Patent ID: 11867603
Assignee: ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
Field: Measurement (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A mold sensor comprising:
a housing defining a chamber;
a substrate treated to promote mold growth and exposed within the chamber;
an optical source disposed in the chamber and configured to direct light toward the substrate; and
an optical sensor disposed in the chamber and configured to receive light from the optical source that is reflected from the substrate and provide optical data indicative of one or more optical properties; and
a controller programmed to drive the optical sensor, receive the optical data from the optical sensor, and output a signal indicative of mold growth on the substrate based on the optical data, the controller is further programmed to estimate an out-of-plane mold growth on the substrate by measuring a time shift between a drive signal provided to the optical source and corresponding optical data from the optical sensor.