MEMS are useful for many applications, and if a form of bluetooth or similar single chip radio ever becomes cost effective and easy to design in then there are definate possibilities for many more applications using MEMS sensors.
A MEMS sensor is just a simple switch. Unfortunately the contacts are rarely more than a micron apart so any ingress will cause failure. The other problem is that unless the switch is operated regularly it will seize. This tends to make them unsuitable for critical applications. I was very surprised to see them used for an airbag deployment system.
The problem that everyone but a very few experts forget to mention about MEMS is that unless they are in a hermetic package to keep out all possible ingress then problems will occur with reliability. Hermetic packaging is expensive and due to its nature, I can't see prices falling that much in teh future.
--
I read often, only post occasionally
|
|
|
