▲ Kim Dong-jin, Managing Director of SFA, giving a presentation at the Advanced Sensor 2025 Forum held on the 7th.
Held on the 7th, sharing domestic advanced sensor application cases and exhibiting booths.
Convergence between sensor industries is expected to provide a foundation for domestic production and create synergy effects. It has been argued that innovation can be achieved through collaboration with the advanced sensor industry in the rapidly expanding smart city, smart medical, and smart manufacturing markets, which are growing at an average annual rate of over 10%.
On the 7th, the '7th Advanced Sensor 2025 Forum' was held at the El Tower, hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology Evaluation and Planning, and the Korea Semiconductor Research Association, to foster the domestic advanced sensor industry and secure global competitiveness.
This event consisted of a keynote speech on △Smart City Industry Trends and Industrialization Strategy (Lee Sang-hoon, former Vice President of the Korea Land, Infrastructure and Transport Promotion Agency), △Digital Healthcare and Medical Device Industry Outlook (Hwang Seong-eun, Director of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute), △Smart Manufacturing Strategy and Application Cases Incorporating Smart Factory Element Technologies (Kim Dong-jin, Executive Director of SFA), and a panel discussion on the development of advanced sensors to respond to promising future industries.
Smart cities applying cutting-edge technology, digital twin technology attracting attention According to Markets and Markets, the smart city market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22.7%, from $1.1846 trillion in 2019 to $3.3028 trillion in 2024.
A smart city is not simply a city that utilizes new technologies; it is a place where various entities coexist. The core of a smart city is the platform and the data collection and connection of people and objects within the city based on it, and the provision of predictions, services, and solutions through AI.
▲ Former Vice President Lee Sang-hoon of the Korea Land, Infrastructure and Transport Agency
In his presentation, former Vice President Lee Sang-hoon explained that smart cities developed in response to problems arising from urbanization, and that through them, they can solve urban problems, improve the quality of life for citizens, and enhance the efficiency of urban operations.
Furthermore, sensors are expected to be utilized more widely in smart cities due to the advancement of mobile computing, expansion of network infrastructure, and the common use of cloud computing.
The former vice president emphasized, "Along with smart cities, digital twin technology will continue to attract attention in the building, civil engineering, and urban areas, and the trend of developing contactless devices will continue after COVID-19."
■ Determining the clinical effectiveness of digital medical devices and sensors is crucial. In his presentation, Director Hwang Seong-eun emphasized that the use of medical sensors will increase as the elderly population expands, and that the clinical effectiveness of various smart devices that incorporate technologies such as AI is emphasized.
In medical devices, sensors have been applied in many areas, such as InBody machines, digital pills, rehabilitation robots (McICS), medical ventilators, and portable electrocardiographs. In domestic cases, sensors have been applied in many areas, such as wearables. Using devices, there are real-time vital signs monitoring, smart hospital services, smart access control systems, remote support solutions, and other AI-based solutions.
Director Hwang said, “Medical devices and healthcare products require clinical efficacy, so whether or not they are medical devices is determined based on their intended use and level of risk. If the intended use is medical or high-risk, they are considered medical devices.”
■ Sensor and smart equipment integration to achieve improved productivity Managing Director Kim Dong-jin asserted that productivity improvement is the top priority in manufacturing sites, and that integration with advanced sensors is necessary for process innovation.
Executive Director Kim explained that smart equipment refers to products that can contribute to improving the productivity of manufacturing lines through optimal processes through large-capacity data, real-time processing and analysis, equipment management solutions, and AI.
Among SFA's smart factory solutions, the NEO platform successfully detected real-time OHT equipment failures through data collection and analysis using MEMS sensors. Furthermore, SFA's proprietary AI solutions can be applied to industrial color, 3D, and infrared cameras to enhance user convenience and productivity.
“We can achieve increased productivity by linking cutting-edge sensors with smart, high-speed, and high-capacity data solutions to collect data and utilizing smart AI equipment that applies new detection algorithms,” said Executive Director Kim.
Finally, he added, "In the sensor market, we are seeing an increase in customer requests for cutting-edge 3D capacitive applications, vibration signal suppressors, and autonomous driving."
Along with the seminar, a booth was also set up to introduce domestic sensor technology. Companies participating included Kanevicom (Korea’s first successful mass production of industrial LiDAR), Samyoung S&C (development of the world’s first temperature and humidity sensor for hydrogen fuel cells), Wise (pressure, temperature, gas, flow rate, and level measurement), Shinsung Sound Motion (development of motion sensors and microphones based on MEMS sensors), Infoworks (development of LiDAR sensors for autonomous driving and indoor/outdoor unmanned robots), and Nemesis (providing a semiconductor-based bio-diagnosis platform).
Professor Joo Byeong-gwon of Korea University, co-chair of the Advanced Sensor 2025 Forum, predicts that the importance of sensors will grow further in the future due to the increasing demand for data economy in society. He said, "I hope that the Advanced Sensor 2025 Forum will help form a consensus on the future direction of the domestic sensor industry and serve as an opportunity for a leap forward into a new convergence industry."
Ki-Hyeon Ahn, Secretary General of the Korea Semiconductor Research Association, said, “To strengthen cooperation between companies, we are operating a sensor company council and a sensor CEO forum. To support marketing, we are promoting overseas business consultations and supporting participation in domestic and international exhibitions. In particular, we will operate a Korean sensor pavilion at CES 2023 next year to support the participation of sensor companies.”
(Photo = Reporter Kim Ye-ji)
