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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

What A Linear Position Sensor Can Do

By Adriana Noton


A linear position sensor tells the computer it reports to the position of anything in a machine or mechanical structure. The sensor can handle anything from an automobile, a manufacturing robot arm, a microscope, and everything in between.

In cars, the engine and drivetrain are so complicated that they cannot function with the help of a large set of sensors. They communicate with the vehicle's computer, and that is why you always have lights flickering behind the steering wheel. The sensors allow companies to put new technology on the vehicle, and those same sensors keep the vehicle working properly. No new technology would be possible without the sensors.

Take, for instance, the headlamps in a car that turn as the car enters a curve. Those headlights use positioning devices to measure when the car will be entering a turn and which direction the vehicle will be turning. This is how the computer in the vehicle can anticipate the turn and point the headlamps in the right direction.

Vehicles with parallel parking features employ this same technology to get the can parked safely. The devices send constant streams of information to the computer to alert it to the position of other cars and the roadside. The vehicle can steer itself while parking of the data that the sensors provide. The process is safe because it receives accurate positioning data.

This same type of unit can indicate the position of the throttle, brake system, camshaft, and transmission. All the mechanical components send data back to the computer through these devices. Though they are small, they tell your car how to keep you on the road at all time. This makes a mechanic's job much easier, and it allows you to get instant feedback as the vehicle is moving.

The safety features on a car also use this same method during a crash. When a crash occurs, the safety measures on a car can deployed in a timely manner and in the right places. The door locks, windows, and even the latch for the trunk report back to the car's "brain" through this line of communication. All the parts are monitored all the time.

Your new vehicle works with the help of a computer, but machines that produce car parts, individual car parts, robotic arms, medical devices, surgical technology, and many other machines use linear positioning sensors to determine how best to function. Medical treatments become safer and more efficient, and the providers can perform more delicate procedures.

These positioning units make many of our modern conveniences a reality, and they most certainly get you from point A to point B on a daily basis. Microelectronics and sensorics make many things we use more functional, more user-friendly, without a large increase in costs to the consumer.




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