Sensing devices, sensors, and methods for monitoring environmental conditions

A sensor comprising:

• an electromechanical sensing device comprising a cantilevered structure and at least first and second contacts configured for contact-mode operation with the cantilevered structure, the cantilevered structure being responsive to a parameter within an environment and to deflect toward or away from the first and second contacts thereof in response to the parameter in the environment, the cantilevered structure comprising an anchor, first and second beams suspended from the anchor at first ends of the first and second beams so that the first ends of the first and second beams separately adjoin the anchor, and a connector that is between the first and second contacts and interconnects distal ends of the first and second beams, the first and second beams containing dissimilar first and second materials, respectively, the connector, the anchor, the first and second contacts, and at least the second beam being electrically conductive, the first and second beams being side-by-side, spaced apart so as to define a gap therebetween along the lengths of the first and second beams and at the anchor where the first ends of the first and second beams adjoin the anchor, and lying in a plane that contains the cantilevered structure, the first material having at least one property that changes due to exposure to the parameter and a change in the property causes the cantilevered structure to deflect in a direction lying in the plane of the first and second beams as a result of the dissimilarity of the first and second materials, the cantilevered structure being configured to cause the connector to contact and close either contact of the first and second contacts or break contact and open either contact of the first and second contacts at a predetermined level of the parameter or from cumulative exposure to the parameter over time, the second beam and the connector creating a closed electrical path with the anchor and a single contact of the first and second contacts that is contacted by the connector when the cantilevered structure is deflected to cause the connector to contact and close the single contact;
• and
• means for producing a digital output when the cantilevered structure is deflected to cause the connector to contact and close either contact of the first and second contacts so that the anchor, the second beam, the connector, and the single contact contacted by the connector create the closed electrical path through the anchor, the cantilevered structure, and only the single contact.