The Integrated Corrosion Sensor

The Integrated Corrosion Sensor is a device that, when placed in an enclosed environment with metal, wirelessly uploads temperature, humidity, and material degradation to a corrosion index to help track the corrosion level on the aircraft. Limited parts allow it to be easily constructed and maintained by aircraft maintenance personnel.

The sensor’s size makes it easy to carry around. All the components are commercially available, making it easy to swap out broken or damaged parts. The device is 8 X 5 X 2.5 in3 and weighs less than 5 lb. It has a rectangular shape, with sensors on the top and side face of the device, and the Arduino microcontroller and batteries housed inside the casing. The size will allow the device to be placed in the corners and compartments of an aircraft while the Bluetooth transmitter will allow for constant monitoring of the area. Since the material degradation sensor can measure the resistance of any metal, the sensor can be used to measure any metal or material with a chance of corrosion.

The casing is a junction box made of ABS plastic making it water and corrosion-resistant. The temperature and humidity sensor is an Adafruit Sensiron SHT31-d. It is an i2c-based sensor that operates well within the criteria for accuracy, (+- 2% humidity and +-0.3% temperature). It also provides calibrated, linear signals with excellent resolution on a 9.5×6.5x1cm3 footprint and it easily connects to the Arduino microcontroller. The material degradation sensor uses a small current to measure the resistance of the tested material. Any material changes due to corrosion will affect the total resistance of the sample, and this information can be used to identify degradation. The microcontroller is an Arduino Uno Rev 2 (Wi-fi). This Arduino model can transmit data wirelessly (over Bluetooth or Wi-fi) and features the required analog ports for sensors. The Arduino will be powered by 9v batteries using a DC/AC adapter.