Company: SMB Sensing Instrument Manufacturer

Industry: Industrial

Use Case: Mass Flow Sensor

Services Used: Electronic Design, Firmware

Results:

• Innovative, highly-accurate sensor design
• Successful collaboration with mechanical design team
• Fast transition to manufacturing

Customer Introduction

This California-based business specializes in sensing instruments for laboratory and industrial applications and wanted to design its next-generation mass flow sensor.

Problem/Goal

• The sensor must meet industrial accuracy.
  
  A mass flow sensor uses a heated sensor that cools in the presence of fluid flow. There is a reference sensor that is not in the fluid flow. The flow is calculated from the difference in the readings from the two sensors. The design requires careful analog circuit design to achieve high accuracy. Firmware in the device controls the heating of the sensors, calculates the fluid flow, displays the results on a built-in screen, and communicates to other equipment over a serial communication port.
  
• The company lacked an engineer with senior analog design skills.
  
  The circuit has to be carefully designed, and the circuit board must be carefully laid out to prevent errors due to voltage drops in the copper wires where the currents are quite high. This requires an experienced analog circuit design engineer.

• Effective collaboration and work integration with the in-house mechanical design team.
  
  Creating the next-generation mass flow sensor is a complex project requiring effective communication and an interdisciplinary understanding between the electrical engineering team and the company's in-house mechanical design team.

Solution

The company chose to partner with Voler Systems to leverage its vast expertise in analog electronic design and sensors.

Voler Systems engineers incorporated its rigorous design methodology to identify what was needed to create the next-generation mass sensor design and implemented the following solutions:

• Converted a high-level conceptual description into a comprehensive, detailed electrical design

• Created firmware to operate the device

• Collaborated with the mechanical design team to meet the overall electrical, mechanical, and environmental requirements

Results & Benefits

• The mass flow sensor uses innovative analog circuit design and advanced firmware control to provide high-accuracy measurements and results.

• Successful partnership with the in-house mechanical design team resulting in a holistic design solution suitable for a range of environmental conditions.
  
• Voler Systems expertly managed the project timeline and resources, facilitating a swift transition into manufacturing.

Inspiration

At Voler Systems, we turn complex challenges into innovation opportunities. Our knowledge of analog circuit design and sensors was critical to the project's success.

"Voler not only met our expectations but exceeded them. We will use definitely use them on future projects."

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