System and method for initial calibration of an air-quality sensor device

1. A method for initial calibration of an air-quality sensor device, comprising:

establishing at least a reference response to an environmental condition based on a response of at least one calibrated detector to at least two different known values of the environmental condition;

establishing at least a sensor response to the environmental condition based on the response of at least one uncalibrated detector to at least two further different known values of the environmental condition wherein at least one of the two further different known values of the environmental condition is different from at least one of the at least two different known values of the environmental condition;

developing, based on the established sensor response, at least a sensor response slope;

determining, based on the established reference response, the established sensor response, and the developed sensor response slope, at least a corrected response; and

returning the corrected response.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the environmental condition is any one of: temperature, relative humidity level, air pressure level, light level, gas concentration, and particulate concentration.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein establishing the reference response further comprises:

establishing a low reference reported value corresponding to a lowest of the two different known values of the environmental condition; and

establishing a high reference reported value corresponding to a highest of the two different known values of the environmental condition.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein establishing the sensor response further comprises:

establishing a low sensor reported value corresponding to a lowest of the two further different known values of the environmental condition; and

establishing a high sensor reported value corresponding to a highest of the two further different known values of the environmental condition.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference response and sensor response are established based on the same environmental condition.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

re-performing the initial calibration of the air-quality sensor device at a predefined schedule.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the response slope is computed as:

M

reference

=

(

R

HR

-

R

LR

)

(

A

Hr

-

A

Lr

)

wherein S HR is a highest sensor response generated by the at least one uncalibrated detector in response to a highest valued one A H of the at least two further different known values of the environmental condition and S LR is a lowest sensor response generated by the at least one uncalibrated detector in response to a lowest one A L of the at least two further different known values of the environmental condition;

a reference response slope is computed as:

M

sense

=

(

S

HR

-

S

LR

)

(

A

H

-

A

L

)

wherein R HR is a highest response generated by the at least one calibrated detector in response to a highest valued one A HR of the at least two different known values of the environmental condition and R LR is a lowest response generated by the at least one calibrated detector in response to a lowest one A Lr of the at least two different known values of the environmental condition; and

wherein the corrected response Sensor corrected is determined as

S

⁢

e

⁢

n

⁢

s

⁢

o

⁢

r

corrected

=

(

δ

⁢

S

⁢

e

⁢

n

⁢

s

⁢

o

⁢

r

reported

*

M

reference

M

sensor

)

+

R

L

⁢

R

where δSensor reported is determined by subtracting the sensor low response S LR from the reference low response R LR when A L and A Lr are substantially the same.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the reference response is established, based on one or more environmental condition data values according to at least one defined rule.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein returning the corrected response further comprises:

labeling the corrected response, and a corresponding sensor device, with features identifying the sensor device; and

burning-in the sensor device with the labeled corrected response and identifying features.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein burning-in the sensor device further comprises:

adjusting sensor reading values toward a median value by energizing the sensor device for a pre-determined time period; and

adjusting the median value toward an expected value by further energizing the sensor device for a second pre-determined time period.

11. A method for initial calibration of an air-quality sensor device, the process comprising:

establishing at least a reference response to an environmental condition based on a response of at least one calibrated detector to the environmental condition;

establishing at least a sensor response to the environmental condition based on the response of at least one uncalibrated detector to the environmental condition;

developing, based on the established sensor response, at least a sensor response slope;

determining, based on the established reference response, the established sensor response, and the developed sensor response slope, at least a corrected response; and

returning the corrected response;

wherein returning the corrected response further comprises:

labeling the corrected response, and a corresponding sensor device, with features identifying the sensor device;

burning-in the sensor device with the labeled corrected response and identifying features; and

wherein burning-in the sensor device further comprises:

adjusting sensor reading values toward a median value by energizing the sensor device for a pre-determined time period; and

adjusting the median value toward an expected value by further energizing the sensor device for a second pre-determined time period.

12. A system for initial calibration of an air-quality sensor device, comprising:

a sensor array, the sensor array containing a plurality of sensor sockets;

an input/output (I/O) circuitry;

a processing circuitry; and

a memory, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, configure the system to:

establish at least a reference response to an environmental condition based on a response of at least one calibrated detector to at least two different known values of the environmental condition;

establish at least a sensor response to the environmental condition based on the response of at least one uncalibrated detector to at least two further different known values of the environmental condition wherein at least one of the two further different known values of the environmental condition is different from at least one of the at least two different known values of the environmental condition;

develop, based on the established sensor response, at least a sensor response slope;

determine, based on the established reference response, the established sensor response, and the developed sensor response slope, at least a corrected response; and

return the corrected response.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the environmental condition is any one of: temperature, relative humidity level, air pressure level, light level, gas concentration, and particulate concentration.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the system is further configured to:

establish a low reference reported value corresponding to a lowest of the two different known values of the environmental condition; and

establish corresponding to a highest of the two different known values of the environmental condition.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the system is further configured to:

establish a low sensor reported value corresponding to a lowest of the two further different known values of the environmental condition; and

establish a high sensor reported value corresponding to a highest of the two further different known values of the environmental condition.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the reference response and sensor response are established based on the same environmental condition.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein the system is further configured to:

re-perform the initial calibration of the air-quality sensor device at a predefined schedule.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein the response slope is computed as:

M

sense

=

(

S

HR

-

S

LR

)

(

A

H

-

A

L

)

wherein S HR is a highest sensor response generated by the at least one uncalibrated detector in response to a highest valued one A H of the at least two further different known values of the environmental condition and S LR is a lowest sensor response generated by the at least one uncalibrated detector in response to a lowest one A L of the at least two further different known values of the environmental condition;

a reference response slope is computed as:

M

reference

=

(

R

HR

-

R

LR

)

(

A

Hr

-

A

Lr

)

wherein R HR is a highest response generated by the at least one calibrated detector in response to a highest valued one A HR of the at least two different known values of the environmental condition and R LR is a lowest response generated by the at least one calibrated detector in response to a lowest one A Lr of the at least two different known values of the environmental condition; and

wherein the corrected response Sensor corrected is determined as

Sensor

corrected

=

(

δ

⁢

Sensor

reported

*

M

reference

M

sensor

)

+

R

LR

where δSensor reported is determined by subtracting the sensor low response S LR from the reference low response R LR when A L and A Lr are substantially the same.

19. The system of claim 12 , wherein the system is further configured to:

label the corrected response, and a corresponding sensor device, with features identifying the sensor device; and

burn-in the sensor device with the labeled corrected response and identifying features.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the system is further configured to:

adjust sensor reading values toward a median value by energizing the sensor device for a pre-determined time period; and

adjust the median value toward an expected value by further energizing the sensor device for a second pre-determined time period.