Intelligent digital thermal flow sensor

In the present work, most of the original analog circuit of a conventional hot-wire anemometer is replaced with digital electronics, and a signal prediction algorithm is implemented to speed up the sensor measurement. This digital sensor also includes the following upgraded features: (1) temperature compensation over the nonlinearity characteristics of thermistors to achieve more accurate measurement, (2) direct interface to computer, (3) easy change of operational parameters and sensor configurations, and (4) energy conservation with the use of a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) heater.