Smart transducer

A smart transducer is an analog or digital transducer or actuator combined with a processing unit and a communication interface.

As sensors and actuators become more complex they provide support for various modes of operation and interfacing. Some applications require additionally fault-tolerance and distributed computing. Such high-level functionality can be achieved by adding an embedded microcontroller to the classical sensor/actuator, which increases the ability to cope with complexity at a fair price.

In the machine vision field, a single compact unit which combines the imaging functions and the complete image processing functions is often called a smart sensor.

They are often made using CMOS, VLSI technology and may contain MEMS devices leading to lower cost. They may provide full digital outputs for easier interface or they may provide quasi-digital outputs like pulse width modulation.

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