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As a partner of demanding measurement engineers we know: reliably accurate measurement results are the indispensable prerequisite for successful and safe test and monitoring applications.

That’s why all ASC sensors are made from carefully selected, high-quality components at our site in Pfaffenhofen, Germany, and assembled according to our customers’ wishes. On request, our sensors are available with individual cable qualities and lengths and the appropriate connectors.

Our development engineers are continually working on developing and improving our sensors and instrumentation solutions in order to offer our customers the latest and most technologically advanced solutions.

And our experienced customer advisors will gladly help you find the right products and solutions for your specific application from the large selection of high-quality ASC sensors.

Capacitive accelerometers

We are rather proud that, as a relatively small and still young company, we can already call ourselves the market leader in the key segment of capacitive accelerometers.

It is not without justification that these special sensors are seen as superior in stability, measurement sensitivity, temperature characteristics and power consumption. Because they also precisely measure even small linear accelerations and low-frequency dynamic accelerations, they are very popular in passenger comfort tests on automotive and rail vehicles and in operational measurements (monitoring) for example on bridges and constructions.

Our medium-frequency accelerometers of the MF series offer a very high usable frequency measuring range with simultaneous noise reduction and a particularly high shock resistance and improved temperature characteristics, which is why they are widely used for tests and measurements or monitoring applications in the automotive, wind power and rail vehicle industries.

The unmatched range of high-quality capacitive accelerometers makes it easier for our customers to find the perfect type of sensor for virtually any special application and any measurement range.

ASC provides capacitive accelerometers in three different categories:

Low Noise (LN)
Our low-noise accelerometers have a particularly low noise level. They have a differential output and boast an excellent spectral noise power density, which is particularly important in low-amplitude, low-frequency measurements.

Medium Frequency (MF)
Our MF category accelerometers have the widest frequency response of all ASC capacitive accelerometers. They are best suited for low to medium frequency measurements in harsh environments. ASC’s MF accelerometers have a differential output, are particularly resistant to repetitive hard shocks, work reliably even in higher operating temperature ranges and can work with very low voltages.

Standard
Our accelerometers in the standard category have excellent temperature stability, a small temperature coefficient for the zero point and the signal deviation. Furthermore, they are characterised by very low power consumption.

Piezoresistive accelerometers

Piezoresistive accelerometers from ASC use a piezoresistive material instead of a piezoelectric crystal. This material acts as a spring element and changes its resistance depending on the strain, which in our sensors can be measured with a Wheatstone bridge. Depending on the sensor model, several counteracting sensors are connected in the Wheatstone bridge so that the measured bridge voltage is precise and linear to the acceleration. Otherwise the principle is the same as with a piezoelectric sensor.

Like our capacitive sensors, piezoresistive accelerometes can measure very low pulses (up to 0 Hz) and are therefore highly recommended for shock measurements, crash test applications and long-term transient measurements.

Similar to ASC’s capacitive accelerometers, our piezoresistive accelerometers measure up to 0 Hz (DC response time or stationary acceleration).

Piezoelectric accelerometers

Piezoelectric accelerometers from ASC are tried and tested especially for robust requirements in the measuring range of a few hundred g. Their advantages are extreme robustness, overload safety, long-term stability, compactness in relation to the wide measuring range, and their ability to be used in high temperature ranges.

Piezoelectric accelerometers from ASC are known as Integrated Electronics PiezoElectric (IEPE) sensors, which generate an output voltage that is proportional to the input acceleration. The sensors have a built-in preamplifier and a charge-voltage converter that converts the high-impedance charge output of the piezoelectric ceramic (lead zirconate titanate, PZT) to a low-impedance voltage output. Therefore piezoelectric accelerometers from ASC are particularly suited to address long cables. Our IEPE sensors work with a constant current supply and have a two-wire coaxial cable for power consumption and signal output. These sensors offer a very wide measuring range (a few Hz to 10 kHz) and are available in a wide selection and a series of sensitivities, weights, sizes and shapes. Unlike capacitive and piezoresistive accelerometers, piezoelectric accelerometers do not respond to DC accelerations.

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Tilt sensors

Gyroscopes

Gyroscopes measure the rotational speed of a body and are typically used in navigation and automotive technology.

Our ASC precision gyroscopes consist of robust silicon MEMS vibrating rings. The gyroscope detects the size and direction of the angular velocity by measuring the effect of the Coriolis force. When this gyroscope rotates, Coriolis forces acting on the silicon ring cause a radial motion on the circumference of the ring, whose size is proportional to the angular velocity of the rotation. The gyroscope thus generates an analogue voltage signal which is linearly proportional to the angular velocity. The balanced ring design of our ASC yaw rate sensors results in an excellent insensitivity to shock and vibration.

Depending on the application, we can supply uniaxial or triaxial  gyroscopes.

IMUs

An Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) is a spatial combination of several inertial sensors such as accelerometers  and gyroscopes in one housing; a 6-axis system that measures linear and angular motion by means of a combination of gyroscopes and accelerometers.

We equip our MEMS-based IMUs with a range of precision inertial sensors, including a triaxial accelerometer and a triaxial gyroscope. This means the IMU outputs raw acceleration and rotational speed signals, which can be used to determine position and orientation.

Thanks to their excellent shock and vibration damping, ASC’s IMUs are commonly used in demanding industrial environments. The ASC271 and ASC273 gyroscopes are enclosed in an anodized, low-weight aluminium housing that offers shielding against ground loops. In addition, sensor sensitivity is extremely stable over a wide temperature from -40°C to +85°C.