Sensors fit for the road
Valerie Jamieson · Physics World · 2002
Car manufacturers are packing ever-more technology into the dashboard and under the bonnet of vehicles. Indeed, the global market for automotive electronics, which was worth $22.7bn two years ago, is expected to grow to $30.9bn by 2005. However, sensor manufacturers are under pressure to keep the cost of devices as low as possible, with each sensor costing on average just $7. At a meeting of the Instrument Science and Technology Group of the Institute of Physics last November, physicists working in the automotive industry highlighted the challenges faced by the next generation of sensors (see map.eng.abdn.ac.uk/ISAT/).