14.01.2014 20:44

Designing the sensor elements of monitoring or control systems which require accurate, reliable, real-world inputs can be one of the most challenging parts of the product development cycle. It's no wonder then, why many designers now opt to purchase either off-the-shelf or custom pre-integrated sensor modules.

Offloading most of the design, test, and manufacture of sensing elements to a third-party vendor can help make the most of an engineering team's limited resources while shortening a product's time-to-market. Nevertheless, there are still many critical decisions a designer must make which have a major impact on their products' performance, reliability, and cost.

To help design the optimal system, let's look at pre-integrated sensor elements -- specifically the advantages they offer -- and familiarize you with some of the key issues you must consider to create a solution which best meets your application's requirements. Even an experienced engineer may find that designing the sensor elements which provide accurate, reliable data about the real-world conditions within HVAC systems, medical devices, process control, or other factory automation equipment can be one of the most time-consuming and expensive parts of a product development cycle. This is in large part because sensor design is an interdisciplinary process, which requires a design team to consider myriad electrical, mechanical, and manufacturability issues.

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