Throughout this article the emphasis is on design rationalisation such that the product can survive in difficult environments. There is a strong conviction that many laboratory developments can be transferred rapidly into the real world, but thisneeds careful assessment of user requirements at all stages. It has been a salutary experience, for example, to examine all the novel ideas over the past twenty years on fibre-optic sensors. These failed to reach the market place, largely due toinadequate pre-screenmg of user requirements in terms of cost, robustness and maintenance.It is important for the UK that the transfer of novel technologies to online control applications is effected rapidly and with maximum efficiency. Certainly the developments described suffered numerous hiccups during the transfer. Nevertheless the endproducts have proved to be welcome, solving several measurement and control problem areas with savings by the user.
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