At the just-concluded Shanghai Electronics Show in Munich in 2018, Bosch Sensortec, the world's leading supplier of MEMS sensors, officially released three heavy-weight products for the Chinese market, including low power consumption and high performance perfect for wearable devices. The accelerometer BMA400, the high-performance inertial measurement unit (IMU) BMI085 for AR/VR and the interactive projection module for the virtual user interface in the Internet of Things further extend its territory in the consumer market to larger regions.
Figure 1: 2018 Bosch booth at Shanghai Electronics Show in Munich
Figure 2: Leopold Beer, President, Asia Pacific, Bosch Sensortec GmbH
Leopold Beer, president of Bosch Sensortec Asia Pacific, said at the press conference held by Bosch at the same time of the show that “The global MEMS market is currently worth about US$5 billion. It is mainly used in addition to automobiles. Mobile phones, consumer electronics, industrial and other fields. At present, a large number of sensors such as gyroscopes, pressure sensors, temperature and humidity sensors are used in smart phones, but the future direction of MEMS sensors is not only mobile phones, other consumer areas such as wearable devices, AR/ VR, smart glasses and other areas are also Bosch's future investment directions.'
Figure 3: Bosch Sensortec adjustment strategy, expanding consumer target market territory
Overcoming wearable design pain points, ultra-low power consumption and high performance combined with sensors just needed
In the 2017 wearable market, there have been many exciting products such as new smart watches, technology-based clothing, and fitness activity trackers. IDC’s survey on global wearable devices shows that 2017 shipments of wearable devices reached 115.4 million units, an increase of 10.3% from 104.6 million units in 2016. The entire wearable device market will increase from 113.2 million units this year to approximately 222.3 million units by 2021.
The subdivided areas of IoT such as smart home, smart agriculture, and environmental monitoring have achieved results, but there has been no large-scale popularization. Ralf Schellin, general manager of Bosch Sensortec's Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) products, said at the press conference: 'Because of IoT's The application is too fragmented, I think there will be no outbreak of killer applications, but smart home and personal health related applications will show more value in the early stages, especially the combination of these two areas, to obtain personal health through wearable products , With the integration of smart home, its value will be easily presented.
Figure 4: Ralf Schellin, General Manager, Bosch Sensortec Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Product Area
With the increasing size and weight of smart phones, users are inconvenienced when exercising, and wearable device applications with smaller size and integrated motion detection performance are born. Due to the requirement of the “Everlasting News” function, wearable devices need to be frequently charged. This requires a low-power solution to make the battery more capable. At the same time, in order to better meet the needs of consumers, the function of the bracelet is also constantly enriched. In addition to the step counting function, it also adds fashion and design. Elements. In addition, wearable devices can also be derived from more diversified products, including watches, earrings to jewelry, clothing and so on.
Figure 5: Physical image of an accelerometer BMA400 with ultra-low power consumption and high performance
Usually the accelerometer's low power consumption and high performance cannot be shared, and the BMA400 has designed these two requirements in the product at the same time. Ralf Schellin emphasized: 'BMA400 with its step counter has only 4μA of ultra-low power consumption With its intelligent power management capabilities, it can significantly extend the life of wearable device batteries.
Figure 6. How does the BMA400 from Bosch Sensortec solve user pain points
The BMA400 is an unmatched product designed specifically for wearable devices. In addition to its combination of low power consumption and high performance, the BMA400 is only 2.0 x 2.0 x 0.95mm3 in size. It can be designed into very small watches, with even earrings. Among glasses, thanks to its compact package, the BMA400 can be integrated into other wearable devices to facilitate the promotion of wearable devices containing fashion elements.
In addition to being used for wearable devices, the BMA400's unique combination of ultra-low power consumption and high performance can also stimulate developers to design more IoT-related applications, and even IoT applications where the industry, bridge vibration detection, etc., cannot replace the battery frequently. .
