A Hand-Held Programmable-Logic-Device Based Temperature and Relative-Humidity Sensor, Processor and Display System Platform for Automation and Control of Industry Processes

Development, testing and validation of a small battery-powered hand-held programmable-logic-device (PLD) based temperature and relative-humidity sensing, processor and display system platform, to be utilized for computation and display of metrics/parameters of importance to process industry personnel, is addressed in this manuscript. Cost of the platform is important but not the highest priority. A higher priority is an ability to efficiently explore, implement and compare in a timely manner different processor microarchitectures and display system formats which may be used in the calculation and display of any single industry process metric or, when required, even simultaneous calculation and display of multiple metrics which are a function of temperature and Relative-Humidity (RH). A best processor microarchitecture and display system can then be chosen based on application performance/cost requirements. A PLD based sensor, processor and display system platform offers this opportunity. An initial and illustrative application of the platform, and used for its validation - temperature and relative humidity sensing, calculation and display of Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC) of wood, is described.