Design and implementation of a system with a multielement thermopile for monitoring temperature of a plane.

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we report the design of a system equipped with a multielement thermopile for measuring the temperature of a given plane. We evaluate the performance of our measurement system, which comprises a microcontroller, an analog-to-digital converter, a liquid crystal display (LCD), light-emitting diodes (LEDs), a buzzer, laser pointers, and a rotary encoder. We use different types of display modes such as an LCD for displaying the measured temperature, LEDs which colors indicate the temperature range, and an RS-232 or a wireless interface that transmits the temperature values to be displayed as different colors on a PC screen. The buzzer/alarm in the system is activated when the threshold temperature is reached. The system is inexpensive, portable, and can be used for two-dimensional temperature measurements; further, its emissivity can be easily adjusted. The effective detection range of this system is from -20 to 115 degrees C, and the field of view is 41 degrees x32 degrees ; the measurement error is confined to +/-1 degrees C. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the system in monitoring the temperature of a remote plane. Hence, it is possible to identify a hot spot that occurred in the electrical heating equipment or a smoldering source hidden in upholstery.