Aug. 12, 2002 - Last week’s feature described work being done by Intel and UC Berkeley to develop sensors that can form ad hoc networks (see Sensors to Network the World). Sensor nets will have a role to play in linking the digital and physical worlds, but they will always be more expensive than RFID tags, because they require an operating system, database, protocols, memory and a battery.

The military, which has already deployed sensor nets in Afghanistan, is also looking into low-cost sensors that would be much smaller, simpler and cheaper than sensor nets. The U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense MicroElectronics Activity (DMEA) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) want to jumpstart research and development of low-cost sensors.

Last October, DMEA and DARPA awarded a multi-year contract to startup Alien Technology, North Dakota State University and University of Alaska at Fairbanks. The contract could be worth as much as $120 million over four years, and it could put those two universities at the forefront of the new nanosensor industry.

The aim is to develop an ultra-low-power battlefield sensor communication system, which will use low-power miniature sensors to identify biological and chemical agents and monitor the physical battlefield environment, as well as the physical condition of soldiers. The data will be sent to ultra-sensitive radio receivers capable of detecting signals weaker than one watt under poor conditions. And it will be distributed to those who need the information using real-time distributed information technology.