Sensor vendors to widen adaptation of smart analog sensors

National Instruments (NI) has announced that the NI Plug & Play Sensors Program has kicked off to a good start, with leading European sensor vendors supporting the program. This program, which initiated in North America in 2002, is a collaborative effort between NI and sensor vendors aimed at gaining widespread adoption of IEEE P1451.4 - a proposed standard for analog sensors that would make integrating "smart" sensors into measurement systems as easy as connecting a mouse to a computer.

The group aims to deliver improved system configuration and diagnostics, reduced downtime and improved sensor data management to their customers. Several key European sensor vendors have joined the Plug & Play Sensors Program to integrate new sensor technology and support the IEEE P1451.4 standard.

The standard proposes that sensors add an embedded, low-cost, memory chip containing a standardized transducer electronic data sheet (TEDS) that stores important sensor information and scaling parameters for self-identification and self-description. TEDS is expected to eliminate the need to manually input this data when configuring a measurement system.

Starting members of the association include: Bruel & Kjaer and G.R.A.S. Sound & Vibration of Denmark; Kistler and LEM of Switzerland; RDP Electronics of the U.K.; Sensorex of France; and WayCon Positionsmesstechnik, of Germany. Other companies joining the roster of the Plug & Play Sensors Program are: Celesco, Endevco, Lebow, Lion Precision, Macro Sensors, Measurement Specialties, PCB Piezotronics, Honeywell Sensotec, Transducer Techniques, Watlow, Weed Instrument, and Wilcoxon.