Sensors Keep Windshields Clear

The company's family of capacitive humidity and temperature sensors for climate control and windshield anti-fogging systems employ ASIC technology and a thin-film polymer capacitive sensing element to deliver faster response times with twice the accuracy of resistive sensors. The capacitive sensing element uses a porous electrode, which allows water vapor to pass through to the thin-film dielectric as air is drawn over the element. The change in capacitance and the signal from an on-board temperature sensor pass into the ASIC signal conditioning process, which translates readings into a relative humidity signal. Sensor features include an initial accuracy of ±4.0% and a response time of less than 10s over an operating range of 5% to 95% relative humidity. SENSATA TECHNOLOGIES, Attleboro, MA. (508) 236-3800.