Bosch highlights MEMS sensors at CES
Capable of measuring many physical values such as acceleration, air pressure, geomagnetic field strength and direction, sounds, rotational speeds, or temperature, MEMS are the ideal sensors for a wide variety of applications. Equipped with a miniaturized battery and a RF interface, these sensing elements can send the data acquired to a user’s smartphone, to name just one application example. With this versatility, basically about all subjects of daily life can become a part of the Internet. This way, they contribute to growing real and virtual worlds together.
MEMS sensors make electronic devices such as smartphones "feel" and "listen" – a smartphone knows its attitude in space and thus how to turn an image to enable users to look upon it. Similar applications are popular in tablets, smart watches, game consoles and many others. Also forwarding companies benefit from MEMS applications: Spare parts in the store report their exact location. And thanks to a MEMS sensor affixed, sensitive objects can register if they have been transported without exceeding the permissible limits.
"It is not the question if real and virtual world will merge thanks to such sensors. The question is just when this will happen", says Bosch CEO Volkmar Denner. "Sensors, batteries and transmitters are now integrated into one unit, and their size, price and energy consumption have shrunk far enough to be deployed by the billions. Thus, they form the cornerstone of the Internet of Things."
Bosch claims to be the world’s largest MEMS vendor in terms of sales. The company’s MEMS product spectrum includes sensors for many applications in consumer and automotive electronics. Since the first MEMS device rolled off Bosch’s production line in 1995, the company has manufactured more than 3 billion units; today the company produces more than 2.4 million MEMS sensors per working day.
At the CES, the company will highlight MEMS applications for the Internet of Things: At the Bosch stand, a RF-connected MEMS sensor network will acquire a host of data. Visitors will be able to see which doors are open or closed; they can see the current noise level at the boot and how temperature, air pressure and humidity develop through the course of the day. A robot vacuum cleaner, equipped with MEMS sensors and a WiFi module, will constantly report its position. Thanks to these combined sensors, the Bosch stand at the CES will be a stage for many sensor devices that communicate with each others. (Las Vegas Convention Centre, South Hall 1, Stand 20812.)
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