Grand Challenges in Physical Sensors

Abstract

Since ancient times the monitoring of physical parameters like temperature, wind velocity, atmospheric pressure, tilt, and force, among others, has been important for humanity. The first sensors or devices to measure such parameters were bulky. In addition, they were inaccurate, as the user or observer was in charge of reading and interpreting the sensor signal. Nonetheless, the data gathered with such devices were useful for navigation and astronomy. Nowadays, our society is more industrialized, and we use, and to some extent depend on, a myriad of sophisticated devices, machines, and instruments. The performance and functionalities of such devices, machines, and instruments depend indirectly on the diverse high-precision sensors installed within them. Therefore, there has been an increasing need for more and more sensors. Such sensors are used to monitor parameters as diverse as liquid level, flow, temperature, pressure, magnetic fields, acoustic signals, distance, proximity, inclination, rotation, touch, motion, light intensity, acceleration, color, and many others. Presently, sensors are being used to monitor physical parameters even in the most hostile or challenging of environments, such as, for example, force and ultrasound inside the human body, acoustic waves in the deep sea, pressure in turbines and oil wells, and rotation and acceleration in space. Sensors can provide data and information on multiple physical parameters that are crucial for controlling diverse industrial processes or that are vital in medical applications, meteorology, or scientific research. That is the reason why these sensors have become ubiquitous. Sensors provide useful data on the environment where they are located, which is vital for the performance and functionality of devices and machines. They also provide continuous information on the status or health of structures, materials, or devices wherein they are embedded. Thus, they are placed at multiple points to collect as much data as possible on diverse physical parameters. In this manner, sensors make materials, devices, or structures, smart, more efficient or functional, and safer. In most cases, sensors only provide data on a single parameter, the one they are conceived for, but in more recent applications, two or more sensors work together. For example, accelerometers and gyroscopes in unmanned aircraft provide more information to the aircraft itself, such as position, altitude, distance traveled, etc. Accelerometers and gyroscopes in wearable devices or in sporting equipment work together to provide information as diverse as distance traveled by a person, the number of impacts, the power and location of the impact, etc. All this information helps athletes to improve their performance. Presently, it is impossible to conceive critical infrastructures, vehicles, instruments, cities, homes, gadgets, etc., without multiple physical sensors. The mission of such sensors is to provide real-time data on a number of parameters ranging from temperature, acceleration, and sound, to ti...

Internet Quântica: Realidade Ou Sonho?

“…Estes sensores, de alta sensibilidade, também devem trazer contribuições significativas como ferramentas para localização de tecidos e estruturas em cirurgias. Apesar de parecer ser a utilização de maior impacto, outros usos, além da área da saúde, também são previstos para os sensores quânticos, principalmente por serem sensores de pequena dimensão e de grande precisão (Villatoro, J., 2020).…”