Smart Steering Wheels for Cars and Trucks Recognize Drowsy or Incapacitated Drivers

June 23, 2015 – Alpharetta, GA

Hoffmann – Krippner Inc., in cooperation with Guttersberg Consulting, announced that their innovative SensoFoil sensing technology now can measure sensitivity in addition to position.

By using enhanced SensoFoil to measure pressure, car and vehicle manufacturers can add an extra level of safety to their steering wheels. During normal driving, the operator is constantly moving their hands on the steering wheel, changing pressure as the fingers grip the wheel. However, by using Hoffmann-Krippner’s SensoFoil inside the steering wheel, the vehicle can now sense if the driver’s hands are now longer moving  – if the operator has fallen asleep with their hands on the wheel or if their hands are no longer on the wheel. This can trigger the correct safety protocol to either wake up the driver or to implement corrective measures.

Traffic experts claim that about 25% of all accidents are caused by extreme fatigue while driving. This makes nodding-off, also referred to as “micro-sleep“, in combination with heart attacks, as  the leading cause of accidents, exceeding the number of accidents caused by alcohol and drugs.

Once alerted by the Smart Steering Wheel, the car can try to wake the driver or take over control and steer the vehicle to a safe stop along the road. In case of medical emergency, the car could even drive itself to the closest medical emergency center while sending out an alert to the appropriate authorities.

The sensor can also be programmed for pressure in certain locations. This can be used in a vehicle to control various location, emergency, entertainment or communication systems. This same feature can be used in game controllers, aircraft, etc., as an economical way to add additional programmable capabilities to a controller or joystick device without the need for extra buttons or dials.

“Pressure Sensing SensoFoil cost effectively provides extra features and capabilities to a diverse range of products,” says Jens Kautzor, CEO of Hoffman + Krippner, Inc. “In addition, this sensing technology requires very little external energy since power consumption is very low. The sensor system is insensitive to electromagnetic radiation and therefore ideal for the automotive, aerospace and medical sectors.”

Company Background

The Hoffmann + Krippner Group, with sales offices around the globe, specializes in input and output systems as well as sensors. Headquartered in Germany, Hoffmann + Krippner has manufactured German-engineered, high quality products for over 35 years. As the North American member of the Group, Hoffmann + Krippner, Inc. delivers these engineering, design and manufacturing services to the US and Canadian market.

As of 2014, Hoffmann + Krippner, Inc. has partnered with Altmann GmbH (manufacturer of high-precision potentiometers), Inelta GmbH (manufacturer of LVDT and load cells), and PIL GmbH (manufacturer of ultrasonic sensors).

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Ink and Foil Based Sensors for Consumer, Appliance, Business and Industrial Internet of Things Applications

June 9, 2015 – Alpharetta, GA

At Sensors Expo, Hoffmann – Krippner Inc. will demonstrate how their unique SensoInk and SensoFoil intelligent sensing technologies can be used for Internet of Things applications such as process automation, position tracking and real time supply chain support.

SensoInk is an innovative, reliable and highly accurate sensing solution based on printed polymer pastes. SensoInk is a 5V analog solution with low power requirements and operates at 5V.

By using polymer thick film technology, SensoInk is extremely flexible, and can be printed as potentiometers, resistors, switches or keyboard contacts on circuit boards or electronic components. It enables device developers to quickly and easily implement individual specifications without sacrificing quality. By using SensoInk, there are no negative electromagnetic effects (Electromagnetic compatibility). Only two components are required for signal transformation: a printed potentiometer track on a carrier material (e.g. FR4 or PET foil) and a conductive wiper.

Sensofoil® thin-film membrane potentiometers are the world’s most reliable membrane position sensors. SensoFoil offers a flat design of 0.5 mm to 1 mm, repeat accuracy of 1mm to 10µm,  easy to achieve redundancy and problem-free device integration. The standard linear Sensofoil is available in lengths of 50 mm up to 500 mm, 40mm wide rotary, and custom sizes and shapes. Sensofoil is available in PET (ultra-thin), Magnet (contactless – long lifetime) or Hybrid technology (extended lifetime and temperature range).

“To detect how the state of the internet-connected “thing” changes, an electronic evaluation of the initial state must be conducted,” says Jens Kautzor, CEO of Hoffman + Krippner, Inc. “With our sensors you can very affordably and accurately measure changes, detect positions, or count objects.”

Is there enough milk in the fridge? Is there enough coffee in the coffee maker? Has a hotel guest taken anything from the minibar? For example, a drink gets removed from the minibar. This condition is detected (the missing bottle) by a Sensofoil sensor. The web connected sensor, combined with the intelligent software, guarantee that the correct products and quantities will be reflected on the hotel bill. This is just one of hundreds of smart IoT and Machine to Machine applications made possible using SensoInk and SensoFoil.

