Wire Mesh Rain Sensor for Omnidirectional Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional rain detection apparatuses, such as those using impedance measurement and optical disdrometers, face issues like measurement errors due to rain direction, difficulty in detecting small amounts of rain, and misrecognition caused by water droplets or dust, as well as errors from rain falling on side surfaces.
Innovation Solution
A wire mesh sensor apparatus with transmitters and receivers arranged at specific angles and equipped with heating mesh parts to remove rain droplets, allowing for accurate conductivity measurement and vertical rain detection regardless of rain direction, and featuring an insulating layer at intersections to enhance precision.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional impedance measurement apparatus uses repetitive patterns with dielectric substances, then the apparatus can detect rain through resistance changes, but measurement errors occur when rain falls in the opposite side of the detecting part
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a planar pattern arrangement to a three-dimensional wire mesh structure. The wire mesh sensor comprises multiple layers of wires arranged in orthogonal directions, creating a volumetric detection space that captures raindrops falling from any direction, not just those hitting a specific side of a flat surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The wire mesh structure serves multiple detection functions simultaneously. Wires arranged in different spatial orientations detect raindrops regardless of their falling direction, making the sensor universally responsive to precipitation from all angles without requiring multiple separate detection surfaces.
2Measurement precision
If conventional impedance measurement apparatus uses patterns with relatively large intervals, then the apparatus structure is simpler, but there are difficulties in detecting very little amount of rain
Solution Approach 1:
The detection surface is segmented into numerous thin wire elements arranged in a mesh pattern. This segmentation creates many closely-spaced detection points without requiring a solid continuous structure, enabling detection of light rain while maintaining structural simplicity and allowing rain penetration.
Solution Approach 2:
The wire mesh acts as a flexible, thin detection medium that can be stretched over various surfaces. The thin wire structure provides high detection sensitivity for light precipitation while maintaining mechanical flexibility and structural simplicity, avoiding the need for complex rigid assemblies.
3Measurement precision
If conventional impedance measurement apparatus uses patterns, then the apparatus can measure rain through conductivity changes, but misrecognition occurs because water droplets remain on some areas near the patterns due to dust
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the detection function from a solid planar surface and implements it through discrete wire elements. This extraction allows raindrops to pass through the mesh structure rather than accumulating on a continuous surface, preventing misrecognition caused by dust and residual water while maintaining conductivity-based detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The wire mesh creates a porous detection structure with numerous gaps between wires. This porous configuration allows precipitation to pass through freely, preventing water accumulation and dust interference that plague solid-surface sensors, while still providing sufficient wire contact points for accurate conductivity measurement.
4Measurement precision
If optical disdrometer uses laser beams and optical sensors to measure rain characteristics, then the apparatus can calculate rain drop sizes, but measurement errors occur when rain falls on side surfaces of the optical disdrometer
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the optical measurement approach with an electrical conductivity-based wire mesh structure. This three-dimensional mesh configuration detects raindrops through their interaction with the wire network, providing omnidirectional detection capability that optical side-surface sensors cannot achieve.
5Measurement precision
If optical disdrometer uses multiple illumination units and cameras, then the apparatus can measure light characteristics to calculate precipitation sizes, but additional design is necessary to minimize errors from rain falling on side surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the complex optical measurement system with a simpler electrical conductivity-based wire mesh sensor. This substitution eliminates the need for multiple illumination units, cameras, and complex alignment requirements, while providing inherent omnidirectional detection capability without additional design modifications.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The apparatus effectively detects rain sizes and positions with high accuracy by ensuring vertical rain incidence and removing droplets, minimizing measurement errors and improving detection reliability.
Implementation Method 1
the specific receiver is configured to receive the electricity from the specific transmitter and then transmit the electricity to a measuring part, to thereby allow the measuring part to measure conductivity
Implementation Method 2
a second mesh part comprised of a plurality of heaters, wherein... capable of accurately detecting the rain by installing heating mesh parts with a similar topology to the wire mesh in order to remove rain droplet that may be present at one or more intersections on the wire mesh
Data Source
AI summary
In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus for detecting rain using a wire mesh sensor including: a wire mesh which is configured to include a plurality of transmitters and a plurality of receivers; and a fixing part for fixing the wire mesh; wherein the plurality of transmitters supply electricity to the wire mesh, and wherein, in response to rain being positioned between a specific transmitter among the plurality of transmitters and a specific receiver among the plurality of receivers, the specific receiver is configured to receive the electricity from the specific transmitter and then transmit the electricity to a measuring part, to thereby allow the measuring part to measure conductivity. This hemispherical apparatus can detect rain accurately by making the incident angles of the rain to be vertical regardless of the directions of the rain.