"Census, or senses?": Making sense of the sensing in sensors

The definition of a smart sensor is described in lay terms in this Thought Piece by the NSSN’s Business Development Manager, Laura Earl.

A few years ago, I was supporting a startup which had an innovative idea to treat depression by inserting an electronic device in the ear which would track and stimulate the vagus nerve.

This nerve runs from the neck to the abdomen and regulates your mood, heart rate, digestion, and immune response. Stimulation and regulation of the nerve can assist your health in multiple ways.

However, when the start-up founder described how the device worked, they didn’t describe the mechanics of how the device performed the task of stimulating the nerve.

Perhaps it was obvious to those from a scientific background that it was a sensor performing the task.

But it wasn’t apparent to me until I came to work for the NSW Smart Sensing Network.

It made me wonder if people understand what a sensor is, and how this technology works?

Examples of the uses of sensors. Credit: AdobeStock

Sensors are all around us. They are in the remote control which helps you switch on your TV. Sensors are the annoying beeping in your car when you’ve placed a bag on the passenger seat, and it warns you to put on a seatbelt.

And perhaps if you have put your fingerprint (otherwise known as biometrics) into your phone, you probably would have seen a direction on the screen to ‘place your finger on the sensor’.

Sensors are in an ever-increasing number of technologies, and they are being used to create efficiencies, provide insights, streamline, or amplify current technologies, systems and solutions.

When I started with the NSSN almost a year ago and told people what I do, many seemed confused when I mentioned that my job involved sensors.

“Census, or senses?” they would ask.

I’ve since discovered that a sensor involves both: it is a ‘census’ of sorts and is related to our senses.

A sensor is a device that detects change in an environment.

Laura Earl is the Business Development Manager at the NSSN.

An example – and probably one of the most common sensors – is a thermometer. It records a change in temperature, and we see this change in the rise and fall in the mercury in the device.

A smart sensor has a processor built into it which can digitally record the change that has occurred and deliver a data set.

This data can then be dissected, evaluated, and can provide insights which can be acted on.

In this way, a smart sensor is like the census that gathers data about our population which can then provide insights about who lives or visits Australia. Just insert a little digital device, rather than a person walking around collecting data.

So sure, it detects a change in the environment, but what sort of change?

The answer to this came in a conversation with a colleague.

“Well technically it can detect anything that your senses can detect. Anything you can hear, taste, smell, touch or see,” he said.

I was already aware of optical sensors which track movement, acoustic sensors that listen for water leaks, and EEG (electroencephalogram) sensors which track brain activity.

Graphic shows a breakdown of a smart sensor and its capabilities. Credit: Peter Runcie

But this conversation had revealed in simple terms that sensors are electronic devices that perform what humans do as we exist in the world: they detect and respond to change.

In fact, the human sensor system is an area of research. Our bodies reflect variations in the same way as an electronic sensor and can provide a data output for analysis.

As the Business Development Manager at the NSSN, it’s my mission to take this amazing smart sensing technology and make it accessible and understandable so it can create solutions to problems in the real world.

Do you have a smart sensing project you would like to discuss with the NSSN? Contact Laura.