Innovative weather sensors and other advanced electro optics
The Optical Fog sensor called OFS is a robust backscatter visibility sensor with somewhat better performance than the MiniOFS.
It has been on the market for 10 about years with few changes.
The difference between the Air eye ( see below ) and the OFS is that the precipitation outputs are not available on the OFS and the price.
The MiniOFS backscatter visibility sensor is a spin off invention from the work with the OFS/Air eye products - see below. The price is probably the lowest on the market for a visibility sensor. And the dimensions of the front are smaller than a credit card -see picture. The main application is for traffic purposes. The development has been driven by a documented need for a real low price sensor for large volume applications.
The patented sensor is offered in two versions called Road eye Short Distance SD and Road eye Long distance LD respectively. The Road eye Short Distance SD is primarily thought to be placed on a vehicle for monitoring the road surface. The Road eye Long Distance LD is primarily thought to be placed on the road side for monitoring the road surface at the sensor site. The information from the sensor can be used for warning drivers during slippery road conditions. Prototypes of both versions have been tested since the 2008 winter season.
A sensor for measuring the Cloud Cover Factor.
This innovation makes it possible to get automatic observations of the Cloud Cover Factor, CCF i.e. the fraction of the sky that is covered with clouds.
The Air eye is a compact low cost Present Weather sensor which uses optical backscatter technique for analysing water particles of different forms - like fog, rain or snow - in the air.
The sensor has analogue and digital RS232 outputs giving the information about precipitation and visibility in "meteorological" terms like mm/hour and MOR.
This sensor is a spin off from the Road eye project.
We are currently working together with partners in a project aiming at a sensor system for identifying the low friction conditions that occurs when combinations of leafs and water/ice is present on rails.