To combine pressure sensors and wireless engineering, Tekscan and SSI Wireless have joined forces to bring wireless connectivity to pressure sensors. Consequently, Tekscan's ELF force measurement system has gone wireless.

Tekscan's portable Wireless ELF System takes the concept of a turnkey, user-friendly load measurement system one step further by eliminating cumbersome wires and enabling a laptop or PC to quickly capture and store force data from an event up to 100 feet away, said the manufacturer.

Wireless ELF combines ultra-thin (0.008 in.) FlexiForce single-element load sensors with quality electronics and user-friendly data analysis software. The system offers greater flexibility for countless force measurement applications involving mobile subjects or objects. The new wireless version of the already successful ELF system will allow customers greater freedom and flexibility in using force and pressure sensors in their product research, quality assurance, and testing, said Tekscan.

To extend Tekscan's ELF sensing system with wireless functionality, the SSI hardware team engineered a small, battery-powered device to connect to Tekscan’s FlexiForce sensors using a low cost ZigBee-ready RF radio. Simply plugging the device into an existing USB port on a desktop computer enables point to multipoint connectivity. SSI then extended the ELF software to communicate and accept data over the wireless connection.