The world's first micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) accelerometer technology capable of tracking vibrations in industrial equipment at frequencies as high as 22-kilohertz (kHz) debuts today at the Sensors + Test Conference (May 6-8, 2008, Nuremberg, Germany). Created by Analog Devices Inc. (Waltham, Mass.), the MEMS technology uses unique differential accelerometers--two side-by-side MEMS mechanisms capable of cancelling out common mode noise. ADI's vibration and shock sensors are also small enough that equipment designers can build vibration=detection chips into industrial process-control devices, rather than as add-on modules.
Today, vibration sensors are piezo-electric-based modules that are limited to about 5-kHz frequencies and cannot be mass produced the way ADI uses CMOS processing lines to mass produce its accelerometers. As a result, according to ADI, it can undercut the price of piezo-electrics by 50 percent--$35 as opposed to $70.
Text: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207501425
