Free-to-download whitepaper explores the latest trends in sensor development to better enable the Internet of Things

element14, an Avnet Company and global distributor of electronic components, products and solutions has published a brand new, exclusive and free-to-download whitepaper to support electronic design engineers in their Internet of Things (IoT) journey. The paper, titled ‘Smart Sensors – Enabling the Intelligent IoT’, takes a deep dive into the world of sensor technology and how cutting-edge trends are taking the IoT to the next level.

Sensors are bringing the IoT to life; with novel chemical and spectroscopic technologies, senses enable IoT systems to see, hear and even smell the world around them. Sensors already provide the real-time raw data to a growing range of applications that use it to produce insights. A significant recent change is the introduction of smarter sensors – devices that incorporate value-added functions to ease integration into IoT networks and provide valuable information more readily.

Cliff Ortmeyer, Global Head of Technical Marketing at element14, said: “Engineers working on systems built using IoT technologies now have access to a huge range of sensor options. The available modalities have moved well beyond temperature and pressure to encompass sensors that can act as the eyes, ears and noses of the IoT. Understanding the world of sensor technology is becoming mission-critical for many electronic design engineers working on IoT-driven systems and applications.

“element14 strives to support engineers at every stage in their journey and this includes free content such as this whitepaper, enabling them to overcome their obstacles and understand the latest trends and technologies in the market.”

The whitepaper describes the choices available to engineers and the various considerations to take into account when selecting and integrating sensors into IoT designs. Key trends highlighted in the whitepaper for engineers to consider include:

• Focus on low power consumption.
• Ability to connect sensors using wireless networks.
• Inclusion of security protections.
• Data-fusion techniques to provide better analysis.

Ortmeyer added: “Electronics engineers are faced with many decisions, not just as sensing technology evolves but as the connectivity choices expand. The ability to detect changes around a system is greatly enhanced by the ability to hook into data from multiple sources on a network that covers the surrounding environment. Understanding how the sensors can interact with each other and their data processing and security capabilities will lead to smarter choices in designing with these products and integrating them with other devices.”

In addition to this free-to-download whitepaper, element14 also gives customers access to a global portfolio of nearly one million products from over 2,000 world-leading suppliers available for fast delivery, as well as support from local customer service teams and in-house technical experts to help at every stage of the design process.

The whitepaper, ‘Smart Sensors – Enabling the Intelligent IoT’, is available as a free download here.