Fiber optics: new eyes of industry
Article Abstract:
Fiber optics have new applications in monitoring manufacturing and industrial processes, particularly in situations where electromagnetic fields interfere with electronic devices. Fiber optic sensors have only 2 to 3 percent of the annual worldwide $6-billion industrial-sensing-devices market, but the market share is growing. MetriCor Inc has developed optical sensors that can attach to a reactor vessel in which chemicals are mixed under heat and pressure. As pressure builds, the silicon casing to the glass-tipped fiber bends. A light-emitting diode (LED) in an instrument sends a pulse of infrared light down the fiber, and the distorted silicon casing changes the frequency or color of the light, which is sent back down the fiber and registered by the instrument. Pressure readings are accurate to less than 1 pound per square inch for a 150 psi instrument.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: News, opinion and commentary
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1991
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New system lets computer identify pictures and images
Article Abstract:
The David Sarnoff Research Center announces Smart Vision, a new technology for computerized picture-recognition that is thousands of times faster than present technology. Sarnoff is establishing Sensar Inc to market the Smart Vision technology, which comprises software and computer chips. Smart Vision could lead to the development of self-guided automobiles; robots that can recognize obstacles in their path and avoid them; technology for rapidly scanning vast libraries of video data; and security systems that open doors only when an authorized person's countenance is recognized. A constant problem confronting researchers of computer vision is the vast amount of data in any visual image. Smart Sensing copes with this problem by selecting only key data, such as movement, colors, shapes and face patterns.
Publication Name: The New York Times
Subject: News, opinion and commentary
ISSN: 0362-4331
Year: 1992
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