Sensor
A Sensor is a measurement device that converts properties from its environment into sensor signals for sensing systems.
- AKA: Detector, Sense Element, Sensing Device.
- Context:
- It can (typically) convert Physical Property into measurable signals.
- It can (typically) maintain Calibration States for accurate measurements.
- It can (typically) operate within Sensing Systems as data sources.
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- It can (often) generate Sensor Records through measurement processes.
- It can (often) produce Sensor Readings during sensor operation.
- It can (often) detect Sensor Events in its environment.
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- It can be part of a Sensor Network for distributed sensing.
- It can support Remote Sensing Tasks through distant measurement.
- It can participate in Data Acquisition Systems for systematic measurement.
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- It can experience Sensor Malfunctions affecting data quality.
- It can require Sensor Maintenance for reliable operation.
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- It can range from being a Simple Sensor to being a Complex Sensor, depending on its sensing complexity.
- It can range from being a Passive Sensor to being an Active Sensor, depending on its sensing mechanism.
- It can range from being a Macro Sensor to being a Micro Sensor, depending on its physical scale.
- It can range from being an Organic Sensor to being a Mechanical Sensor, depending on its sensor implementation type.
- It can range from being a Physical Detection Sensor to being a Chemical Detection Sensor, depending on its detection domain.
- It can range from being an Image Sensor to being a Motion Sensor to being a Sound Sensor to being a Tactile Sensor, depending on its physical property type.
- It can range from being a Thermal Sensor to being a Pressure Sensor to being a Speed Sensor, depending on its measurement type.
- It can range from being an Electromagnetic Sensor to being a Gravity Force Sensing Device, depending on its force type detection.
- It can range from being a Subatomic Particle Sensor to being an Optical Radiation Sensor to being an Infra-Red Radiation Sensor, depending on its radiation detection type.
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- Example(s):
- Physical Property Sensors, such as:
- Temperature Sensor, measuring thermal states.
- Pressure Sensor, detecting force distributions.
- Motion Sensor, tracking object movements.
- Electromagnetic Sensors, such as:
- Optical Sensor, capturing light patterns.
- Infrared Sensor, detecting thermal radiation.
- Radio Frequency Sensor, measuring electromagnetic waves.
- Chemical Sensors, such as:
- Gas Sensor, detecting atmospheric compositions.
- Biosensor, measuring biological markers.
- pH Sensor, determining chemical acidity.
- Specific Implementations, such as:
- LIDAR System (2024), providing 3D scanning capability.
- Digital Camera Sensor (2024), enabling high-resolution imaging.
- Smart Building Sensor Network (2024), monitoring environmental conditions.
- Healthcare Sensors, such as:
- Patient Monitoring Sensor, enabling vital sign detection.
- Wearable Medical Sensor, providing continuous health monitoring.
- Implantable Medical Sensor, measuring internal body parameters.
- Information Technology Sensors, such as:
- System State Sensor, monitoring computing resources.
- Network Performance Sensor, tracking data flow metrics.
- Security Monitoring Sensor, detecting system threats.
- IoT Sensors, such as:
- Environmental IoT Sensor, measuring ambient conditions.
- Industrial IoT Sensor, monitoring production parameters.
- Smart Building Sensor, tracking facility states.
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- Physical Property Sensors, such as:
- Counter-Example(s):
- Actuators, which produce physical effects rather than sense them.
- Passive Components, such as resistors and capacitors, which modify rather than detect signals.
- Processing Units, which compute rather than sense data.
- See: Sensing System, Sensor Network, Signal Processing, Measurement Device, Detection System.
References
2019
- (Wikipedia, 2019) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensor Retrieved:2019-10-19.
- In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem whose purpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send the information to other electronics, frequently a computer processor. A sensor is always used with other electronics.
Sensors are used in everyday objects such as touch-sensitive elevator buttons (tactile sensor) and lamps which dim or brighten by touching the base, besides innumerable applications of which most people are never aware. With advances in micromachinery and easy-to-use microcontroller platforms, the uses of sensors have expanded beyond the traditional fields of temperature, pressure or flow measurement, for example into MARG sensors. Moreover, analog sensors such as potentiometers and force-sensing resistors are still widely used. Applications include manufacturing and machinery, airplanes and aerospace, cars, medicine, robotics and many other aspects of our day-to-day life. A sensor's sensitivity indicates how much the sensor's output changes when the input quantity being measured changes. For instance, if the mercury in a thermometer moves 1 cm when the temperature changes by 1 °C, the sensitivity is 1 cm/°C (it is basically the slope dy/dx assuming a linear characteristic). Some sensors can also affect what they measure; for instance, a room temperature thermometer inserted into a hot cup of liquid cools the liquid while the liquid heats the thermometer. Sensors are usually designed to have a small effect on what is measured; making the sensor smaller often improves this and may introduce other advantages.[1] Technological progress allows more and more sensors to be manufactured on a microscopic scale as microsensors using MEMS technology. In most cases, a microsensor reaches a significantly faster measurement time and higher sensitivity compared with macroscopic approaches. Due the increasing demand for rapid, affordable and reliable information in today's world, disposable sensors — low-cost and easy‐to‐use devices for short‐term monitoring or single‐shot measurements — have recently gained growing importance. Using this class of sensors, critical analytical information can be obtained by anyone, anywhere and at any time, without the need for recalibration and worrying about contamination. Dincer, Can; Bruch, Richard; Costa‐Rama, Estefanía; Fernández‐Abedul, Maria Teresa; Merkoçi, Arben; Manz, Andreas; Urban, Gerald Anton; Güder, Firat (2019-05-15). ["https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/adma.201806739 Disposable Sensors in Diagnostics, Food, and Environmental Monitoring"]. Advanced Materials: 1806739. doi:10.1002/adma.201806739. ISSN 0935-9648.</ref>
- In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem whose purpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send the information to other electronics, frequently a computer processor. A sensor is always used with other electronics.
- ↑ Jihong Yan (2015). Machinery Prognostics and Prognosis Oriented Maintenance Management. Wiley & Sons Singapore Pte. Ltd. p. 107. ISBN 9781118638729.
2009a
- (WordNet, 2009) ⇒ http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=sensor
- S: (n) detector, sensor, sensing element (any device that receives a signal or stimulus (as heat or pressure or light or motion etc.) and responds to it in a distinctive manner)
2009b
- (Wiktionary, 2009) ⇒ http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/detector
- Noun
- 1. A device capable of registering a specific substance or physical phenomenon. Smoke detectors are mandatory in public buildings.
- Noun