Innovative thermal sensor ensures accuracy and autonomy for over 6 years
A team of researchers from the Polytechnic Institute of Lusofonia developed a continuous thermal monitoring system based on the Internet of Things (IoT), with extremely low energy consumption. The study, led by Luís Miguel Pires, was published in the scientific journal Designs (MDPI), and is the result of a collaboration with the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL) and the Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal (IPS).
The device enables highly accurate temperature measurement, using a SoC chip (HY0020) with two sensors — one internal and one external — mounted on a custom printed circuit board and powered by a small button cell. The innovation lies in the real-time configurability of the internal sensor, allowing functionalities such as embedded diagnostics and customised thermal profiles.
With an average consumption of just 0.01727 mA, the system achieves an estimated autonomy of 6.6 years using a 1000 mAh battery, making it ideal for long-term and hard-to-reach applications. Data is transmitted via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to a Raspberry Pi 4 gateway, and subsequently stored in the cloud. This low-cost solution (€20) presents itself as a scalable and efficient tool for applications in areas such as healthcare, cold chain, environment, and smart infrastructure.
