Development of Remote Wireless Environmental Conditions Measurement, Monitoring and Recording Device for Metrological and Other Scientific Applications

Abstract

Measurement, monitoring and recording of the environmental condition is the essential and sometimes statutory requirements, to observe the small change or deviation in the results of measurements in calibration and testing laboratories as well as other scientific applications. This motivated the authors to develop a precision wireless environment conditions, measurement, monitoring and recording (WEMMR) device. The present paper describes the design and development of an indigenous precision WEMMR device. The WEMMR is comprised of a micro-electromechanical sensor (MEMS; BME-280) capable to measure, monitor and record three parameters related to prevailing environmental conditions in the room, i.e., ambient temperature (T) in the range (0–100) °C, ambient pressure (P) in the range (300–1100) mbar and relative humidity (H) from (0–100)%. The system was developed using microcontroller (ATmega328) and Wi-Fi module (ESP8266) for wireless operation. These environmental conditions were also used to determine the prevailing air density (ρair) in the room and display the same on the monitoring panel. The monitoring and recording of ρair are extremely important parameters in measurement and realization of mass and mass-related quantities, i.e., force, pressure, flow and ultrasonic power. Apart from monitoring, recording of the data device is also capable to transmit the data to remotely located computer through internet connectivity. The developed WEMMR device had been calibrated against national standards available at the National Physical Laboratory, India, for ambient temperature, ambient pressure and humidity ranged for (10–50) °C, (300–1100) mbar and (30–80)%, respectively. The uncertainty in the ambient temperature, ambient pressure and relative humidity has been evaluated as ± 0.37 °C, ± 0.31 mbar and ± 0.71%, respectively.