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The full MEMS Journal archive — 29 articles across two decades of sensors, MEMS, and microtechnology.
Silicon Sensing expands MEMS foundry, aims to deliver five-fold increase in output
Silicon Sensing Systems announced that it will expand its MEMS foundry in Japan , moving into a new purpose-built facility, reportedly allowing the company to meet significantly increased demand for its MEMS inertial sensors and sputtered thin film PZT MEMS device wafers . The new facility will increase floorspace…
MEMS maker mCube creates subsidiary to focus on indoor navigation business
mCube, a provider of MEMS motion sensors , announced this week the formation of a wholly-owned subsidiary, Ten Degrees , representing the first step towards the creation of an independent entity focused on indoor navigation. Ten Degrees claims that it has developed a core navigation engine that takes advantage of…
MEMS foundry Tronics develops piezoresistive nanowire inertial MEMS sensor
One year after announcing the commercialization program of CEA-Leti's MEMS and NEMS technologies, MEMS foundry Tronics has successfully designed and manufactured the first batch of the six degree-of-freedom ( 6DOF ) MEMS motion sensor chips based on the piezoresistive nanowire technology, with three accelerometers…
Tronics delivers its millionth high performance inertial MEMS sensor
After more than a decade in the business, Tronics has sold more than one million high performance inertial MEMS sensors. These products were primarily high-performance accelerometers and gyroscopes . In markets where yearly volumes are typically in the thousands , one million is a significant number.…
Emerging MEMS sensor applications for high performance motion tracking
by Marcel van Hak Industrial Applications Product Manager, Xsens In the past decade, MEMS inertial sensor technology has taken huge steps in terms of accuracy, reliability and cost . The most innovative manufacturers of inertial measurement units ( IMUs ), attitude and heading reference systems ( AHRSs ) and…
MEMS motion sensors: ST and InvenSense patent dispute continues
InvenSense, a leading provider of MEMS motion sensors claimed this week that it won its motion to stay the patent litigation action brought by STMicroelectronics in the US District Court (Northern District of California) due to progress in separate proceedings with the United States Patent Office ( USPTO )…
Tronics launches high performance MEMS gyro
Tronics , a MEMS foundry and device maker, introduced this week a new high performance MEMS based angular rate sensor (gyro) for applications such as platform stabilization . The product is based on Tronics' MEMS-on-SOI and high vacuum wafer level packaging technologies. Tronics has been active in the design and…
Si-Ware launches development platform for MEMS inertial sensors
Si-Ware Systems (SWS), a provider of IC and MEMS based solutions for industrial and consumer applications, announced this week that it has launched its inertial sensor development platform . According to the company, the platform is a tool for sensor developers that can be used to evaluate an inertial sensor, such…
Gyroscopes become top consumer and mobile MEMS device
Gyroscopes were the top revenue generator in 2011 in the dominant consumer and mobile segment of the MEMS market, thanks to record sales of Apple's iPhone and iPad devices from during the final quarter of last year. Gyroscopes netted $655.4 million in 2011, up a notable 66 percent from $394.5 million in 2010,…
ST launches world's first dual-core MEMS gyro
The design of ST's dual-core MEMS gyroscope employs separate output paths optimized for the two different functions in a 4x4x1 mm package. The device addresses, at the same time, motion and gesture recognition and optical image stabilization for sharper mobile camera photos. "ST's dual-core gyroscope lights two…
Gentex acquires MEMS motion sensor maker InterSense
Gentex and InterSense announced this week that Gentex has acquired substantially all assets of InterSense. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed . The agreement to acquire InterSense, a developer of MEMS based hybrid motion tracking systems, advances Gentex' growth strategy and expands the company's…
Inertial MEMS devices: an overview of testing techniques and considerations
MEMS inertial sensors, such as accelerometers and gyros , are some of the most challenging types of sensors to test because their characterization requires an extensive range of physical stimuli . We recently spoke with Sascha Revel , Director of Sales at ACUTRONIC about testing of inertial MEMS devices. As a…
MEMSIC's quarterly loss widens
MEMSIC , a MEMS sensor manufacturer, announced this week financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2010. The company says that its magnetic sensor sales continue to increase, due to the reported growing adoption of smartphones . MEMSIC's revenues rose to $11.4 million from $5.6 million in the…
Hillcrest Labs unveils MEMS based motion control system for next-generation TVs
Hillcrest Labs, a provider of motion control technology and interactive television applications, announced this week a new motion control system for TV manufacturers . The solution is designed to support new motion pointing and gesture-enabled user interfaces for navigating applications and games on televisions.
MEMS based attitude and heading reference systems: overview and current trends
Attitude and heading reference systems, traditionally based on large mechanical components and instruments, are experiencing further miniaturization enabled by MEMS technologies . Applications for attitude and heading reference systems include control and stabilization , measurement and correction, and navigation .…
High-performance MEMS gyroscopes: current status and emerging trends
High-performance gyroscopes have traditionally been exclusively made with non-MEMS technologies such as fiber optic gyroscopes (FOGs) and ring laser gyros (RLGs). However, MEMS based inertial sensor technologies are continually improving and now increasingly being used in aerospace and defense applications . We…
VTI expands into consumer MEMS gyros and timing devices
VTI Technologies, a MEMS inertial sensor provider, is now taking a new direction and expanding into the consumer electronics segment. VTI already provides low-g sensors for the automotive industry , as well as in low power sensors for the medical implantable market. “We are now leveraging our expertise in high…
Lockheed Martin developing biomimetic, MEMS enabled air vehicles
Aerospace engineers have always been stimulated by the natural world, and have built and flown many bio-inspired vehicles . Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories (ATL), headquartered in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, is currently designing and prototyping the Samarai family of vehicles, which are inspired by…
MEMS gyro maker InvenSense files for IPO
After raising a total of $38 million in venture capital funding since the company’s founding in 2004, MEMS gyro maker InvenSense has filed for IPO this week. The company’s main focus has been MEMS gyro sensors for consumer application segments such as console and portable video gaming devices, digital television…
What do MEMS, Hollywood and video games have in common?
by R. Colin Johnson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal Two major motion pictures and two popular video game releases recently used a MEMS motion suit to enable live actors to control virtual characters in real time. Actors in MEMS-sensor-studded suits performed the action scenes, but computer generated…
Bosch Sensortec pursuing consumer MEMS market
While volumes for consumer MEMS applications are rapidly increasing, so are competition and downward price pressure. We recently spoke with Frank Melzer , CEO of Bosch Sensortec, about effects of the recession, company growth and product positioning .
MEMS gyroscopes become ubiquitous in smartphones
by R. Colin Johnson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal Designers of next-generation smartphones are feverishly adding MEMS gyroscopes to the accelerometers that already grace high-end mobile handsets today. Besides providing enhanced sensitivity for gaming apps , gyros will also enable l ocation-based…
Nanotubes increase MEMS sensitivity
by R. Colin Johnson Contributing Editor, MEMS Investor Journal Many MEMS sensors have a moving part that responds to environmental stimuli with motion. An accelerometer, for instance, capacitively senses a moving "proof mass" that responds to displacements of just a few microns. However, a MEMS device's sensitivity…
Qualtre preps solid state MEMS gyros
by R. Colin Johnson, Contributing Editor MEMS Investor Journal A new MEMS gyroscope architecture with no moving parts will debut later this year from Qualtre Inc. (Marlborough, Mass.). The startup's inertial sensor designs are based on bulk acoustic wave (BAW) propagation. Qualtre was formed back in 2007, but its…