Page 36 - Sensors and Control Systems in Manufacturing

CHAPTER 1

The Role of Sensors

in the 21st Century

1.0 Introduction
Integrated sensors and control systems are the way of the future. In
times of disaster, even the most isolated outposts can be linked
directly into the public telephone network by portable versions of
satellite earth stations called very small aperture terminals (VSATs).
They play a vital role in relief efforts such as those for the eruption of
Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, the massive oil spill in Valdez,
Alaska, the 90,000-acre fire in the Idaho forest, and Hurricane
Andrew’s destruction in south Florida and the coast of Louisiana.
VSATs are unique types of sensors and control systems. They can
be shipped and assembled quickly and facilitate communications by
using more powerful antennas that are much smaller than conven-
tional satellite dishes. These types of sensors and control systems pro-
vide excellent alternatives to complicated conventional communica-
tion systems, which in disasters often experience serious degradation
because of damage or overload.
Multispectral sensors and control systems will play an expanding
role to help offset the increasing congestion on America’s roads by
creating “smart” highways. At a moment’s notice, they can gather
data to help police, tow trucks, and ambulances respond to emer-
gency crises. Understanding flow patterns and traffic composition
would also help traffic engineers plan future traffic control strategies.
The result of less congestion would be billions of vehicle hours saved
each year.
Figure 1.1 shows the Magellan spacecraft as it was close to com-
pleting its third cycle of mapping the surface of the planet Venus.
The key to gathering data is the development of a synthetic aperture
radar as a sensor and information-gathering control system, the sole

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