THE TECHNIQUE DEVELOPMENT HISTORY OF SENSOR

THE TECHNIQUE DEVELOPMENT HISTORY OF SENSOR

  Since the birth of the sensor, the continuous embedding and application of various products and technologies has become an indispensable part of the terminal equipment. With the passage of time, the Internet era has developed, although sensors have begun to combine with the Internet of Things to form an intelligent collaborative part. But Volkswagen suddenly discovered that the sensor market is still in a small scale, without a big brand, and relies heavily on imports. At the just-finished sensor and Internet of Things Summit Forum of the Chongqing Intelligent Expo 2019 China Smart Expo, many experts joined hands to discuss changes in the sensor industry. This article will review the history and current status of sensor development from both technical and industrial perspectives, and through interviews and discussions with experts, analyze the future industry trends in this field, hoping to help more people understand the sensor field, and Industrial sensors have more knowledge.
Technology has expanded the circle of human capabilities. If it is said that machinery extends human physical strength and computers extend human intelligence, then ubiquitous sensors greatly extend human perception.
  The sensor is not a new word like KOC, but a very traditional commonly used vocabulary, you can easily find it in the Xinhua dictionary. English called Sensor or Transducer. “Sensor” is defined in the Xinwei-style dictionary as “a device that receives power from one system and usually sends power to the second system in another form.” According to this definition, the role of the sensor is to convert one kind of energy into another form of energy, so many scholars also use “transducer-Transducer” to call “sensor-Sensor”.
  Simply put, a sensor is a detection device, usually composed of sensitive elements and conversion elements, which can measure information and allow users to perceive the information. Through transformation methods, the data or value information in the sensor is converted into electrical signals or other required forms of output to meet the requirements of information transmission, processing, storage, display, recording, and control.
In fact, sensors have always existed in your life, ranging from remote controls, table lamps, mobile phone buttons, to televisions, boiler detection, power grid transmission, medical device diagnosis, etc., covering different scenarios of different sizes, you can also say that Sensing technology and sensors are an essential part of the product.
  From the perspective of technology and application type, the sensor is divided into temperature, pressure, ultrasonic, flow, resistance, image sensor, etc .; from the perspective of discipline, including acoustic photoelectricity, etc., the sensor is also divided into chemical, physical, biological sensors, etc. From the above point of view, it is divided into four types: consumer grade, automotive electronics, industrial grade, and medical sensors. Since the world’s first thermostat was launched in 1883, sensors have been in various forms for quite a long time. And with the development of time, with the continuous progress of IoT and AI technologies, smart sensors have been pushed to the market and have been widely used in IoT technology projects.
  As a list of trends in the technology industry, in the MIT Technology Review TR10 (Top 10 Breakthrough Technologies in the World) last year and this year, related sensing technologies have been mentioned many times. One of the groundbreaking technologies. DeepTech once mentioned that the integration of a large number of smart sensors into the entire urban scene is like installing it with new digital limbs and senses. Everything is interconnected, sensible and controllable. The operation of the city will be taken over by an extremely powerful AI. From the current situation, sensor technology is still widely used in the landing of related products and urban planning purposes.
Of course, sensors still have other serious challenges. Due to the high investment, some sensors and sensing technologies in China are still relatively backward compared to the application of sensors and sensing technologies in Europe and America.
  Yang Xueshan, the former vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the honorary chairman of the China Sensor and Internet of Things Industry Alliance, said in his speech that although the sensor technology is continuously improving, due to the late start of the sensor industry in China and the lack of relevant talents, China Sensors and sensing technologies still rely on imports, China’s independent technological innovation and high-end sensor products are in a blank state.
  By the end of the 1940s, the first infrared sensor came out. Since then, many sensors have been continuously spawned. Until now, there are more than 35,000 sensors in the world. The number and use of them are very complicated. It can be said that this is the most hot period of sensors and sensing technology.
  In 1987, ADI (Anadyne Semiconductor) began to invest in the development of a brand new sensor. This sensor is not the same as others. It is called MEMS sensor, which is a new type of sensor manufactured using microelectronics and micromachining technology. Compared with traditional sensors, it has the characteristics of small size, light weight, low cost, low power consumption, high reliability, suitable for mass production, easy integration and intelligentization. ADI is the first company in the industry to do MEMS R & D.
  In 1991, ADI released the industry’s first High-g MEMS device, mainly used for automotive airbag collision monitoring. Since then, many MEMS sensors have been widely developed and used in precision instruments such as mobile phones, electric lamps, and water temperature detection. As of 2010, there were more than 600 units worldwide engaged in the development and production of MEMS.
  With the explosion of cloud computing, 5G, big data, AI technology and Internet of Things technology, smart sensors and smart sensing technologies are gradually mentioned. A large number of wearable devices contain multiple biological and environmental smart sensors. In order to collect human body and environmental parameters to achieve the management of wearer’s sports health, the higher accuracy of its sensors makes the device more reliable.
