People, businesses, and industries have been using sensors for decades, but this has been accelerated lately by Internet of things or as most people refer it, IoT.
By combining various sensors or transducers to a network mores specifically communication network, devices can share data and perform task that more often make life easier for most of us. The data collected from IoT ready devices can now synced with Artificial Intelligence to make the network more autonomous and smarter capable of making informed decision regarding everyday task like heating the house, feeding your pet, switching the lights, etc.
What is a sensor?
A Sensor can also be referred to as a detector and in electronics industry engineers will interchangeably use the word Transducers to ID these parts. A sensor basically is a device with sensitive electronics or a chip that will process input data and generate a desired outcome through electronic signals and determine a particular function.
Advantages of sensor devices
Sensors are very important especially in this 21st century and each sensor will have its own advantages. For example, light sensors are useful in the security industry as they provide that extra support in creating products to secure offices, homes, banks and high security installations in conjunction with motion detectors. In everyday use, smoke detectors keep our buildings safe by waring us of presence of potential fire, so does gas sensors that alert us of dangerous gases like methane & carbon monoxide which is very deadly.
Proximity sensors can be used effectively to control flow of traffic around junctions, car parks and even in cars to avoid collisions or secure sensitive items in building like museums or conservation sites where you are not allowed to touch fragile items etc.
Rangersdog.com have been working with photoelectric sensors for their pet products that mainly rely on light emitted especially for automatic door and gates. Our feline friends will also benefit more as they often tend to be independent especially manufacturers like buskercat.com who are also product developers of cats’ sensor related products.
Below is a list more than 20 sensors you will find in the electronics industry:
List of Sensors
Optical sensors – These include photodetectors, fibre optics, pyrometers, proximity, and infrared which we have classed them here as they tend to all use light signals.
Gyroscope sensors – They are often used to measure velocity and angular items along an axis. These are useful for unmanned vehicles, toys like drones and radio-controlled helicopters. There are four major types which often get combined with accelerometers and they include: rotary gyroscopes, vibrating structures, MEMS which is basically micro-electro-mechanical systems and optical gyroscopes. Other uses could be for use by athletes for raining purposes which often help improve their mechanical motion and movement.
Position Sensors – Pets of have GPS tracking collars which help the owners identify the exact location of their pets at any given time. Since a lot of pets go missing every year especially cat, buskerscat.com have listed all the best cat tracker in the market with resources and statistics of how over the years, products have helped improve the recovery of lost pets using either microchips or tracking collars.
Humidity Sensors – This type of sensor is ideal for use in industries around agriculture, metrology, healthcare, heating, and ventilation, automotive for ACs, greenhouses and pharmaceuticals.
Other types of sensors are as follows: Vision and Imaging Sensors, Temperature, Radiation, Proximity, Pressure, Photoelectric, Motion, Metal, Leak, Gas and Chemical, Flow, Flame, Electrical, Contact & Non-Contact Sensors.
Conclusion
We have done a quick research to highlight some of the common sensors used in industries around the world and electronic parts industry. If you wish to get more information about sensors, you can follow the details below for more sensor related articles, where to source the parts online.
Article written by electronicscomponents.co.uk James Corden.