Surrey firm uses Honeywell sensors for Formula 1 and UAVs

“We needed small and accurate board mount pressure sensors. Competitor products we examined couldn’t come close,” said Dr David Birch, research director at SSL, which is a joint venture between the University of Surrey and a unnamed private company.

The sensors, for example, are used in SSL’s Digital Seven-Hole Probe, that uses pressure as a proxy to measure air velocity – speed and direction – for use in wind-tunnel testing, motorsport, and UAVs.

“Several SSL testing solutions address specific measurement needs at ultra-low air pressures,” said Honeywell product manager Leslie Neill. “Working in this particular band of the pressure continuum requires high-precision sensors that must meet a set of performance factors that are generally difficult to achieve with the same sensor. They must be more accurate and sensitive to smaller pressure changes, stable, and have a high threshold of burst and over-pressures.”

Other SSL products that include Honeywell pressure sensors are a pressure sensor interface card, for pressure prototyping, validation, and acquisition systems, and a 64-channel modular pressure scanner for use in surface pressure measurement and process control.