Design and Manufacture an Instrument Used to Estimate the Sun's Ultraviolet Radiation

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sunlight changes constantly and depends on environmental conditions such as geographical location, season, time of day, weather, clouds, wind, humidity, etc. Therefore, the impact of UV radiation on the properties of textiles, food, or other products during production also varies greatly. This poses challenges for experimental studies on traditional processing conditions like sun drying outdoors. In this study, a compact measuring device using a simple Arduino board and a commercially available UV sensor with embedded software has been developed to measure UV doses (with an error of ± 0.05 UVI). Daily UV dose values measured over 30 days at a location in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) with this device were evaluated and compared with values observed on a smartphone. The results showed that the average DUVD values of the two methods were almost identical, and their coefficients of variation did not differ much (12.30% compared to 14.86%). This device is being tested and upgraded for further research on accumulated UV doses over a period of time to check the UV resistance characteristics of textiles.