Material property testing system and method

Abstract

Systems, methods, devices, and circuitries are provided for determining a material property. In one embodiment, a measurement device includes analysis circuitry and indicia circuitry. The analysis circuitry is configured to determine a sample thermal property value of a material sample; determine an environmental characteristic value; identify a range of environmental characteristic values mapped to the sample thermal property value; determine a suitability result corresponding to a suitability of the material sample to the environmental characteristic value based on whether the environmental characteristic value falls within the identified range of environmental characteristic values. The indicia circuitry is configured to communicate the suitability result.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A measurement device, comprising:
 analysis circuitry configured to:
 determine a sample thermal property value of a material sample; 
 determine an environmental characteristic value; 
 identify a range of environmental characteristic values mapped to the sample thermal property value; 
 determine a suitability result corresponding to a suitability of the material sample to the environmental characteristic value based on whether the environmental characteristic value falls within the identified range of environmental characteristic values; and 
   indicia circuitry configured to communicate the suitability result.   
     
     
         2 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the thermal property value comprises thermal resistance. 
     
     
         3 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the environmental characteristic value comprises a temperature. 
     
     
         4 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 measurement circuitry configured to determine a moisture content of the material sample; and   wherein the analysis circuitry is configured to determine a negative suitability result when the moisture content of the material sample exceeds a threshold.   
     
     
         5 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 measurement circuitry configured to determine an opacity of the material sample; and   wherein the analysis circuitry is configured to determine a negative suitability result when the opacity exceeds a threshold.   
     
     
         6 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 measurement circuitry configured to determine thickness of the material sample; and   wherein the analysis circuitry is configured to determine the sample thermal property value based on the thickness.   
     
     
         7 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a measurement system configured to measure, with the measurement device, a thickness of the material sample, and   measurement circuitry configured to:
 select a thermal property measurement technique based on the thickness, and 
 perform the selected thermal property measurement technique to determine the sample thermal property value. 
   
     
     
         8 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 storage medium configured to store thermal property values mapped to ranges of environment characteristic values; and   wherein the analysis circuitry is configured to read the storage medium to identify the range of environmental characteristic values mapped to the sample thermal property value.   
     
     
         9 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the analysis circuitry is configured to access, via a communication link, remote storage medium to identify the range of environmental characteristic values mapped to the sample thermal property value. 
     
     
         10 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 storage medium configured to store recommendation data mapped to the thermal property values; and   wherein the analysis circuitry is configured to, when the environmental characteristic value falls outside the identified range of environmental characteristic values:
 read the storage medium to determine a thermal property value mapped to a range of environmental characteristic values that includes the environmental characteristic value; 
 read the storage medium to determine recommendation data mapped to the sample thermal property value; 
 determine recommendation information indicative of the determined recommendation data; and 
 cause the indicia circuitry to communicate the recommendation information. 
   
     
     
         11 . The measurement device of  claim 10 , wherein the analysis circuitry is configured to:
 cause the indicia circuitry to display of a prompt for a user to capture an image of the material sample; and   store a captured image in the storage medium as recommendation data mapped to the determined thermal property value.   
     
     
         12 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the analysis circuitry is configured to:
 tally suitability results obtained by the measurement device over time; and   cause the indicia circuitry to display trend information that communicates a trend of the suitability results.   
     
     
         13 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the analysis circuitry is configured to:
 determine a subsequent environmental characteristic value;   read a storage medium to determine if the subsequent environmental characteristic value is within a range of environmental characteristic values mapped to a most recent measured thermal property value; and   cause the indicia circuitry to communicate an alert message when the subsequent environmental characteristic value is outside the range of environmental characteristic values mapped to the measured thermal property value.   
     
     
         14 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the analysis circuitry is configured to:
 cause the indicia circuitry to display a prompt for a user to enter a characterization of an experienced quality; and   adjust the mapping between the thermal property values to ranges of environmental characteristic values based on the experienced quality characterization.   
     
     
         15 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein determining the environmental characteristic value comprises receiving data from a user interface. 
     
     
         16 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the analysis circuitry is configured to:
 after an interval of time, determine a second environmental characteristic value; and   determine second information corresponding to a continued suitability of the material sample based on the second environmental characteristic value; and   provide the second information to the indicia circuitry.   
     
     
         17 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the analysis circuitry is configured to:
 predict the environmental characteristic value based on usage data; and   determine the suitability based on the predicted environmental characteristic value.   
     
     
         18 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the analysis circuitry is configured to generate a thermostat control signal that will control an HVAC system in a manner that brings the environmental characteristic into a predetermined range. 
     
     
         19 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the indicia circuitry comprises a display configured to display indicia indicative of the suitability result. 
     
     
         20 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the indicia circuitry comprises a speaker configured to emit a sound indicative of the suitability result. 
     
     
         21 . The measurement device of  claim 1 , wherein the analysis circuitry is configured to:
 cause the indicia circuitry to display a prompt for a user to enter user data describing a biometric characteristic of a subject; and   adjust the mapping between the thermal property values to ranges of environmental characteristic values based on the biometric characteristic.