Please could you introduce our readers to ROHM?
ROHM is a 62-year-old company from Kyoto, Japan. We started supplying semiconductors but now most of our solutions are sensors.
We acquired Kionix, a MEMS sensor company, in 2010, and we acquired LAPIS Semiconductors (previously known as OKI semiconductors). These acquisitions mean we have a broad knowledge base, allowing us to make many different sensors, such as RF solutions like sub-gigahertz radio, bluetooth, and wifi, radio solutions, display interfaces and communications devices.
We can also provide power solutions, with power electronics being a major focus for ROHM.
What products are you showcasing at Sensors Expo?
We’re showcasing some of our new sensors. We have a current sensor with us which is able to sense at -50 to +50 amp, which is designed for very high power industrial applications at both AC and DC. This sensor doesn’t need to be shielded from the power by a coil, and it does not require any power as it is based on Mi sensors, which use magnetism.
The other sensor that we are showcasing is a heart rate and blood pressure sensor, which has optical input. Here, we use a PPG algorithm to detect and measure blood pressure from a 1 kHz sample from a pulse wave inside a patient. The information we gather is very clean, meaning the dicrotic notch in the pulse wave can be identified and the diastolic and systolic pressure can be measured.
What makes your products unique?
ROHM makes most of the smallest components in the world - our accelerometer is so small it can be embedded onto a credit card.
What applications are your sensors designed for?
Our sensors are popular in the health and fitness industries. We also provide many sensors for industrial IOT where they are used for accurate temperature control in cold chain systems. In addition to this our sensors can be used for asset management in warehouses with asset tracking included too.
As I mentioned earlier we also provide power solutions to industry – as you can see, our sensors find use in a wide range of applications.