PODCAST 2

SELECTION OF SENSORS FOR DOMESTIC APPLICATIONS

By

Vignesh Ramakrishnan

Anjana Manoj

In the 90's people would dream and aspire to buy an air conditioner for their homes,
which was a luxury then. The rickety old air conditioners of that time with manual
regulators was soon replaced by their digital automatic air conditioners which
adjusted the cooling according to the room temperature.

Now, we have reached a point in time when the air conditioners sense the mood and
location of the persons in the room to cool only the areas where people are feeling
hot/stuffy . Moreover, the music systems and mood lighting also can greatly
enhance the experience of the twenty first century citizen. This revolution is possible
only if the sensors in every appliance of the house are utilized to the maximum .

We measure/sense such parameters in domestic as well as industrial environments.

In domestic environment, we do not require as much accuracy/ reliability as critical
industrial applications.

Hence there is a trend of using more reliable/robust sensor systems in the cash- rich
industry over using larger quantities of less reliable sensors mounted already on
electronic gadgets like mobile phones/ air conditioners for obtaining data.

Data obtained from domestic networks is more probabilistic while data from an
industrial unit is deterministic .However, this probabilistic data caters well to the
demands of the retail sector which has direct contact with the common man.

Most domestic applications only require sensors with low cost, average sensitivity,
limited range and non bulky installation.

The most commonly used sensors for domestic applications are:

● Temperature Sensors

▪ Thermistors are known to be highly non-linear but very accurate. They are
also very inexpensive. However, to obtain the required accuracy we need
expensive signal conditioning circuitry, hence, they are used only in
modern Air Conditioners. In high quantities, we can probabilistically
estimate temperature trends using thermistors.
 ▪ Silicon Based Integrated Circuits are low cost, nearly linear and are very
suitable for use in domestic applications as they have a near ambient
range (-50​°​C to 150​°​C) . Due to their linearity, signal conditioning is
reduced considerably.They are used in mobile phones and digital gadgets.

▪ Bimetallic Temperature Switches work on the principle of differential

thermal expansion of two different metal strips bound together. They are
used in refrigerators, older models of air conditioners, electric fuse, electric
geysers

● Humidity Sensors

▪ Psychrometer: They are used for measuring relative humidity in the air.
Generally present in air coolers and climate control systems for proper
temperature control using evaporative principle.

▪ Soil Hygrometer: It is used to measure moisture content of soil and in

agricultural IoT networks to supplement satellite data.

● Light Sensors

▪ Infrared Sensors are used often in burglar alarms and fire alarms/smoke
detectors as fire emits radiations in the Infrared Region of the
Electromagnetic Spectrum. However, they are already part of various
emergency networks in developed nations for fast and adequate response.

● Sound sensors:

▪ Usually consists of a microphone which records a Decibel level with a

logarithmic gain. This is used by police and vigilant citizens for complaints
to the noise control board.

● Analytical sensors:

▪ Air Quality Measurement: Air Quality measurement is usually carried out

by Carbon Oxide sensors and Nitrogen oxide sensors present in air
pollution control stations and automobiles. The data from automobiles,
when connected to a network can provide a great insight on combating air
pollution which has become a menace in cities like New Delhi. Analytical
sensors for measuring such concentrations are usually non linear.
 ▪ Water Quality Measurement: Selective ion checker, conductivity
measurement , oxygen demand analyser and organic carbon analyser are
some of the sensors present in water purification systems for water quality
analysis. However, this data can be used by the municipal corporations for
analysing water supply quality and possibility of pilferage.

In this podcast we saw the various sensors used in domestic applications which can
be potential candidates for joining an IoT network. However, to form an effective
opinion on basis of data thus gained, effective modelling and selection of these
sensors is of great importance.