Humidity sensors are used in a variety of applications. Measuring the relative humidity in a home or building can detect molds, dust mites, bacteria, and viruses. Humidity sensors are also used in meteorology, medical applications, food processing, and air conditioners. The humidity sensors that are currently available are limited by moderate temperature ranges, but some applications require high temperatures outside of these available limits.

Faculty members at the University of Evansville have designed a humidity sensor to overcome this obstacle. It consists of a thermopile, capacitor, resistive temperature detector (RTD), and an oscillator, wired to instruments that display the information collected by the device.

The goal of this project is to determine whether or not this dew point sensor can produce repeatable results. In order to determine this, a controlled environmental chamber will be used to compare actual environmental conditions with the sensor’s output. The modifications of the test chamber will play a critical role in the development of this project. For the most accurate results, the environment inside the chamber must be as constant as possible, and data must be collected in a very precise and accurate way.