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

Claim 12:
13. A mold sensor comprising:
a housing defining a chamber;
a substrate treated to promote mold growth and exposed within the chamber;
an optical source coupled within the chamber and configured to direct light toward the substrate; and
an optical sensor mounted to a frame below the substrate and configured to receive light from the optical source that passes through 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.