Domestic enterprises accelerate the development of intelligent sensors

In today's social environment, sensor applications have a very wide range of applications. From a small point of view, many functions on portable devices such as smart phones and tablet computers used everyday are also inseparable from sensors.

With the continuous advancement of the world, the understanding of sensor applications by the scientific and technological community has also deepened. From a variety of perspectives, sensors have played a significant role in today's living system. Based on basic science, it has its own applications in information collection, testing, and many other aspects.

However, science and technology are undergoing continuous improvement, and the technical requirements for sensors are gradually increasing. This has also prompted the world to have more than 20,000 kinds of sensors, which are still increasing. The technical characteristics common to future sensors will probably be mainly integrated and intelligent, plus the emphasis of certain aspects.

Multi-sensor integration integration is the main means and key technology for human regional awareness. It is the emerging scientific frontier in military, industrial, aerospace, robotics and other fields based on the highly developed communication science, computer science, and information science. The most important feature of this type of sensor is its versatility. As mentioned above, another development direction of the sensor is intelligent, which is the focus of this article.

The intelligent sensor is a sensor with information processing function. Smart sensors with microprocessors have the ability to collect, process, and exchange information, and are a combination of sensor integration and microprocessors. The sensory system of an ordinary intelligent robot is composed of a plurality of sensors, and the collected information needs to be processed by a computer, and the use of smart sensors can disperse the information and reduce the cost. Compared with general sensors, smart sensors have the following three advantages: high-precision information acquisition through software technology, low cost, and a certain degree of programming automation;

At present, the application of IoT technology has gradually begun, and the intelligent system has become more and more clear in its impression. As one of the terminal nodes of the Internet of Things (IoT) applications, the wisdom of the sensor will also evolve.

The basic requirement of the Internet of Things is the connection of objects. Every object that needs to be identified and managed needs to have a corresponding sensor installed. Therefore, the upgrading of sensors has become the key to the rapid development of the Internet of Things. With the advancement of Internet of Things technology, it is not only required that sensors have basic information collection and processing functions, but also a high degree of intelligence has become the basic basis for measuring their performance.

The so-called smart sensor, refers to the sensor in addition to the basic functions, with automatic zero, self-calibration, self-calibration function, at the same time with logic judgments and information processing capabilities, can be measured signal signal conditioning or signal processing.

Compared with foreign countries, the research of smart sensors in China mainly focuses on the following aspects:

The first is the use of advanced microelectronics and computer technology to research and develop a monolithic integrated smart sensor that integrates sensors and microprocessors and has various functions. This is one of the major development directions of current smart sensors.

The second is the development of molecular and atomic biosensors based on sensor materials, using biotechnology and nanotechnology, which will lay the foundation for the future development of smart sensors;

The third is to integrate domestic and foreign chip technology, combined with sensitive electronic components, developed a hybrid integrated intelligent sensor, which has higher accuracy, lower cost, and better stability. China has made a major breakthrough in the field of integrated smart sensors, domestic sensors gradually opened up the market share of smart sensors.

The manufacturing base of smart sensors is micro-machining technology. Silicon is processed mechanically, chemically, and welded, and then packaged using different packaging technologies. In recent years, a LIGA process has been developed (deep X-ray lithography electroplating into sensitive films). Used to make sensors.

Smart sensors generally have strong real-time capabilities. In particular, dynamic measurements often require data acquisition, calculation, processing, and output in microseconds. A series of functions of the smart sensor are performed with the support of the program. Such as the number of functions, basic performance, ease of use, and reliable work, most of them rely on software design and its quality to a certain extent. There are mainly five categories of these software. Including scale conversion, digital zero adjustment, nonlinear compensation, temperature compensation, digital filtering technology.

The research of smart sensors in China mainly focuses on professional research institutes and universities. It began in the mid-1980s. In the late 1980s, China National Defense Science and Technology University, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Zhejiang University and other universities and colleges successively reported research results. In the early 1990s, several domestic research institutes successfully developed practical smart sensors using hybrid integration technology, marking that the research of smart sensors in China has entered the international ranks, but compared with foreign advanced technologies, we still have a big gap .

The development of smart sensors is mainly divided into three phases, namely digital phase, intelligent compensation and calibration phase, intelligent application and network phase. The sensor that reaches the third stage has many functions such as signal detection and processing, logic judgment, two-way communication, closed-loop control, self-check and self-diagnosis, intelligent correction and compensation, function calculation, and network communication. However, at present, only a small number of domestic manufacturers have reached this stage and they have not been able to achieve widespread adoption.

The country is gradually formulating policies that are conducive to the development of the sensor industry. In addition, the emergence of emerging technologies has also become a positive factor for the development of the sensor industry. According to the “12th Five-Year Plan for China Electronic Components” issued by China Electronic Components Association in July 2011, it will invest 500 billion yuan during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, mainly focusing on the research and development and industrialization of new electronic components.

The Chinese sensor market has continued to grow in recent years, with growth rates exceeding 15%. In 2012, the four major areas of China's sensor applications were industrial and automotive electronic products, communications and electronic products, and consumer electronics products. Among them, industrial and automotive electronic products accounted for about 42% of the market share. The market size reached 16 billion yuan, and the entire sensor market broke through. 500 billion yuan. In 2012, the overall scale of the development of China's sensor industry gradually expanded, and it was significantly applied in the automotive industry, including sensor applications in automotive tires, sensor applications in airbags, sensor applications in chassis systems, sensor applications in engine operation management systems, and waste gas. Sensor applications and requirements in air quality control systems, sensor applications and requirements in ABS, sensor applications and requirements in vehicle driving safety systems, sensor applications and requirements in automotive anti-theft systems, sensor applications and requirements in engine combustion control systems Sensor applications and requirements in automotive positioning systems, sensor applications and requirements in other automotive systems. In addition, Chinese sensors also have new applications in other fields, such as industrial control, environmental protection, facility agriculture, multimedia images, and other related sensor applications.

“Planning” clearly lists the products and technologies that will be developed in the next five years, including new chip-type, miniaturized, integrated, and highly reliable electronic component products that meet the needs of the development of the new generation of electronic whole machines; meeting China’s new traffic equipment manufacturing industry. High-quality and critical electronic components for supporting needs; electronic components and environmental protection electronic components for energy-saving and environmental protection devices; electronic components for next-generation communication technologies; electronic components for new energy and smart grid industries; new electronic components Materials and equipment. These include MEMS-based sensors, gas sensors for environmental monitoring equipment, flow sensors, and humidity sensors. In the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" of the Internet of Things released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in February 2012, the development of miniature and smart sensors and wireless sensor networks was also mentioned in the key project content.