At the Best of Sensors Awards 2026, held on May 6 at Sensors Converge in Santa Clara, Calif., Siargo, Inc. was awarded the Best Instrumentation & Test Solution for its MEMS mass flow sensor FS4000.
The product was recognized alongside a competitive field spanning 15 distinct categories. The FS4000 is designed to address historical technical limitations in thermal mass flow sensing, specifically regarding gas calibration dependencies, nonlinear errors, and dynamic range constraints.
Technical Specifications and Core Architecture
The Siargo FS4000 utilizes proprietary Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) thermal mass flow sensing technology. Unlike conventional thermal mass flow meters that rely primarily on temperature data from single or basic differential pairs, this sensor integrates an architecture that concurrently captures dynamic thermal transfer data in both the heat-distribution and time domains.
Key Technical Attributes
Sensor Model: MEMS mass flow sensor FS4000
Manufacturer: Siargo, Inc.
Primary Metric: Precision mass flow measurement across multiple industries.
Packaging Configurations: Multi-format deployments adaptable to variable flow rates, pressures, and temperature envelopes.
Market challenges
Thermal mass flow sensing technology has been deployed commercially for over 50 years. However, industrial applications frequently encounter three persistent technical challenges:
Calibration Non-Linearity: When a sensor calibrated with air or nitrogen is exposed to a different target gas mixture, non-linear errors occur. These errors fluctuate significantly from one gas product to another.
Inaccurate Real-Gas Calibration: Due to safety risks, cost, or chemical instability, certain real gas calibrants (such as nitrous oxide) are unavailable for factory calibration. This lack of direct calibration leads to measurement inaccuracies in the field.
Dynamic Range Constraints: High-volume applications utilizing MEMS technology often require a wide dynamic range. Traditional conversion methods typically reduce the achievable dynamic range, forcing a compromise between sensitivity and maximum flow capacity.
Technical Innovation with FS4000
The FS4000 addresses these constraints by changing how thermal data is processed. By acquiring dynamic thermal transfer data through the dual integration of the heat-distribution and time domains, the sensor mitigates dependency on real-gas calibration. When standard air or nitrogen calibration is applied to alternative gas measurements, the sensor's underlying physics engine compensates for the physical properties of the medium. This reduces the non-linear errors that typically degrade the accuracy of secondary gas readings. Consequently, the sensor maintains precision in applications where real-gas calibration is commercially or logistically unfeasible, while preserving the wide dynamic range necessary for fluctuating industrial environments.
Target Applications
The multi-format packaging of the MEMS mass flow sensor FS4000 allows it to operate across diverse environment types. The technology is targeted at industrial processing, analytical instrumentation, and automated test setups where multiple gas types are present, or where standard gas profiles change dynamically during operation. Its design allows it to maintain accurate volumetric or mass readings independent of standard configuration constraints.
Other winners of the Best of Sensors 2026 are available online.