Every desktop owner knows the heartache of having to shell out the $80-$200 to replace your recently burned-out hard drive. To help avoid this situation, a group of researchers at Carnegie Mellon’s Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES), headed by Michael Bigrigg, the co-director of the Embedded and Reliable Information Systems Laboratory and a project scientist for ICES, have designed the Critter Temperature Sensor.

The dime-sized machine detects even the slightest temperature change within the hard drive. An increase in temperature is the best sign of hard drive failure. Early detection of temperature increase can help to extend the life of hard drives past their current estimated 600,000 hours.

The Critter attaches to the back of a computer just like a joystick. It records the daily temperature of the hard drive and records any fluctuations in temperature. When the hard drive temperature goes above a certain point, the Critter will alert the user. According to a University press release, the creators believe that this invention will help researchers better understand energy usage in computers. Understanding how the computer uses its energy could help engineers redesign computers to run in a more efficient manner. Currently, the unused energy is being converted into heat, but if the energy produced was used in a more efficient manner, then there would be less chance of hard drive damage.

In an article at WTAE-TV’s news website, the Carnegie Mellon researchers estimated that a Pentium processor raises the temperature of a computer to 30 degrees above room temperature. If this energy were used in another way, or if computers had more efficient cooling systems, the life of the hard drive would be extended. WTAE reports that the Critter costs about $25 to make and many have already been installed on Carnegie Mellon campus computers.