Systems and methods for detecting lint aggregation in a dryer appliance

A dryer appliance, comprising:

• a cabinet;
• a drum rotatably mounted within the cabinet, the drum defining a chamber for receipt of clothes for drying;
• an air handler for urging a flow of air through the chamber;
• a trap duct in fluid communication with the chamber and comprising a lint filter for filtering lint from the flow of air exiting the chamber;
• a lint detection assembly comprising an emitter for generating light and a receiver for detecting the light that is transmitted through the lint filter;
• and
• a controller operably coupled to the lint detection assembly, the controller being configured to:
• generate the light using the emitter;
• detect the light transmitted through the lint filter using the receiver;
• determine a lint level based at least in part on the light detected by the receiver, wherein determining the lint level comprises generating a plot of the plurality of light intensities and the light detected at each of the plurality of light intensities and analyzing the plot using comparisons with parametric boundaries;
• determine that the lint level exceeds a predetermined lint threshold;
• and
• implement a responsive action in response to determining that the lint level exceeds the predetermined lint threshold.