Sensors and actuators

Increasingly, the word sensor is used interchangeably with, or in place of, the word transducer to represent the conversion of one type of energy into another. The word actuator, however, refers to a distinctly different set of devices capable of activating a device upon receiving an appropriate signal. Sensors and actuators may be found as part of a system on a single piece of siUcon. 

Sensors and Actuators, monthly pubUcation of Elsevier Science, Inc., New York. 

The design of smart materials and adaptive stmctures has required the development of constitutive equations that describe the temperature, stress, strain, and percentage of martensite volume transformation of a shape-memory alloy. These equations can be integrated with similar constitutive equations for composite materials to make possible the quantitative design of stmctures having embedded sensors and actuators for vibration control. The constitutive equations for one-dimensional systems as well as a three-dimensional representation have been developed (7). 

Local control module directly wired to sensors and actuators (e.g., equipment to control space conditioning, such as pumps and fans) ... 

Figure 26. An electric (ionic) pulse arrives from the brain through a nerve to the muscle, where it triggers conformational changes in proteins and chemical reactions. All the processes are three-dimensional. The generator (brain) is at the same time an ionic conductor. (Reprinted from T. F. Otero in Polymer Sensors and Actuators, Y. Osada and D. De Rossi, eds., Fig. 1, p., 19. Copyright 19XX. Reprinted with permission of Springer-Verlag.)...

T.F. Otero,in Polymer Sensors and Actuators, Y. Osada and D. De Rossi, eds., Springer-Verlag, (in press). 

W. Gopel, New Materials and transducers for chemical sensors, Sensors and Actuators B 18-19, 1-21 (1994). 

K. Schindler, D. Schmeisser, U. Vohrer, H.-D. Wiemhofer, and W. Gopel, Spectroscopic and electrical studies ofY203-stabilized-Zr02 for oxygen sensors, Sensors and Actuators 17, 555-568 (1989). 

Lin Q, Jiang F, Wang X-Q, Han Z, Tai Y-C, Lew J, Ho C-M (2000) MEMS Thermal Shear-Stress Sensors Experiments, Theory and Modehng, Technical Digest, Solid State Sensors and Actuators Workshop, Hilton Head, SC, 4—8 June 2000, pp 304-307 Lin TY, Yang CY (2007) An experimental investigation of forced convection heat transfer performance in micro-tubes by the method of hquid crystal thermography. Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer 50 4736-4742... 

Smart materials have active responses to external stimuh and can serve as sensors and actuators... 

Bariain, C Matias, I.R., Fdez-Valdivielso, C Elosiia, C Luquin, A., Garrido, J. and Laguna, M. (2005) Optical fiber sensors based on vapochromic gold complexes for environmental applications. Sensors and Actuators B, 108, 535—541. 

Volatile alcoholic compounds fiber optic nanosensor. Sensors and Actuators B, 115, 444- 9. 

Elosua, C., Bariain, C., Matias, I.R., Arregui, F.J., Luquin, A., Vergara, E. and Laguna, M. (2008) Indicator immobilization on Fahry-Perot nanocavities towards development of fiber optic sensors. Sensor and actuators B, 130, 158-163. 

Mortari, A., Maaroof A., Martin, D. and Cortie, M.B. (2007) Mesoporous gold electrodes for measurement of electrolytic double layer capacitance. Sensors and Actuators B, 123, 262-268. 

Pace, S. J., Sarzycki, P. O., McKeever, R. T., Pelosi, L. Digest of Technical Papers, 3rd International Conference on Solid-State Sensors and Actuators, p. 4(, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 11-14, 1985... 

The arrival of integrated circuits with very good performance/price ratios and relatively low-cost microprocessors and memories has had a profound influence on many areas of technical endeavour. Also in the measurement and control field, modem electronic circuits were introduced on a large scale leading to very sophisticated systems and novel solutions. However, in these measurement and control systems, quite often sensors and actuators were applied that were conceived many decades ago. Consequently, it became necessary to improve these devices in such a way that their performance/price ratios would approach that of modem electronic circuits. 

This demand for new devices initiated worldwide research and development programs in the field of "sensors and actuators". Many generic sensor technologies were examined, from which the thin- and thick-film, glass fiber, metal oxides, polymers, quartz and silicon technologies are the most prominent. 

A growing number of publications on this topic started to appear in a wide variety of scientific journals until, in 1981, the scientific journal Sensors and Actuators was initiated. Since then, it has become the main journal in this field. 

When the development of a scientific field expands, the need for handbooks arises, wherein the information that appeared earlier in journals and conference proceedings is systematically and selectively presented. The sensor and actuator Held is now in this position. For this reason, Elsevier Science took the initiative to develop a series of handbooks with the name "Handbook of Sensors and Actuators" which will contain the most meaningful background material that is important for the sensor and actuator field. Titles like Fundamentals of Transducers, Thick Film Sensors, Magnetic Sensors, Micromachining, Piezoelectric Crystal Sensors, Robot Sensors and Intelligent Sensors will be part of this series. 

The series will contain handbooks compiled by only one author, and handbooks written by many authors, where one or more editors bear the responsibility for bringing together topics and authors. Great care was given to the selection of these authors and editors. They are all well known scientists in the field of sensors and actuators and all have impressive international reputations. 

Elsevier Science and I, as Editor of the series, hope that these handbooks will receive a positive response from the sensor and actuator community and we expect that the series will be of great use to the many scientists and engineers working in this exciting field. 

Kolesar ES, Wiseman JM. 1991. Selective detection of nitrogen-dioxide and diisopropyl methylphosphonate with an interdigitated gate electrode field-effect transistor (IGEFET). Sensors and Actuators B - Chemical 5(l-4) 37-46. 

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