Break through the technical bottleneck, AR/VR high-end market has broad prospects
According to Digitimes Research, the CAGR of global shipments of AR and VR headsets will reach 41.6% from 2017 to 2022. Sales of higher-end AR/VR devices are the market's ability to expand further. key.
Ralf Schellin pointed out: 'The low-cost head-mounted display will gain more market share in the next two years, but we can see more independent high-performance helmets will gain market share for a long time, AR, VR applications It will also grow rapidly.
As the next generation of the BMI055, the BMI085 is a high-performance inertial measurement unit designed for virtual and augmented reality applications. For the most prone to dizzy problems in AR/VR devices, the BMI085 combines a very low drift gyroscope and low The noise accelerometer significantly reduces the unpleasant motion sickness effect. Its ultra-accurate, instantaneous detection of head movement shortens the time delay to a nearly imperceptible minimum. In addition, the BMI085 has rock-solid temperature stability. , provides impressive low temperature coefficient compensation (TCO), typically less than 0.2 mg/K, and a temperature coefficient sensitivity (TCS) of up to 0.002%/K. Gyro bias instability is typically less than 2° /h.
Figure 7: Physical Map of BMI085 High Performance Inertial Measurement Unit
IoT and AI combined, interactive projection module pushes IoT applications to higher levels
IDC research data shows that the global IoT expenditures are projected to increase at an annual rate of 14.6% to US$772.5 billion in 2018, exceed the US$1 trillion integer barrier in 2020, and further increase to US$1.1 trillion in 2021. The average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for 2017-2021 is expected to be 14.4%. More applications in the future, such as smart speakers, voice control, etc., will also require more and more low-power and compact solutions and visual user interfaces. In spite of this, the development of IoT is still subject to many restrictions: Large-screen display, mobile devices need to be frequently charged, and online shopping voice control is insufficient to cope with all scenarios.
Figure 8: Bosch Sensortec interactive projection module for virtual user interface
The small size of the interactive projection module solves the pain points of the large display screen. With ultra-low power consumption, the interface moves during projection and does not need to be moved when not projecting. The interactive projection module can achieve focus-free laser by MOEMS technology. Projection, and the flexibility to turn any surface into a particularly intuitive and visually appealing virtual user interface (UI), ideal for use with home appliances, smart speakers, augmented reality glasses, wearable devices, etc. ' Bosch Sensortec GmbH Leopold Beer, Asia Pacific President, said, 'Compared to DLP, LCOS technology, MOEMS laser scanning technology is directly through the laser to the imaging area, so the lens does not require focus ring to focus, can achieve auto focus.'
The emergence of the Bosch Sensortec interactive projection module is expected to promote the application of the Internet of Things in various segments to a higher level. Leopold Beer is very optimistic about the development of interactive projection applications. 'More scenarios will be used in the future, more users Will accept its value. After three years, it may usher in a large number of outbreaks. '
MEMS sensor development trend summary
With the demand for miniaturization, digitization, intelligence, multi-functionalization, systematization and networking of the terminal products, the sensors are also being developed to be smaller, faster, and more flexible. Ralf Schellin concluded that the future sensors will There will be three major trends:
First, the integration between sensors and sensors.
Second, the integration of sensors and MCUs and algorithms.
Third, the integrated connection, such as integrating sensors and processors via Bluetooth, provides independent modules for IoT customers.
The three newly introduced products meet the above trends and can truly meet the new market demands: The intelligent motion sensor BMA400 can increase the wearer's battery life by 10 times; the high-performance IMU BMI085 can achieve realistic enhancements.
And virtual reality experience; interactive projection modules provide flexible human-machine interface for emerging IoT applications. As a leader in the MEMS sensor industry, Bosch Sensortec hopes to promote the development of downstream applications through continuous innovation in technology, dedicated to the development of smart phones and computers. , Wearables and IoT devices provide the world's most advanced sensing solutions.