A UNIVERSITY of Florida (UF) engineer is the latest researcher to design a tiny, easy to manufacture motion sensor for use in personal electronics, medical devices and other applications.
Huikai Xie, a UF assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, said his 3mm2 sensor is not the smallest motion sensor ever invented, but is extremely sensitive.
“It draws only a tiny amount of electrical power and – most importantly – is one of a new generation of sensors that can be made using the computer chip manufacturing industry’s standard techniques and equipment,” he said.
In a three-year-old project originally funded with a US$170,000 grant from NASA, Xie and other UF team members developed the single-chip sensor that can be manufactured using complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology, the industry standard for silicon chip manufacturing.
The chip uses about one-thousandth of a watt of power, meaning it has the potential to operate for as long as a year on a standard watch battery. It is also sensitive enough to register sound as well as motion.
Although developing the first few sensors was expensive, Xie estimated it could cost US$10 or less if mass produced. He and his graduate students have installed several sensors in a cigarette pack-sized board of electronics to test their capabilities. UF also is pursuing a patent on the sensor.
Xie said the sensors could be used in PDAs, allowing users who are reading a book to “turn the page” by simply turning the device over in their palm and then turning it back again.
“In cell phones, the motion sensors may sense when the phone has been dropped and shelter the hard drive to prevent memory loss,” he said.
“Paired with wireless technology, the motion sensors could be easily worn or even sewn into clothes. That could help coaches zero in on the movements of athletes or nurses working at a distance monitor elderly people in their homes.
“It’s even possible that the sensors could be implanted in bones during surgeries, giving orthopaedic surgeons a unique way to monitor the progress of repairs.”
Dave Monk, manager for sensor operations at Freescale Semiconductor, said Xie’s research is important because its applied nature makes it highly useful to industry.
“I see these engineers going all the way to putting it into a package, showing how it could be manufactured, showing all the critical components – that’s a whole lot closer to where we would pick it up,” he said.
If you involved in or know of a project that uses innovative Australian electronics, then why not enter it into the 2006 EDN Innovation Awards? For criteria and entry forms, visit www.ferret.com.au/FerretAwards/EDNAwards.asp.