Modular Data Acquisition Architecture for Thin-Film Sensors Surfaces

Abstract

Thin-film sensors surfaces are becoming popular to collect data in several specific and complex processes, namely plastic injection or metal stamping, allowing the digitization of such processes through the use of Internet of Things technologies. A particular challenge in such thin-film sensors surfaces is the data acquisition and signal conditioning system, which implementation is complex due to the characteristics of these sensors (e.g., low amplitude and noisy signals), but even more complex when implemented in real industrial processes, which are subject to harsh conditions, namely noise, dirt and aggressive elements. This work describes a modular data acquisition and signals conditioning system for thin-film sensors surfaces, meeting the requirements of scalability, robustness and low-cost, meaning that it can be easily expanded according to the number of sensors required for the application scenario.

Multi-agent System for Monitoring Temperature in Sensing Surfaces including Hard and Soft Sensors

“…The hard sensors to measure the temperature were deployed in the thin-film sensing surface, being implemented the signal acquisition and conditioning system described in [2]. At the first stage, the sensors are connected to the ZSSC4151 sensor signal conditioner that ensures that the acquired signal is amplified, conditioned and compensated.…”

“…In this context, the use of smart sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies play an important role to collect the huge amount of available data, which later can be analysed to extract value and knowledge by using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. Recently, the use of thin-film sensing surfaces are being explored in different industrial applications, e.g., metal stamping and plastic injection processes, to expand the sensing capabilities aiming a more efficient monitoring and optimisation of the process [2].…”