Meridian Innovation’s Cheetah Sensor Takes the Best Sensor of the Year Award
Meridian Innovation has claimed another milestone in the rapidly evolving field of thermal imaging. At EE Awards Asia 2025, the company’s Cheetah thermal imaging sensor earned the coveted Best Sensor of the Year award, cementing Meridian’s reputation for delivering high-performance sensing at a fraction of traditional costs. This win follows the prior year’s recognition of the Panther sensor and marks the company’s fourth consecutive nod in EE Awards Asia, underscoring a sustained track record of innovation and industry impact.
Low-Cost, High-Impact: The Cheetah Advantage
What sets Cheetah apart is its focus on affordability without compromising essential capabilities. In today’s AI-driven landscape, access to reliable thermal imaging is crucial for applications ranging from industrial automation and predictive maintenance to autonomous systems and smart surveillance. Meridian Innovation’s engineers emphasize that Cheetah is designed to deliver robust performance at a price point that enables broader adoption across small to mid-sized enterprises and research teams.
The sensor ecosystem that Cheetah sits in builds on Meridian’s established lineage, following the Panther, which also received industry accolades last year. The progression from Panther to Cheetah illustrates a deliberate strategy: to offer scalable, cost-efficient thermal sensing solutions that can be integrated into a wide range of AI-enabled devices and systems. By doing so, Meridian is helping to democratize access to thermal imaging technologies that were once the domain of large corporations with substantial budgets.
What the Award Signals for the AI Era
The Best Sensor of the Year award signals more than a single product victory. It highlights a broader shift toward sensor ecosystems that empower AI models with richer, more reliable perceptual data. In practical terms, Cheetah enables improved object detection, temperature monitoring, and anomaly identification in environments where visible light is limited or unreliable. This is particularly relevant for industries such as manufacturing, energy, and critical infrastructure, where uninterrupted monitoring is essential for safety and efficiency.
Analysts note that the AI era demands sensors that not only perform well under lab conditions but also endure real-world variability, cost pressures, and the need for rapid integration. Meridian’s ability to deliver a low-cost yet capable thermal imaging sensor aligns with these market realities, offering developers a more accessible path from prototype to mass production.
Real-World Impact: Use Cases and Applications
Early adopters of Cheetah are exploring enhancements in predictive maintenance, thermal-assisted quality control, and AI-powered situational awareness. For instance, in manufacturing, Cheetah can help detect hot spots in equipment before failures occur, reducing downtime and maintenance costs. In energy and utilities, it can monitor heat signatures in electrical systems, ensuring safer operation and better asset management. In autonomous systems, even small, affordable thermal sensors can contribute to safer navigation in low-visibility conditions, complementing traditional cameras and LiDAR.
Meridian emphasizes a modular approach, allowing integration with existing AI pipelines and edge computing devices. This flexibility accelerates deployment timelines and lowers total cost of ownership, which is especially compelling for teams seeking rapid, scalable AI-enabled sensing solutions.
What’s Next for Meridian Innovation?
With the EE Awards Asia 2025 win, Meridian is poised to accelerate collaborations with hardware and software partners, expanding its sensor ecosystem and ancillary tooling. The company’s strategy points toward further refinements in power efficiency, signal processing, and calibration methods that could extend the usability and lifespan of thermal imaging solutions in demanding environments.
As AI applications proliferate across sectors, the demand for accessible, dependable sensing technologies will only grow. Meridian Innovation’s Cheetah sensor, celebrated at EE Awards Asia 2025, positions the company at the forefront of a movement to bring robust thermal imaging within reach for a broader set of innovator communities.
