We've been developing a wind sensor that has gained popularity among hobbyists and scientists alike, including the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, we realized that without reliable data, the sensor's utility would be limited.
At the top of this post you see the plot of wind speed vs sensor output voltage for two different temperatures. Without too much consideration you can see that the output of the sensor is temperature sensitive and that the curve is fairly flat as the wind speed increases. Both of those facts mean that it is fairly easy to confuse a shift in temperature with a shift in wind speed.
To address this issue, we decided to develop new schematics and designs for wind sensors. We also plan to create an Arduino Sketch that will use the temperature output from the wind sensor for calibration. By doing this, we hope to improve the sensor's accuracy and usefulness for a broader range of users.
However, before we could begin developing these improvements, we needed a tool to verify wind speed accurately. We decided to build a wind tunnel that could precisely control both temperature and wind speed. Although this was a challenging task, we found it to be an enjoyable process, and we will be sharing the details of its construction in a series of blog posts.
One issue we encountered during this process was the manual data entry required for our experiments. We recognized the need to automate the logging procedures to save time and improve our technique. Although we have not yet implemented a fully automated system, we plan to do so in the future. Nonetheless, we're thrilled to have a research instrument that can provide reliable data, and we're excited to explore the possibilities that our wind tunnel offers.
As we continue to refine our wind sensor and wind tunnel, we'll be sharing more information about our progress. We understand that there's still a lot of work to be done, but we're excited about the potential of our research and are committed to improving the accuracy and usefulness of our wind sensor. Our ultimate goal is to provide a reliable and accessible tool for anyone interested in studying wind speed, regardless of their level of expertise.