泰科电子有限公司总部位于美国。泰科电子设计和制造的50多万种产品，连接和保护了我们日常使用的各种产品中的电力和数据流动。我们全球将近10万名员工与各行各业的客户进行合作。从消费类电子，电力和医疗，到汽车、航空航天以及通讯网络，我们用更智能、更迅速、更出色的技术, 赋予产品更多的可能。
泰科电子将传感器组合在一个通用的封装中。可减小尺寸，重量和复杂性。
泰科电子的新模块承诺通过将多个传感器整合到小于头部的封装中来简化智能电子产品的开发。
被称为多传感器模块的新产品，可以包含多达四个传感器和一个微处理器，并且可以通过一组导线传输来自传感器的数据。 因此对于最小尺寸和重量至关重要的应用而言，它占用的空间更小，重量更轻。同时据报导降低了开发的复杂性。
设计工程师不必设法将其安装在电路板上，开启电源或开发软件进行交流。该模块可以包含用于测量温度，湿度，压力，流体粘度，流体密度和介电常数等的传感器。该公司的多传感器模块之一包括一个温度传感器，高度计和湿度传感器，以及一个微控制器尺寸仅为5mm×3mm×1mm。
该技术的早期应用包括监测温度和湿度的汽车挡风玻璃模块，以及测量汽车进气歧管中的气压，温度和湿度的汽车发动机模块。挡风玻璃应用使车辆的气候系统能够确定玻璃是否将要起雾。发动机应用允许ECU调整喷油器以保持最佳的空气 - 燃油混合物。该公司还在研究监测呼吸器，呼吸机和培养箱空气质量的医疗应用。
其他潜在的应用包括智能手机，平板计算机，暖通空调系统和气象站。
这些优点包括减小尺寸和重量，以及简化布线。传感器的模拟信号被数字化，并通过一组电线从微处理器或微控制器传输。该技术还提供了物流优势，因为它减少了库存，消除了用户处理多个供应商的需要。
泰科电子能够提供多传感器封装，因为它具有制造许多不同类型的传感器的优势。至少有12种不同类型的传感器可供使用。
A new module from TE Connectivity promises to simplify the development of smart electronic products by incorporating multiple sensors in a package that’s smaller than the head of a match.
Known as the multi-sensor module, the new product can include up to four sensors and a microprocessor, and can transmit data from the sensors through a single set of wires. As a result, it creates a smaller footprint and less mass for applications where minimal size and weight are paramount. At the same time, it reportedly reduces development complexity.
“Design engineers don’t have to figure out a way to mount it on a circuit board, power it up, or develop software to talk to it,” Pete Smith, senior manager for sensor product knowledge and training at TE Connectivity, told Design News. “We do all that for them.”
The module can incorporate sensors for measurement of temperature, humidity, pressure, fluid viscosity, fluid density, and dielectric constants, among others. One of the company’s multi-sensor modules includes a temperature sensor, altimeter, and humidity sensor, along with a microcontroller, in a package measuring just 5 mm X 3 mm X 1 mm, Smith said.
Early applications of the technology include an automotive windshield module that monitors temperature and humidity, and an automotive engine module that measures barometric pressure, temperature, and humidity in a car’s intake manifold. The windshield application enables a vehicle’s climate system to determine if the glass is about to fog up. The engine application allows the ECU to adjust the fuel injectors to maintain the best air-fuel mixture. The company is also working on medical applications that monitor air quality for respirators, ventilators and incubators.
Additional potential applications include smartphones, tablet PCs, HVAC systems and weather stations.
Smith said that the product was inspired by the demands of customers. “They wanted to combine sensing capabilities into single packages that would provide advantages for developing new products,” he told us. Those advantages include reduced size and weight, as well as simplified wiring. Analog signals from the sensors are digitized and transmitted from a microprocessor or microcontroller through a single set of wires, he said. The technology also provides a logistical advantage because it reduces inventory and eliminates the need for users to deal with multiple suppliers.
TE Connectivity is able to offer multi-sensor packages because it has the advantage of manufacturing many different types of sensors, Smith said. At least 12 different types of the company’s sensors are available for use in the modules, he added.
TE’s multi-sensor strategy comes at a time when many IoT developers are moving electronic intelligence out to the so-called “edge” of their applications. A package that includes multiple sensors and a microcontroller could be a good fit for such applications because it promotes simplicity, Smith said.
“An engineer can take one of these sensor modules, plug it into a board, download the software and have it up and running in a half-hour,” he said. “Whereas, with a boxful of separate sensors, it could take weeks.”
