Page 46 - EE Times Europe Magazine | June2020

46 EE|Times EUROPE — Sensors Insert

AAC Banks on Edinburgh’s Talents, Opens MEMS Microphone Design Center

company like AAC, one might be benefiting from a global reach, both target vertical markets like automotive, IoT, and AR/VR.” AAC’s Edin-
in the U.S. and in Europe, to attract the best talent,” said Plekenpol. burgh center, which is expected to employ six MEMS designers in June
“There is a huge wealth of technical talent that we can tap in Europe, and up to 30 people in the next four to five years, will collaborate with
so we will be increasing our presence in Europe — not by tenfold, the company’s design centers in Denmark and Finland, both focused on
but I am in a hunt for at least three other locations in Europe and in optics and camera design.
North America.” “AAC is not an acquisitive company,” Plekenpol said. “It is not about
Edinburgh was a clear choice because “it’s a very easy place to do acquiring companies but identifying people who have been in the
business, as we were able to set up a company in less than a week,” said industry for a long time, are looking for a shift in their career, and are
Plekenpol. Edinburgh is also “a magnet for talent,” he said, celebrat- excited about our company and the integration of microphones, acous-
ing the access to university resources as well as the vitality and cost tics, haptics, and optics sensors in smartphones.”
structure of the Scottish city. “There is a pocket of expertise in MEMS Today, AAC’s suite of MEMS microphone solutions is used by OEMs
microphone development,” which AAC is planning to grasp and extend such as Samsung, Amazon, Xiaomi, Vivo Communication Technology,
to other MEMS disciplines. When you build a competency in MEMS, he and OPPO. ■
said, there is an opportunity to leverage it into new markets, “and our
intention is to extend it to accelerometers and other sensors that can Anne-Françoise Pelé is editor-in-chief of eetimes.eu.

ENVIRONMENTAL
Monitor Carbon Dioxide Level by

Photoacoustic Sensing

By Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio

s modern construction techniques
and materials yield buildings that
are increasingly airtight, carbon
A dioxide sensors play an essential
role in the monitoring and management of
indoor air quality. Sensirion has designed
a miniaturized CO 2 sensor device around
photoacoustic sensing principles to enable
a packaging size of only 10 × 10 × 7 mm,
targeting new integration and applica-
tion possibilities in the internet of things,
consumer electronics, appliances, and
HVAC markets.
Fitting into a space of just 1 cubic centi-
meter and able to measure temperature and
humidity as well as CO 2 concentrations, the
SCD40 is particularly suitable for high-
volume, cost-sensitive applications, according
to Sensirion.

THE CO 2 FACTOR Figure 1: Impact of CO 2 on human decision-making performance
Excessive levels of carbon dioxide in indoor (Image: “Is CO an Indoor Pollutant?” Environmental Health Perspectives, 120 (12), 1627-a475.
2
environments compromise human health, December 2012)
comfort, and productivity. High indoor CO 2
concentrations typically are the result of parts per million can cause drowsiness; at 1,000 ppm.” Moreover, “Without a specialized
human presence; because we breathe in oxy- 2,000 ppm, some people start to get head- sensor, you can’t realistically know how much
gen and emit CO 2 , the latter can accumulate aches. Consider that in a closed room, such as carbon dioxide is building up while you hun-
to dangerous levels in indoor environments a crowded classroom, levels can rise to ker down in a small room for a long meeting.”
that are not properly ventilated. 5,000 ppm. The New York Times last year Ventilation systems are therefore required
The dense thermal insulation of mod- reported on the effect of CO 2 on cognitive in modern buildings. Air exchangers and
ern buildings indirectly contributes to CO 2 functions such as the ability to concentrate. intelligent ventilation systems in the
pollution indoors. Thick windows and doors It cited one study in which subjects answered commercial and residential sectors use CO 2
help modulate indoor temperatures, thereby test questions under varying CO 2 levels. sensors to regulate ventilation in the most
reducing energy consumption and cost, but According to the article, the study found that energy-efficient and human-friendly way.
they do so at the cost of reduced exchanges of “the higher the carbon dioxide, the worse the CO 2 sensors can also be integrated into
indoor and outdoor air. test-takers did; at 2,500 ppm, their scores purifiers, intelligent thermostats, and other
Carbon dioxide concentrations above 1,000 were generally much worse than at smart-home products.

JUNE 2020 | www.eetimes.eu