Turbidity Sensing as a Building Block for Smart Appliances

The U.S. Department of Energy standards for laundry and dishwashers are expected to be announced soon for appliances built after Jan. 1,1999- To meet these high-efficiency targets, the OEM designers are searching for practical solutions to improve the efficiency of these appliances. The availability of turbidity sensing on appliances will provide design engineers with a way to determine how soiled a particular load of clothes or dishes may be so engineers can then create a control system that adapts the operation of the machine to save water, time, and energy, while providing superior cleaning performance. Because of this capability, the turbidity sensor is emerging as a key building block developing the next generation of energy-efficient “smart” appliances.