Latest Motion Sensors Technical Articles

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Hall Effect Current Sensing: Open-Loop and Closed-Loop Configurations

Learn the basics of Hall effect current sensors in this technical article.

July 25, 2021 by Dr. Steve Arar

Digital (ON/OFF) Hall Effect Devices: Switches and Latches

Learn about the polarity of the B-field, unipolar switches, omnipolar switches, Hall effect latches, and bipolar switches in this technical article.

July 22, 2021 by Dr. Steve Arar

Two Techniques to Linearize Resistive Sensor Bridges

Measuring the minuscule resistance changes in resistive sensors can be a daunting task. Here are two hardware methods to eliminate bridge non-linearity errors.

May 02, 2021 by Dr. Steve Arar

Types of Magnetometers

This high-level guide introduces common types of magnetometers, including scalar, vector, gradient, and more.

April 12, 2021 by Ignacio de Mendizábal

What Is a Magnetometer?

Learn the basics of magnetometers, including their relation to hysteresis curves and their applications.

March 19, 2021 by Ignacio de Mendizábal

Developing Robust Motion Detectors Does Not Have to Be a Moving Target

This article discusses some concepts for ensuring motion detector designs will be robust to external disturbances by presenting an infrared detector assembly that can significantly reduce the parts count and improve product performance and reliability. 

February 23, 2021 by Ryan Sheahen, Littelfuse

Characteristics of Different Photodiode Technologies

Learn about the differences between silicon photodiodes and photodiodes made from other semiconductor materials.

December 21, 2020 by Robert Keim

Introduction to CMOS Image Sensors

In this article, you'll learn the basics of the CMOS image sensor, including its core components, its block diagram, its strengths and weaknesses, and its applications.

November 09, 2020 by Dr. Steve Arar

How to Obtain the Temperature Value from a Thermistor Measurement

This article explains how to use an NTC or a PTC thermistor with an ADC, along with the various process techniques to convert ADC measured results into a usable temperature value.

August 18, 2020 by Gordon Varney, Texas Instruments

How to Measure Gas Flow in a Mechanical Ventilator Using a Differential Pressure Sensor

In this article, we’ll look at another interesting application of pressure sensing in mechanical ventilation.

July 08, 2020 by Dr. Steve Arar

Using Pressure Sensors to Adjust the Oxygen Concentration: An Electrical Engineer’s Intro to Mechanical Ventilation

In this article, we’ll look at additional applications of pressure sensors in mechanical ventilation.

May 08, 2020 by Dr. Steve Arar

Sampling, Amplifying, and Digitizing CCD Output Signals

In this article, we’ll see that the amount of noise in image data from a CCD sensor can be greatly reduced by a technique known as correlated double sampling.

April 09, 2020 by Robert Keim

Disadvantages and Advantages of Energy Harvesting

Energy harvesting is a way to obtain electrical energy from the one already available in the environment. Where is energy harvesting appropriate in designs?

August 19, 2019 by Francesco Orfei

Will Energy Harvesting Be What Fuels the Growth of the IoT?

This article explores the challenge of constantly powering the billions of devices that make up the IoT and how energy harvesting could be an effective solution.

May 28, 2019 by Robert Huntley, Mouser

How to Interpret IMU Sensor Data for Dead-Reckoning: Rotation Matrix Creation

Working with IMUs can maddening for a variety of reasons, but what scares people the most is usually the math.

April 23, 2019 by Mark Hughes

Improving Temperature Sensor Accuracy for Thermocouples and RTDs with Delta-Sigma Converters

This design solution evaluates the accuracy of thermocouples used for high-temperature measurements as well as resistance temperature detectors (RTDs) used for local cold-junction-compensation (CJC) points.

April 11, 2019 by Bonnie Baker, Maxim Integrated

Never Run Out of Tea Again! How to Build the Gentleman Maker’s Intelli-T Raspberry Pi Sensor Alarm

Never run out of tea again! The Intelli-T uses a weight sensor and a Raspberry Pi to alert you when your tea supply is running low.

February 12, 2019 by Robin Mitchell

How to Characterize Noise in a Custom PCB: Precision Inclinometer

Learn about the process of identifying and eliminating noise in data capture.

January 16, 2019 by Mark Hughes

How to Design a Custom PCB Holder: Mechanical Considerations for a High-Precision Sensor System

When working with high-precision sensors, it's crucial to consider housing. In this article, we discuss an approach to designing a custom board holder for an inclinometer subsystem.

January 15, 2019 by Mark Hughes

How to Program an MSP430 Microcontroller to Gather Data from an Inclinometer

This article goes over the design of firmware for a custom PCB project: a precision inclinometer subsystem.

January 14, 2019 by Mark Hughes