Review of industrial temperature measurement technologies and research priorities for the thermal characterisation of the factories of the future

As the largest source of dimensional measurement uncertainty, addressing the challenges of thermal variation is vital toensure product and equipment integrity in the factories of the future. While it is possible to closely control room temperature,this is often not practical or economical to realise in all cases where inspection is required. This article reviewsrecent progress and trends in seven key commercially available industrial temperature measurement sensor technologiesprimarily in the range of 0 C–50 C for invasive, semi-invasive and non-invasive measurement. These sensors will ultimatelybe used to measure and model thermal variation in the assembly, test and integration environment. The intendedapplications for these technologies are presented alongside some consideration of measurement uncertainty requirementswith regard to the thermal expansion of common materials. Research priorities are identified and discussed foreach of the technologies as well as temperature measurement at large. Future developments are briefly discussed to providesome insight into which direction the development and application of temperature measurement technologies are likely to head.