An autonomous, small scale temperature mapping data-logger for automated manufacturing applications

Modern manufacturing processes require minimal human intervention and a high degree of automation to meet industry demands. Sensing systems employed to monitor such processes must be compact, economical, and capable of operating under different environmental conditions. This work presents the development, fabrication, testing, and validation of a low cost small scale temperature data-logger used for monitoring an automated manufacturing process. The system is battery powered and packaged to operate in temperatures up to 100°C, with exposure to chemicals such as Isopropyl Alcohol, Propylene Glycol, and De-Ionized water for a period of 2 hours with accuracy of ±0.5°C. The developed system was benchtop tested and validated. In addition, the system was tested “in-situ” in a manufacturing process to validate its operation inside automated applications. The systems transient and steady state response are presented for each of these test scenarios. The development process illustrated in this work including the system design, fabrication, and testing can be used as a base to develop a “best fit” monitoring system for additional applications.