Abstract
Sensors and sensor systems are vital to our awareness of our surroundings and provide safety, security, and surveillance, as well as enable monitoring of our health and environment. A transformative advance in the field of sensor technology has been the development of “Smart Sensor Systems”. The definition of a Smart Sensor may vary, but typically at a minimum a Smart Sensor is the combination of a sensing element with processing capabilities provided by a microprocessor. That is, Smart Sensors are basic sensing elements with embedded intelligence. The sensor signal is fed to the microprocessor, which processes the data and provides an informative output to an external user. A more expansive view of a Smart Sensor System, which is used in this article, is illustrated in Fig. 19.1: a complete self-contained sensor system that includes the capabilities for logging, processing with a model of sensor response and other data, self-contained power, and an ability to transmit or display informative data to an outside user. The fundamental idea of a smart sensor is that the integration of silicon microprocessors with sensor technology cannot only provide interpretive power and customized outputs, but also significantly improve sensor system performance and capabilities.
Originally published in Interface Magazine, The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 19, No. 4, Winter, pg. 29–34, 2011. Reproduced by permission of The Electrochemical Society
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Hunter, G.W., Stetter, J.R., Hesketh, P.J., Liu, C.C. (2012). Smart Sensor Systems. In: Shunin, Y., Kiv, A. (eds) Nanodevices and Nanomaterials for Ecological Security. NATO Science for Peace and Security Series B: Physics and Biophysics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4119-5_19
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