Microprocessors get integrated sensors: Sensing devices and signal processing built into one silicon chip portend a new class of ‘smart’ sensors

Silicon microsensors — transducers that are fabricated by silicon ic technology and can fit on the same chip with a microprocessor — are being developed in many laboratories and will soon allow microprocessors to be used in high-volume consumer applications. They include automobiles, cameras, washing machines, miniature biomedical instruments, refrigerators, furnaces, antipollution devices, air conditioners, and electronic barometers and weather stations.