The California-based Intersil has just released a fascinating new product that has seen automotive manufacturers standing up and taking notice. Its ISL76671, an automotive-approved ambient light sensor, is the first of its kind that is capable of handling temperatures ranging from -40 degrees to 221 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 and 105 degrees in Celsius, respectively). This temperature range is important because it ultimately determines the utility of the sensor when applied to auto glass and plastics in automotives, which generally have that set temperature range.
Most ambient light sensors at the moment are incapable of detecting lower light levels, and this is why the auto glass and auto plastics industry is already considering this sensor a godsend. The ISL76671 boasts the capacity to sense incident light to levels as low as 0.01 lux—and does it with a spectral response that actually approaches human levels. This extreme sensitivity makes it a promising ambient light sensor for auto glass due to its ability to measure low light even behind tints and thick glass or plastic layers. It also has an industry-leading response time of a mere 30 milliseconds.
Based specifically in Milpitas, Intersil is known for its development, research, and production of analogue semiconductors and related parts. It actually began most of its work in 2003, when it sold off its wireless branch. The company then went straight into some of the most promising markets possible: the market for flat-panels, the market for optical storage, and the market for power management. The company has an extensive array of products that go far beyond the ISL76671 ambient light sensor for auto glass and plastic applications, and has long provided materials and solutions for the military as well as space organisations of the government.
Intersil’s contribution to automotive glass development is also just one more step for the auto glass and plastic trade. The auto glass industry has been in continuous growth for years, and with plastics trying to catch up, car buyers in the future can safely look forward to radically new technologies in their options. A small caveat that has to be provided, however, is that it is unlikely for very recently released technologies—the ISL76671 ambient light sensor included—to show up in cars a decade from now. The truth is that the auto manufacturing world works such that cars five or even ten years into the future have already been designed by the auto makers of today. This means that the cars being designed at this present time would be likely to reach the market over a decade or so later. Hence, it seems that the auto glass of the next cars shall have to wait before items such as the ISL76671 are integrated properly in it. Windshield Replacement Phoenix
