Tech from CSE startup Innotronics shakes up the wake boat market

Mechanical engineering research leads to industry commercialization

Rajesh Rajamani develops sensor technology to make machines smarter. Most recently, the College of Science and Engineering professor’s lab in the Department of Mechanical Engineering designed a sensor for cars that uses magnetic fields to estimate the positions of other nearby cars and detect imminent collisions. Now, Rajamani’s startup company Innotronics is using that same sensor technology to detect the position of actuators that help machines move.

Actuators are present in most machines, especially cars, boats, and agricultural and construction vehicles. They’re responsible for initiating movement. For example, when you press the gas pedal in your car, a sensor sends a signal to an actuator that makes the car move forward. Typically, these sensors must be physically touching the piston on an actuator—but, this decreases the durability of the sensor and makes it prone to wear and tear.

Read the full article from the College of Science & Engineering.