
its definition evolves with time. One definition of
smartness is to understand, to communicate and to
profit from earlier experience in dealing with new
situations.
HISTORY OF “SMART SENSORS”
The literature research shows a huge number of
papers dealing with smart sensors in different time
periods. Most of the papers were written at the
beginning o the 90ies where it seems to give an active
discussion of this term. The aspects related with this
term has some similarities but are in reality various
Brignell writes, that this term was released to the first
time in the 70’th to suggest sensors implemented in
one chip together with signal processing units [1]
STRUCTURE OF A SMART SENSOR
Considering the previous definitions, a smart sensor
should include certain elements (Figure 1). For more
reliability some measures for protection of the sensor
element should be introduced. The sensor signal is
treated by both analog and digital signal processing
measures leading to a higher level of information.
This is reached using other sensors for the correction
of influencing factors and by using suitable
characteristic models.
After digital signal processing only the main
information is transmitted by a communication
interface to the network of the higher level system.
FUTURE PROSPECTIVES FOR SMART SENSORS
The future prospects for smart sensors can be derived
from previous definitions by use of the identified
categories in section 4. In reality since the release of
the term smart sensor the details of the definitions
were changing, but every progress can be in spite of
that classified to miniaturization, improving
information and a better integration of sensors to
their environment.