Sensors for Emerging Technologies

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A new generation of artificial intelligence (AI) applications and virtual reality (VR) is being enabled by the latest sensors.

Machine vision is at the heart of AI, whether it is in robotics, drones, or driverless cars, where image sensors produce the data for neural network algorithms to process.

In driverless cars, this is combined with data from radar and LIDAR sensors that detect vehicles and obstacles around the car, allowing it to make decisions on speed and direction. In industrial robotics, camera sensors are used to guide robots and make production lines more efficient.

Drones are also using low cost radar sensors for collision avoidance, linking to an accelerometer and gyroscopic sensors in the on-board inertial measurement unit (IMU).

Sensors are also enabling the boom in augmented reality (AR). The images from the camera in a smartphone are overlaid with data from the Internet to create new ways of looking at the world in AR, tapping into the accelerometer in the phone to adapt to changes in position.

VR takes this even further, with headsets providing immersive views of whole new worlds. Here a more accurate gyroscopic sensor is essential to provide the orientation for the images in the display. Sensors are also needed for haptic feedback to let you know when you are touching something. This can be pressure sensors in gloves or even the latest generation of mid-air sensing technology. This uses ultrasound sensors and generators to allow you to feel things in mid-air.

Stay up-to-date with the latest sensor technology on mouser.com.