Company Background

The Hoffmann + Krippner Group, with sales offices around the globe, specializes in input and output systems as well as sensors. Headquartered in Germany, Hoffmann + Krippner has manufactured German-engineered, high quality products for over 35 years. As the North American member of the Group, Hoffmann + Krippner, Inc. delivers these engineering, design and manufacturing services to the US and Canadian market.

As of 2014, Hoffmann + Krippner, Inc. has partnered with Altmann GmbH (manufacturer of high-precision potentiometers), Inelta GmbH (manufacturer of LVDT and load cells), and PIL GmbH (manufacturer of ultrasonic sensors).

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Hoffmann-Krippner partners with PIL for distribution in the US and Canada

May 27, 2015 – Erlensee, Germany

PIL announces the availability of its new P53 Steel Head ultrasonic sensor for use in demanding medical, food processing and other industrial applications.

The PIL P53 Steel Head’s robust, fully encapsulated stainless steel housing with gapless transitions provides IP68 / IP69K protection class protection. Impervious to water vapor, moisture and dust, Steel Head sensors can withstand high pressure and steam jet cleaning. Their resistance to aggressive chemical cleaning agents is certified to Ecolab standards.

The P53 provides a standard analog 0-10V / 4-20mA output and two switching outputs. In addition to these fixed settings, the P53 series can be programmed for various other custom settings.

Ultrasonic sensors use an ultrasonic transducer to send and receive sound waves. Specially coded ultrasonic signals are transmitted in a set pattern. After being reflected from the object to be measured, the signals are received by the sensor and decoded. The recorded time of flight is temperature compensated and converted to distance data.  Ultrasonic distance sensors are often used in harsh, industrial environments because they are independent of the material and the color of the object to be measured and are not affected by light, dust and fog. They function very precisely and linearly with background suppression.

For the US and Canada markets, a wide variety of PIL ultrasonic sensors for various applications are offered via their distribution partner Hoffman-Krippner, at http://www.hoffmann-krippner.com/sensors.html

Company Background

Located near Frankfurt (Germany) since 1990, PIL develops and produces a wide range of ultrasonic sensors for many applications such as level monitoring, thickness measurement, sag control, ultrasonic barriers and many more. More information about PIL sensors can be found at http://www.pil.de/index.php?id=58&L=1

PIL Sensoren GmbH puts an emphasis on sensor solutions that are specific to industries and customers, and continue to expand in this area thanks to interdisciplinary expertise. PIL was founded by past Honeywell engineers Pietschmann, Isele and Luehr.

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Provides industry’s greatest range – up to 6000 millimeters

 PIL Partners with Hoffmann-Krippner for distribution in the US and Canada

May 13, 2015 – Erlensee, Germany

PIL announces the availability of its new P43 ultrasonic sensors to measure distances. Applications include object recognition for agriculture and fluid levels, distance measuring for trucks and loading ramps, level sensing in dusty conditions, parking lot detection/barrier monitoring as well as a variety of other industrial and manufacturing applications.

The PIL P43 ultrasonic sensors provides the industry’s greatest range  – from 250 mm to up to 6000 mm. M12, M18 and M30 dimensions are available – with or without thread or cubic housing. Highly accurate, it provides a small sound cone shape, two integrated internal LED’s for echo justification, and analog internal sensors – no need for digital translation and no loss of accuracy. The P43 provides a standard analog 0-10V / 4-20mA output and two switching outputs. In addition to these fixed settings, the P43 series can be programmed via Teach-In for various other custom settings.

“The new PIL P43 Ultrasonic sensors are an excellent solution for a variety of applications where highly accurate distance sensing is critical,” explains Dr. Heimann, CEO of PIL.  “We are very excited to provide the industry with the first long range Ultrasonic sensor that can provide accurate results at a distance of up to 6000 mm.”

Ultrasonic sensors use an ultrasonic transducer to send and receive sound waves. Specially coded ultrasonic signals are transmitted in a set pattern. After being reflected from the object to be measured, the signals are received by the sensor and decoded. The recorded time of flight is temperature compensated and converted to distance data.  Ultrasonic distance sensors are often used in harsh, industrial environments because they are independent of the material and the color of the object to be measured and are not affected by light, dust and fog. They function very precisely and linearly with background suppression.

A variety of PIL ultrasonic sensors were previously introduced to the US market and were known under different names and brands. An up to date cross-reference list can be found at the website of our partner H+K Inc.: http://www.hoffmann-krippner.com/sensors.html

Company Background

Originally a spinoff of Honeywell, and located near Frankfurt (Germany) since 1990, PIL develops and produces a wide range of ultrasonic sensors for many applications such medical, transportation and shipping, warehousing, industrial, manufacturing, and many more. More information about PIL sensors can be found at http://www.pil.de/index.php?id=58&L=1

PIL Sensoren GmbH puts an emphasis on sensor solutions that are specific to industries and customers, and continue to expand in this area thanks to interdisciplinary expertise. PIL was founded by former Honeywell engineers Pietschmann, Isele and Luehr.

www.pil.de

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