From lifesaving smart headsets for truck drivers to gliding electric skateboards, five companies using MEMS and sensors will compete for audience votes during the Technology Showcase at the SEMI | MSIG MEMS & Sensors Executive Congress on November 1-2 in Napa Valley, Calif. As a featured event at the MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) annual professional forum for executives from MEMS/sensors manufacturing and their end-user customers, the Technology Showcase highlights the newest and most unique MEMS/sensors-enabled applications in the industry.
“This year’s Technology Showcase finalists at the MEMS & Sensors Executive Congress are as fascinating as they are diverse,” said Frank Shemansky, CTO of SEMI | MSIG. “Imagine, for example, a MEMS-based switching element the width of a human hair, enabling RF switching that is 1,000 times faster and lasts 1,000 times longer than traditional mechanical switches. That is the kind of MEMS technology that could dramatically improve wireless applications, and it is just one of our Tech Showcase finalists ─ the others are equally compelling. The Tech Showcase is always a big draw at the Executive Congress because it gives attendees the chance to personally interact with the finalists’ demos to decide their vote for the winner – one of whom will be ‘crowned’ at the close of the conference.”
Tech Showcase Finalists
The LEIF eSnowboard by LEIF Technologies is the world’s first light electric vehicle that moves just like a snowboard. The LEIF brings to the pavement the smooth, sliding moves only found on a mountain or a wave — up to 23 mph and 15 miles per battery pack.
The Maven Co-Pilot by Maven Machines is the first smart headset for truck drivers. Employing MEMS, sensor fusion, wearable technology, machine intelligence and mobile-cloud architecture, the Maven Co-Pilot monitors drivers’ fatigue and distraction levels 50 times per second to provide accurate instantaneous early warnings to both drivers and fleet managers.
Menlo Digital-Micro-Switch Technology by Menlo Micro demonstrates fundamental materials’ advancements that improve the size, speed, power handling and reliability of MEMS switches. Smaller than the width of a human hair, Menlo Micro’s switching elements are so small that hundreds of them fit in a space smaller than 10mm2. Menlo Micro switches operate 1,000x faster than traditional mechanical switches — in a few microseconds rather than milliseconds. Their scalable architecture allows the handling of 100s of volts and 10s of amps without arcing. Menlo Micro’s devices last 1,000x longer than traditional mechanical switches, supporting billions of cycles without performance degradation.
The Berries Smart Sensor series by eLichens are patented autonomous non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) gas sensors offered in a 2 x 2 x 1cm package. These sensors integrate a dual-channel feature for a calibration-free long-life cycle. The miniaturized optical gas sensor is a complete system in package (SIP) integrating a proprietary infrared MEMS emitter and detectors, a highly efficient patented optical sampling chamber, and signal processing. The Berries series address the demanding requirements of the gas-sensing industries, where accuracy, auto-calibration and low power consumption are essential for new generations of gas- and air-detection products.
Coupled Time Domain Simulation for MEMS Sensors and System Integration by PZFlex lets engineers model and simulate a wide range of physics in new MEMS areas such as piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (PMUTs) for fingerprint sensing. Engineers can conduct large-scale time-domain finite element analysis (FEA) simulation using PZFlex to gain insights into discrete device performance, device array performance, and full system performance for a PMUT fingerprint sensor embedded within a smartphone touch-display stackup.
MEMS & Sensors Executive Congress 2017 will take place November 1-2 at the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa Valley, Calif. For more information, please contact SEMI via email: [email protected] or visit: www.semi.org/en/mems-sensors-executive-congress-2017.