Details of sensor operation and ST value
ST manufacturers several state-of-the-art Digital sensors for different use cases:
- temperature sensors offer accurate temperature readings over wide industrial temperature ranges. ST temperature sensors support standard I2C/SMBUS industrial communication and special packaging with thermal pad below the component ensures minimal latency in the measurement.
- humidity sensors measure relative air humidity levels and can be used in multiple applications, including the detection of moisture and leakages in industrial end products and HVAC applications.
- pressure sensors measure absolute air or liquid pressure levels and can even detect altitude changes in the order of a few centimeters. ST MEMS pressure sensors deliver high accuracy and low power consumption in water-resistant packages.
- MEMS microphones capture ambient audio signals and can be used in voice activation and control applications. ST MEMS microphones offer high SNR for high-quality audio.
- proximity sensors based on time-of-flight can be used to detect distances, objects and people over several meters away. ST proximity sensors offer accurate sensing even over longer distances for industrial applications such as warehouse inventories.
- cameras can apply image processing algorithms when monitoring industrial environments and processes. ST offers global shutter image sensors optimized for near infrared scenes.
In terms of analog sensors, ST offers:
- ultrasound MEMS microphones for audio signals even up to ultrasound frequencies, which can be especially useful in various Predictive Maintenance and Condition Monitoring applications to detect electricity, gas and liquid leakages.
- accurate operational amplifiers are used for signal conditioning and are often found in industrial gas sensing applications.
ST solutions
Sensor data can be processed by STM32 MCU control units with Cortex-M0 cores in sensor nodes with moderate data requirements, Cortex-M4 cores with Floating Point Units in more intense processing scenarios, and finally Cortex-M7 cores with highly intensive Digital Signal Processing (DSP) functions. Microcontrollers support industrial standard wired connectivity options such as Industrial Ethernet, CAN bus, RS-485 and IO-Link with additional transceivers or wireless communication through Bluetooth Low Energy or LoRa and 3 rd party Wi-Fi or cellular/NB-IoT connectivity modules. Sensor data integrity and security is ensured with STM32Trust framework using STSAFE Secure Element and SIL/IEC 61508 functional safety X-CUBE-STL SW package. Full designs are supported with power management components designed for standard industry +24 and +48V voltages with ST buck regulators.
