Book review

Smart Sensor Systems

Article Type: Book review From: Sensor Review, Volume 30, Issue 3

Edited by Gerard MeijerWileyNew York, NY2008$110.00404 pp.ISBN:978-0-470-86691-7Web site: www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470866918.html

Information technology includes three parts: information gathering,transmitting and processing. Related to the above three parts, there are three corresponding pillar industries, which are: sensor technology, communication technology and computer technology. Among these technologies, the sensor is the interface between the computer and nature and society, which can gather and provide the information for the computer; without the sensor, the computer is not able to obtain the effective functionality. The progress of sensor technology has a direct influence on the development and application of information technology. Presently, like computer technology, sensor technology has become a broad technology that people often use in their daily life, work and scientific research.

This book Smart Sensor Systems certainly appears to be comprehensive, professional and becomes a weighty tome containing contributions from an internationally recognized team of experts. It is importantly instructional for the understanding of principles, applications and developmental trends of typical sensors.

The entire book focuses on the theme of smart sensors. Each chapter is independent, but has a consistent structure with detailed descriptions on the sensors’ characteristics, mechanism, application, and development, as well as questions. Such structure might help the readers locate chapters they are interested in, instead of reading from the first page to the end. However, it lacks a consistency in classifying sensors. Generally, as a book, the classification of sensors is based on the sensor principle, or the energy transmission, or the measured object. In this book, from Chapters 3 to 9, it introduces some types of sensors based on its manufacture (Chapter 3), or the principle (Chapters 5, 8, and 9), or the energy transmission (Chapter 6), or the measured object (Chapters 4 and 7). In my opinion, when a book describes sensors, it is better to apply one classification model, which will make the book clear and easily understandable.

Chapter 1 introduces some definitions for several kinds of sensors, and shows the importance of smart sensor systems in realizing the third industrial revolution. Some typical applications are also discussed. About the definition of smart sensors, I think that smart sensors are combined with not only a sensing unit, an analog interface circuit, an analog to digital convert, and a bus interface, but also a micro-controller, because a micro-controller can process the sensor data more strongly.

Chapter 2 mainly describes interface electronics and measurement techniques for smart sensor systems. This chapter is a basis for studying the following chapters, so some characteristics of sensors should be introduced such as zero,range, sensitivity, resolution, slow-moving, repeatability, linearity, or precision.

Chapter 3 introduces sensor technologies and their examples using silicon material. Silicon sensors offer many opportunities to increase functionality while reducing the size of smart sensor systems. For future development of silicon sensors, high precision also should be an important trend besides what has been described in this chapter. Some silicon sensors’ precision is low;for example, the low frequency of silicon MEMS accelerometer is not satisfied. And the content of Part 3.2 is similar with the one of Part 2.6.

Chapters 4 and 7 introduce the optical sensors and smart temperature sensors,based on the rule of measurement objective. Especially, photon absorption and transmission in silicon are analyzed in detail, and some examples of typical applications are given to help readers understand this kind of sensor more easily. In Chapter 7, DS18B20 temperature sensors with digital output should be introduced as it is typical and known to us, and I share with the author the point that the application of smart sensor systems can offer advantages in terms of reliability, accuracy, system simplicity, and related cost reduction.

Chapters 5, 8, and 9 describe physical chemosensors, capacitive sensors, and Hall magnetic sensors, respectively, based on the point of sensors’principles. In Chapter 5, the content of Part 5.4 is a general introduction for Part 5.5 and 5.6, so it should be better that Part 5.5 and 5.6 be revised correspondingly into 5.4.1, 5.4.2. In Chapter 8, a systematic approach to the design of high-performance, reliable and low-cost capacitive sensors and their systems especially including multi-electrode capacitive sensors, are involved. In Chapter 9, the Hall Effect is analyzed. Integrated Hall sensor systems and their applications are given to illustrate that this kind of sensor system is widely applied to lots of areas; the integration helps to improve sensor systems’performance at moderate costs.

Chapter 6 introduces thermal sensors based on the heat transfer mechanisms of conduction, convention and radiation. Descriptions of ten different types of thermal sensors show that these kinds of sensors are very popular and practical. The problems that the author pointed out are comprehensive and pivotal for the improvement of thermal sensors.

Chapter 10 introduces universal asynchronous sensor interfaces. However, the content is, to some extent, overlapping with Chapter 2. Restructuring the two chapters is needed.

I hold the opinion that the measuring technique of data acquisition for frequency-time domain sensors can be used for any modern and future sensors and transducers, which is described in Chapter 11.

Chapter 12 introduces microcontrollers and digital signal processors for smart sensor systems. I suggest that the content of FPGA or CPLD’s application to smart sensor systems should be supplemented in this chapter.

At present, as a part of smart sensor systems, wireless sensor systems are popular and applied to industry, agriculture, structural health monitoring, and other fields. Therefore, wireless sensor systems should be introduced in one independent chapter.

There are possibly some wrong spellings in this book, for example: “Eref1”should be revised into “Eref2” on the third row of paragraph 2 in Part 2.5.3 on page 36; “end so on,” “more that” should be revised into “and so on,” and “more than,” respectively,on the third row of paragraph 3 in Part 9.1 on page 249.

In general, this book reviews recent developments in the field of smart sensor systems, and provides complete coverage of all-important systems’aspects. It takes a multidisciplinary approach to the understanding, design and use of smart sensor systems, their building blocks and methods of signal processing. This book is very useful for postgraduate students and professors in the areas of electrical, mechanical and chemical engineering, and physics. Engineers and researchers could also find what they need in this book.

Yan YuDalian University of Technology, Dalian, China