Current status and future trends of sensors
  At present, consumer-level sensor products have entered the market in large quantities, and consumers can now see and feel them. It can even be said that the sensors on the C-end are well-known, and everyone, everywhere can feel the presence of sensors. In the upcoming Google Pixel 4 mobile phone, it will be equipped with new radar detection and gesture control. These require consumer-level sensors and can be achieved with professional sensing technology. The Face ID function on the iPhone X is also A sensor senses and transmits information to a chip or system.
On August 24, at the 2019 China Smart Expo Sensor and Internet of Things Summit Forum held in Chongqing, Shi Denian, deputy chief engineer of the China Institute of Information and   Communications, mentioned in his keynote speech that consumer electronics accounted for the global MEMS sensor market structure In the future, sensors will also be used for more important positions in new scenes such as 3D maps and virtual reality through mobile devices.
  In the field of automotive electronics, the average global vehicle contains 10 sensors. In high-end cars, about 25 to 40 MEMS sensors are used. Gu Rongxiang, deputy secretary-general of the China Sensor and Internet of Things Industry Alliance, said in an interview with DeepTech that automotive sensors are relatively large in industrial applications. This is indeed a big gap between China and foreign countries. For example, scale, historical development of automobiles, price, brand, etc., but China ’s innovation momentum is very strong, and the gap in technology is not large. In the future, with the further development of automobile intelligence, the application of sensors will be more extensive.
  In addition to consumer-grade sensors, the most noteworthy is the development of the industrial smart sensor industry. Compared with consumer electronics, industrial sensors require higher stability, accuracy, and operational safety.
  This article will review the history and current status of sensor development from the perspective of technology and industry, and analyze some future trends.
History of sensors and sensing technology
  In 1883, the world’s first thermostat was officially launched, and an inventor named Warren S. Johnson created it. This thermostat can maintain the temperature to a certain degree of accuracy, which is the use of sensors and sensing technology. At the time, it was a very powerful technology.
According to the statistics of the prospective economist, as of 2017, there are about 135 enterprises in China’s MEMS sensor manufacturing industry. In terms of industrial capabilities, most of them are start-up small and medium-sized enterprises with weak supply capacity. In addition, enterprises have management problems, insufficient funds, weak scientific research capabilities, weak ability to attract high-tech talent, and weak technical capabilities. problem.
  At present, in the global sensor manufacturing supply chain, including R & D, design, manufacturing, packaging, testing, software, system application and other processes, but for various reasons, in industrial sensors, highly dependent on imports, from R & D to design still need A lot of investment and talent supply, and many sensor manufacturing companies are starting from manufacturing, doing similar OEM work.
  No matter in terms of capital or the talents of the entire industry, this field is still small, the technical wall of sensors is high, and the development cycle is long. Social capital has rated the sensor chip project as high risk, resulting in the lack of long-term investment in core technology and industrial development Slowness eventually led to the reliance on imported sources to manufacture or process sensor products, which then flowed into the Chinese market.
  However, with the intensification of Sino-US relations and the implementation of the “13th Five-Year” National Strategic Emerging Industries Development Plan, the sensor industry has gradually begun to be valued.
  In 2013, four ministries including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Science and Technology formulated the Action Plan for Accelerating the Development of the Sensor and Intelligent Instrumentation Industry. In the future of enterprise development, the state will encourage, support and nurture industry leading enterprises with an output value of more than 1 billion yuan and “small (medium) and sophisticated, sophisticated and specialized, specialized and strong” innovative enterprises with an output value of over 50 million yuan.
  Yang Jing, deputy director of the sensor center of the CEP Group Chongqing Acoustic Optoelectronics Co., Ltd., also mentioned in an interview that China’s sensor industry is still following policy influence. He believes that the country should directionally support some high-end new materials, new processes, Such sensors as new technologies, including the blank areas of the domestic sensor industry, still have a large market.
  The sensor industry is promising
  From the perspective of technological progress and industrial development, although the sensor field is highly dependent on imports and shortage of high-tech talent, China has been constantly encouraging sensor companies to grow bigger and stronger, hoping to have more innovations from consumer products to industrial fields Possible.
  With the development of the Internet industry, at the first Chongqing Intelligence Expo, Ma Yun, chairman of the board of directors of Alibaba Group, once mentioned that 90% of the manufacturing industry will be carried out on the Internet in the future. China ’s Internet industry is now far ahead of other countries in With the full support of + 5G + AI, the sensor manufacturing industry still has a large market.
  As we all know, a better positive iteration effect needs to be formed between technology and industry. The more landing scenarios, the more products will be manufactured, the industry will become larger and larger, and the development of the sensor industry is also the same.
  With the continuous development of the Internet of Things technology, how to develop the sensor industry in the future, and how the government can attract the landing of the sensor industrial park and other issues still need to be continuously discussed. Wu Peng of China Silian Instrument and Meter Group Co., Ltd. mentioned in an interview that he hopes that the country has some better planning and some supporting policies to pull up the entire industrial chain. For the future development, everyone will work harder and give play to their main advantages To help the Internet of Things, the sensor industry will become better.