Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, or MEMS, are specialized silicon chips that incorporate not only miniaturized electronic circuits (the "electro" component) but also a "mechanical" part, such as tiny arms, gears, or springs. These chips, therefore, may possess not only the ability to process data, but also, etched into its surface, the ability to collect data in the form of some kind of sensor. Needless to say, the sensors are tiny, going down to the scale of millionths of a meter, or micrometers.
The term MEMS is itself thought to have arisen as a consequence of a 1987 gathering, called the Micro Robots and Teleoperators Workshop, conducted by the International Electrical and Electronics Engineers." Later, in 1988, a reliable method of bonding silicon components onto silicon chips was demonstrated.
Controllers in some video games, for example, utilize tiny accelerometers within their control pods to measure tilt, shock, and acceleration. While this is obviously fun, accelerometers are also used in the automotive industry, most commonly to detect a sudden change in inertia and deploy an airbag safety system at the appropriate moment. Another common MEMS application is in the nozzles of inkjet printers.
Future uses being researched for MEMS are far- ranging, from new computer displays to biochips with the ability to monitor glucose levels in diabetic patients. MEMS is quickly growing as a technology showing great potential to deliver affordable and effective solutions in a wide variety of situations. Many of them are now only at the planning stage.
