Sensor Review: Volume 16 Issue 4

Developments in RFID

Ian Byfield

Examines the increasing use of radio frequency identification (RFID) owing to the falling prices of transponders and other equipment. Briefly describes the current situation of…

RF tags overcome European hurdles

Jack Hollingum

Explains how radio frequency tagging has established itself in Australia and the USA, where 915MHz is acceptable for this purpose and pulsed power allows read distances of 7m or…

Acousto‐magnetics: stop the thief

Anna Kochan

Spotlights acousto‐magnetic technology and how it can be used to activate alarms (without false alarms). Assesses its suitability for reducing shop‐lifting compared with Swept RF…

Smart pallet system improves warehouse productivity

Susan d’Hont

Describes a smart pallet system based on Texas Instruments’ technology and its use in warehousing. Looks at the system’s use at Unilever Italia, and concludes that it is a…

The Smart Seat approach

Paul King, M.R. Jackson, Galer‐Flyte, A.J. Grafton

Observes that the provision of intelligent control is seen as the logical extension of existing seat‐belt and airbag systems for passenger vehicles to optimize secondary safety…

Vehicle sensing gets an inflated image

Jack Hollingum

Studies safety measures in cars, such as airbags and automatic seat‐belt tensioning. Provides details of how airbags function and of single‐point sensing, three‐point sensing…

Self‐diagnostic gas sensors which differentiate carbon monoxide from interference gases for residential applications

Peter McGeehin

Highlights lessons which can be learned about residential carbon monoxide detectors. States that four types of sensor technology can be applied and points out the drawbacks of…

Bio‐chemical sensors

Gareth Monkman

Sheds light on why there is now such a proliferation of new chemical sensors. Describes various olfactory sensors and their differing uses. Concludes that in some areas, although…