Angle sensors!
Well, when I read about them (accidentally by clicking on an NXP banner) I wondered what are these? Then I read its datasheet; amaizingly it has these two orthogonal MR signals wired with an algorithm called CORDIC!
Now, what is CORDIC? It's full form is, "Coordinate Rotation Digital Computer". It's job is to efficiently perform all the trigonometric specific calculations. It contains various equations which requires lot of multiplication, done efficiently by bit-shifting.
But the question remains there: What are they used for? Especially in automotive industry! The most interesting scenario I found is detecting the banking angle of a motor-bike. Amazingly, it works well with them, for example if a bike crashes the tendency of any two wheeler is to lye down on the road with a leaky fuel tank! This sensors detects the angle of the bike, which crosses the allowable limit and shut the fuel line, the engine etc.
These angle sensors BTW, comes in two forms: Optical and Magnetic. Going one step beyond, here is a chip that is being designed with a rotating coil in it! It can detect angles upto 360 degrees.
Just thinking out loud, is this a Gyroscope of the 20th century!?
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