What are Pressure Sensors?
Pressure sensors have been in demand since the advent of the steam age. Billions of such sensors are used daily to monitor the pressure of fluids in pipes, engines, hydraulics, or in nature. Specialized sensors are also used to determine the pressure of solids or gases. A typical pressure sensor is about a cubic inch in size, though some may be a hundred or more times smaller, for example those used in microelectromechanical systems. Most modern pressure sensors work based on a principle called piezoresistance. Pressure causes a material to conduct electricity at a certain rate, leading to a specific level of charge flow associated with a specific level of pressure. This charge is fed to a wire which leads to a control panel and display for human analysis. Conventional pressure sensors use film resistors, strain gauges, metal alloys, or polycrystalline semiconductors as the resistive media. These materials conduct more or less electricity based on geometric deformations in their struct
