TEKNIK ELEKTRONIKA

The  Melexis MLX91206 is a customer programmable monolithic current sensor featuring TriaxisTM Hall technology. Designed to directly sense the current flowing in an external conductor, such as a bus bar or PCB track, the IC enables users to design small, economical current monitoring solutions with fast response times. 

The MLX91206 contactless current sensor consists of a CMOS Hall-effect integrated circuit with a thin ferromagnetic layer on its surface. The integrated ferromagnetic layer acts as a magnetic flux concentrator, significantly increasing the signal to noise ratio of the sensor. It senses current by converting the magnetic field generated by the current flowing through the  conductor to a voltage proportional to the magnetic field. There is no upper limit to the measurable current level because the output level is dependant on the conductor size and distance from the sensor.

 

The MLX91206 sensor is especially suitable for DC and/or AC current measurements up to 90 kHz in applications that require galvanic isolation, very low insertion loss, fast response time, small package size and low assembly cost. It includes overvoltage and reverse voltage protection, including broken track diagnostics, and can be used as a stand-alone current sensor connected directly to a cable.

The characteristics (offset, gain, clamping levels and more) of the MLX91206 are fully customer programmable. A choice of linear (analogue) and PWM outputs is available. The linear output is suitable for applications requiring fast response (less than 10 μs), while the PWM output is suitable for applications that do not need high speed but do require high output signal robustness. A thermometer output signal monitors ambient temperature.

Calibration can be performed after the sensor is attached to the conductor. Typical accuracy is better than

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Plessey Semiconductors and the University of Sussex have unveiled an innovative technology for contactless sensing of electric potentials. Using a device dubbed the electric potential sensor (EPS), this technology is able to sense changes in electric fields in the same way as a magnetometer detects changes in magnetic fields.

 

The new sensor, which does not need any physical or resistive contact to make measurements, will enable innovative new products such as medical scanners that are simply held close to a patient’s chest to obtain a detailed ECG or devices that can sense objects through walls. The initial application areas for EPS will be in medical treatment and sports, since the EPS device can detect voltage changes in muscles and nerves without direct electrical contact.
 
Until recently, electric fields have usually been measured either with relatively insensitive detectors operating in the range of several hundred volts to check for potential electrostatic discharges that might damage sensitive equipment, or with large laboratory electrometers that require frequent recalibration. The University of Sussex has solved the recalibration issue with a patented combination of techniques that prevent the accumulation of electrostatic charge and avoid electrostatic damage, making the new EPS technology intrinsically stable.
 
The EPS device operates at normal room temperatures and acts as highly stable, extremely sensitive and ultra high-impedance contactless electric field strength sensor for measurements down to the millivolt level. Most places on Earth have a vertical electric field strength of around 100 volts per metre. The human body is mostly water and interacts with this electric field. EPS technology is so sensitive that it can detect these changes at a distance, even through a solid wall. For example, in a burning building it could be used to determine whether any people are present in a smoke-filled room before opening the door.
 
Image: Plessey Semiconductors

More info

Plessey Semiconductors website



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Epson Toyocom Corporation announced it has developed an extremely small absolute pressure sensor that provides excellent accuracy and resolution.
Epson Toyocom has steadily miniaturized its quartz pressure sensors to the point where they are compact enough for use in mobile devices

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