# US 2021/0345019 A1 · Method and Apparatus for Local Sensing

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- Number: US 2021/0345019 A1
- Document ID: US20210345019A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 17/283,799
- Filed: 2019-10-01
- Published: 2021-11-04
- Earliest claimed: 2018-10-01
- Assignees: Elemental Machines, Inc.
- Applicants: Elemental Machines, Inc.
- Inventors: Liang Hoe; Sridhar Iyengar; Brett Byer; Katherine Murphy
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210345019A1

## CPC

- G01D 21/00: Measuring or testing not otherwise provided for
- H04Q 9/00: Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom
- G01D 9/005: {Solid-state data loggers}
- G01D 21/02: Measuring two or more variables by means not covered by a single other subclass
- G01K 1/024: for remote indication
- H04Q 2209/40: using a wireless architecture
- G01D: MEASURING NOT SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR A SPECIFIC VARIABLE; ARRANGEMENTS FOR MEASURING TWO OR MORE VARIABLES NOT COVERED IN A SINGLE OTHER SUBCLASS; TARIFF METERING APPARATUS; MEASURING OR TESTING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H04Q: SELECTING (switches, relays, selectors H01H; wireless communication networks H04W)
- G01K: MEASURING TEMPERATURE; MEASURING QUANTITY OF HEAT; THERMALLY-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR (radiation pyrometry G01J5/00)

## Abstract

A sensing system is provided. The system comprises a microprocessor (or computing device) with a memory, means of transmitting information wirelessly, an antenna, a power supply, and a sensor configured to measure at least one environmental parameter.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A sensing system comprising:
a microprocessor (or computing device) with a memory;
means of transmitting information wirelessly;
an antenna;
a power supply; and
a sensor configured to measure at least one environmental parameter.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the means of transmitting information wirelessly are selected from the group consisting of: a wireless radio; an Near Field Communication (NFC) chip; an Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip; a WiFi chip; and a Cellular chip.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the antenna is selected from the group consisting of: a Bluetooth antenna; an NFC antenna; an RFID antenna; a wifi antenna; and a cellular antenna.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the power supply is selected from the group consisting of: a battery; a photovoltaic cell; a thermoelectric generator such as a Peltier device.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, further comprising an adhesive or magnetic portion to allow for attachment of the sensor system to another object or material.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the microprocessor (or computing device) with a memory; the means of transmitting information wirelessly; the antenna; the power supply; and the sensor are electrically and/or communicatively coupled and mounted on a flexible circuit.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the power supply is a flexible planar battery or a small coin-cell battery.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor system is configured to transmit data: (a) at regular intervals (e.g. for example, once a minute, once an hour, or once a day; or (b) only when interrogated (e.g. for example, by sending a signal to the sensor system requesting data to be transmitted, or by bringing an RFID ore NFC reader in proximity of the RFID or NFC antenna if it has one).

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein data is transmitted to a smart phone, a gateway device, wifi router, sensor control unit or cellular receiver.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the transmitted data is subsequently be transmitted to and stored on a computer, server, or cloud server.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the data is associated with the time of the reading that is a time stamp and a unique identification of the sensor system apparatus.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the system is employed in the systems and methods described in co-filed US provisional applications entitled (1) “Method and Apparatus for Process Optimization” and (2) “Systems and methods to integrate environmental information into measurement metadata in an Electronic Laboratory Notebook Environment”, which are described above and incorporated herein by reference.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, where the sensor is configured to measure one or more environmental parameters selected from the group consisting of:
Temperature
Absolute humidity and relative humidity
light intensity and wavelengths
electromagnetic wave intensity
electromagnetic wave frequency
RF interference
motion including vibration and rotation
gas concentration (such as oxygen, CO2, etc.)
air pressure
flow rate
VOC concentration (volatile organic compounds)
particulate level
measure of air quality including particulate count and VOC (volatile organic compound) concentration
concentrations of different gases, such as oxygen, CO2, CO, N2, and other gases
pH
magnetic and electric fields
capacitance, and
and other measurable quantities of the natural world

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the system is embodied in a thin flexible planar form.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

A combination of a material and the sensor system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is associated with the material or a container containing the material.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The combination of claim 15, wherein the sensor system is in a thin flexible planar form and confirms to the surface of the material or to the surface of a container containing the material.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

A method for determining local environmental data of a material (e.g. the local environment surrounding the material, etc.) comprising the steps of:
(a) associating the sensing system as described in claim 1, with the material or a container containing the material, and
(b) using the sensor to measure a value of at least one environmental parameter.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, further comprising the step of:
(c) wirelessly transmitting the value of the environmental parameter measured in step (b) to a smart phone, a gateway device, wifi router, sensor control unit and/or cellular receiver.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein the data is associated with the time of the reading that is a time stamp and a unique identification of the sensor system apparatus.

### Claim 20 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, wherein the at least one environmental parameter is measured before, during, or after the material progresses through a protocol/process run.