In-situ radio frequency identification (RFID) moisture meter

Abstract

An in-situ moisture meter, utilizing a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) to detect hidden moisture in walls is studied. Both commercial and household building moisture problems call for a better way to measure moisture within the building envelope. The presence of moisture within the insulating material of the building walls can attribute to the possibility of mold growth. Simple resistor divider type moisture meters are easily realizable but do not always provide the best methodology for detecting moisture levels accurately. An embeddable and unobtrusive means to detect moisture within the wall cavity is studied. The methodology used for detection is an improved type of resistive probe utilizing an integrating amplifier to determine moisture content in typical celluose insulation. To compliment the resistive measurement, a humidity sensor has been added along with a built-in temperature sensor embedded in the MSP430 microcontroller.