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"Modeling and simulation help evaluate the product performance before finalizing the prototype. The positioning and tolerance of sensors are crucial, as some sensors are sensitive to radial and axial variations." Shyam Sundar B T Lead Electrical Product Engineer, Hanon Systems The Role of Mechanical Modeling in Sensor Integration Beyond finding a sensor that will behave as desired electrically and thermally, designers must also find sensors that can be easily integrated mechanically. Even if a given sensor performs perfectly from an electrical and thermal perspective, it cannot be used if it fails to meet the mechanical and area requirements of the project. Owing to unique applications and use cases, almost every available product has its own size requirements. Generally, a designer's device will have a custom enclosure and form factor, but, at the same time, the majority of basic sensors on the market are of standard size and shape. This creates a challenge for sensor design in terms of mechanical integration, as existing offerings may not fit into the mechanical requirements of the product. In these instances, designers often need to have custom sensors built for their application, which drives up cost and limits flexibility. In order to evaluate sensors from a mechanical integration perspective, a good mechanical model of the sensor is needed. In general, a mechanical model will provide the mechanical specifications of a sensor, including form factor as well as tolerances. A good mechanical model will also come in a neutral file format that can be easily distributed and accessed. One of these industry standard formats is the Standard for Exchange of Product model data (STEP) file, which is easily compatible with a multitude of computer-aided design (CAD) software. Designers will typically import a mechanical model of a sensor into CAD software to model how the sensor integrates mechanically into their system as a whole. Chapter Three 12 | The Role of Mechanical Modeling in Sensor Integration Chapter Two