MEET: Ushering in a New Era in Non-Contact Measurement

TAIPEI, Dec. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Established in 1992, MEET International Ltd (MEET stands for Multi-function Electrical Electronic Tester) is one of the leading manufacturers of multi-function testers worldwide. Its unrivaled expertise in design engineering and manufacturing has enabled the company to develop various kinds of testers, detectors, sensors, battery testers, clamp meters, infrared thermometers, DMMs, DMMDs, thermal cameras, moisture meters, and non-contact meters, just to name a few.

Driving innovation in multifunction testers

For the past 70 years, bulky and heavy clamp or open jaw meters have been used to measure current on wires that must be separated, that is, on live or neutral wires or between live wires. As shown in Figure 1, on a single core wire, the AC current flows toward the left-hand side (1) and creates a magnetic field (1a) in a clockwise direction.

The existing conventional type of clamp meter with laminated iron core (3) wound around hundreds of turns of enameled wires (4) formed a secondary pick up of magnetic current, which flows from one direction of the cable (1), and thus generates a small amount of millivolt supply to the electronic circuit of the clamp meter. The results (5) show the load current flow in a single core wire.

Alternatively, when the clamp meter is placed on the opposite side of the return wire from the load, the current flows back to the supply (2) and generates a counterclockwise magnetic field.

"Whatever the measuring method used, we have to split and measure on a single-core wire only, not on a cable with two or more cores twisted together," says Mr. Chou Kai-Sheng, Director of MEET, during an interview with EE Times Asia.

This is shown in Figure 2. The reason is the two different directions of current flows (1) and (2) generate the magnetic field: one clockwise (1a) and the other counterclockwise (2b). These two magnetic fields cancel each other out, and thus the induced voltage is transferred to 0 (6), which occasionally shows some reading based on leakage or unbalanced current. Additionally, measuring AC voltage on the cables with the non-contact method is also impossible. However, measuring on two-, three-, four-, or five-core cables even on shielded cables as well as on any length of cable has been impossible (Figure 2).

Unlike the popular conventional-type clamp/open jaw meter, a revolutionary new generation of multifunction multi-core Non-Contact (NCCV) meter invented by MEET offers a unique solution to measure various data and collect information on single- or multi-core cables without separating the wires or restricting at the open side only (Figure 3).

Powering this technology is the innovative, patented NCCV sensor invented by MEET.

"It can be adopted to other existing instruments, such as multimeters, clamp meters, two-probe testers, and test pens," says Chou.

MEET's innovative product and cutting-edge technology enabled collection of more measured data and information from a single wire or on a multi-core cable through non-contact meters.

This landed the company an Innovation R&D award at the recent EE Awards Asia 2024. Now in its fourth year, EE Awards Asia honors some of the best products, companies, and leaders making a difference every day in Asia's electronics industry.

"It is our honor to get this important EE Awards," says Chou. "This will encourage more exposure of our products through the EE Times platform. Through this channel, more and more readers will come to know of our company, our unique products, as well as our latest technologies."

Apart from the Innovation R&D Award, MEET's Chou also received the Outstanding EE Professional award. Chou leveraged his deep expertise in wireless communications, fiber optics, and networking protocols to build a successful electronic testing equipment manufacturing company, whose groundbreaking contributions set a high standard for engineering excellence in their industry.

"This award encourages me to continue walking this endless technology," says Chou. "Thanks to all the nominated friends and readers. It is my pleasure and a big thank you for your great support."

In a video interview with EE Times Asia, Chou highlights some of the milestones he achieved over his long career in the industry, his advice to the young engineers who are just beginning to make their mark in the electronics industry, as well as the next technologies in the pipeline at MEET.