The unique Custom Sensors Systems (CSS) service MDC provides offers client-owned alternatives for commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic products. CSS engineers use their diverse knowledge and experience with sensors, data acquisition, communications, packaging, automation software and signal processing to deliver solutions for unique instrumentation applications. Each challenge is distilled to its fundamental parameters (measurement types, acquisition rate, resolution, memory, voltage levels, protocols, etc.) to optimize form-factor, weight and cost without sacrificing desired functionality. This methodology is a significant departure from traditional testing architectures that rely on expensive and bulky laboratory equipment such as oscilloscopes, power sources, signal generators and other rackable items. While the full-featured availability of these off-the-shelf approaches can be useful for prototype testing and debugging, they are often impractical for extended use, mobile applications, consumer usage or high volume distribution. CSS devices can be developed with rugged electronic and packaging designs and tested to conform to the harshest of environments (pressure, hygral, thermal, mechanical, shock, etc.). Off-the-shelf or customer supplied sensors and probes can be integrated into these systems, or they can be developed by MDC using piezoelectric materials, shape memory alloys or using MEMS technologies. Existing products can be enhanced with wireless capabilities (WiFi, ZigBee, BlueTooth, etc.). Finally, embedded codes can be customized for PC or PDA deployment in order to automate testing, process data, display results or generate reports.  

In addition to the CSS service, MDC has internally developed several innovative devices, which can be leveraged for rapid customization into customer products for a variety of applications in commercial and military markets. The Intelli-Connector™ locally digitizes analog sensors, enabling efficient data and power architectures, dramatically improving signal integrity and greatly reducing required sensor density for structural health monitoring and damage detection. The FuzeLogger™ is a low-cost miniaturized acquisition package integrated with a tri-axial accelerometer designed to survive a 100 k-g acceleration. The SensorLogger™ is a highly modular datalogging hub, design to acquire synchronous data for over 3600 hours from multi-physics sensors for a variety of platforms. The HealthLogger™ is a wearable monitoring system wirelessly coupled with a PDA designed to collect and display a variety of physiological parameters for long-duration or out-of-lab measurements. While of these devices have all been fabricated in and demonstrated in relevant environments, several other novel devices are available from MDC at various levels of development and maturity. Some including those that involve corrosion detection, precise measurement and volume mapping, “radio-free” wireless communication and “through-wall” wireless powering and recharging technologies. These patented and patent-pending breakthrough technologies present several opportunities for commercial production, integration and/or marketing partners to quickly augment existing product lines or even break into new developing markets.

Click here for a downloadable brochure on MDC's Custom Sensor Systems.

Click here for a downloadable capabilities presentation for MDC's Custom Sensor Systems service.