Where Sensors Make Sense From: Technology Review - 12/15/2005 By: Kate Greene Researchers developing networks of miniature, intelligent, and wireless sensors envision a host of applications, from endowing pill bottles with the ability to alert caretakers when patients do not take their medicine to implanting a battlefield with the devices to warn of an advancing enemy. Manufacturing equipment could monitor and repair itself in the event of failure, though the technology has yet to emerge from the prototype stage. That could soon change, as Siemens has developed a mass-producible sensor capable of detecting a broad array of environmental alterations. Siemens' technology stacks six sensors on top of each other on a single chip, unlike conventional sensor networks that string together multiple nodes that each detect a specific condition. Each layer in Siemens' sensor consists of a different material customized to detect a specific condition such as an elevated level of carbon monoxide, an arrangement that streamlines the production of sensor networks and costs much less. The sensor also improves power consumption by gleaning energy from its surroundings to supplement its lithium-ion battery and powering down into sleep-mode when environmental factors are unchanged. Siemens' Osman Ahmed foresees the emergence of a "comfortstat" that will adjust the conditions of a home based on information gathered from sensors placed in every room. Information about carbon dioxide levels, airflow, humidity, and other factors would be relayed to the comfortstat, alerting residents to potential hazards. University of Florida researchers are using the technology to monitor the conditions in cages of lab animals, testing for levels of ammonia, water, and temperature, though commercial implementation is still around two years away. Read the entire article at: http://www.technologyreview.com/InfoTech-Networks/wtr_16016,258,p1.html Links: Technologies Of The Year - MEMS The Word http://www.industryweek.com/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=11008 Siemens Building Technologies http://www.sbt.siemens.com/