Babu Banarasi Das National Institute of Technology & Management

Sensor and Instrumentation KOE034

Lecture Notes

Faculty : Shivam Dixit Course : B.Tech – CSE 3 Semester

Introduction

Measurement is an important subsystem of a mechatronics system. Its main function is to collect the
information on system status and to feed it to the micro-processor(s) for controlling the whole system.
Measurement system comprises of sensors, transducers and signal processing devices. Today a wide
variety of these elements and devices are available in the market. For a mechatronics system designer it
is quite difficult to choose suitable sensors/transducers for the desired application(s).

Introduction to Sensors

Sensors in manufacturing are basically employed to automatically carry out the production operations
as well as process monitoring activities. Sensor technology has the following important advantages in
transforming a conventional manufacturing unit into a modern one.

1. Sensors alarm the system operators about the failure of any of the sub units of manufacturing system.
It helps operators to reduce the downtime of complete manufacturing system by carrying out the
preventative measures.

2. Reduces requirement of skilled and experienced labours.

3. Ultra-precision in product quality can be achieved.

Definition of Sensor

It is defined as an element which produces signal relating to the quantity being measured.

*Special Note

According to the Instrument Society of America, sensor can be defined as “A device which provides a
usable output in response to a specified measurand.” Here, the output is usually an ‘electrical quantity’
and measurand is a ‘physical quantity, property or condition which is to be measured’. Thus in the case
of, say, a variable inductance displacement element, the quantity being measured is displacement and
the sensor transforms an input of displacement into a change in inductance.

Transducer

Transducer It is defined as an element when subjected to some physical change experiences a related
change or an element which converts a specified measurand into a usable output by using a
transduction principle. It can also be defined as a device that converts a signal from one form of energy
to another form.

Sensor/transducers specifications

Transducers or measurement systems are not perfect systems. Mechatronics design engineer must
know the capability and shortcoming of a transducer or measurement system to properly assess its
performance. There are a number of performance related parameters of a transducer or measurement
system. These parameters are called as sensor specifications.

Sensor specifications inform the user to the about deviations from the ideal behavior of the sensors.
Following are the various specifications of a sensor/transducer system.

1. Range

The range of a sensor indicates the limits between which the input can vary. For example, a
thermocouple for the measurement of temperature might have a range of 25-225 °C.

2. Span

The span is difference between the maximum and minimum values of the input. Thus, the
above-mentioned thermocouple will have a span of 200 °C.

3. Error

Error is the difference between the result of the measurement and the true value of the
quantity being measured. A sensor might give a displacement reading of 29.8 mm, when the
actual displacement had been 30 mm, then the error is –0.2 mm.

4. Accuracy

The accuracy defines the closeness of the agreement between the actual measurement result
and a true value of the measurand. It is often expressed as a percentage of the full range output
or full–scale deflection. Example - A piezoelectric transducer used to evaluate dynamic pressure
phenomena associated with explosions, pulsations, or dynamic pressure conditions in motors,
rocket engines, compressors, and other pressurized devices is capable to detect pressures
between 0.1 and 10,000 psig (0.7 KPa to 70 MPa). If it is specified with the accuracy of about
±1% full scale, then the reading given can be expected to be within ± 0.7 MPa.

5. Sensitivity

Sensitivity of a sensor is defined as the ratio of change in output value of a sensor to the per unit
change in input value that causes the output change. For example, a general purpose
thermocouple may have a sensitivity of 41 µV/°C.
6. Nonlinearity

The nonlinearity indicates the maximum deviation of the actual measured curve of a sensor
from the ideal curve. Linearity is often specified in terms of percentage of nonlinearity, which is
defined as:

Nonlinearity (%) = Maximum deviation in input ⁄ Maximum full scale input

7. Resolution

Resolution is the smallest detectable incremental change of input parameter that can be
detected in the output signal. Resolution can be expressed either as a proportion of the
full-scale reading or in absolute terms. For example, if a LVDT sensor measures a displacement
up to 20 mm and it provides an output as a number between 1 and 100 then the resolution of
the sensor device is 0.2 mm.

8. Stability

Stability is the ability of a sensor device to give same output when used to measure a constant
input over a period of time. The term ‘drift’ is used to indicate the change in output that occurs
over a period of time. It is expressed as the percentage of full range output.

9. Dead band/time The dead band or dead space of a transducer is the range of input values for
which there is no output. The dead time of a sensor device is the time duration from the
application of an input until the output begins to respond or change.

10. Repeatability

It specifies the ability of a sensor to give same output for repeated applications of same input
value. It is usually expressed as a percentage of the full range output:
 Repeatability = (maximum – minimum values given) X 100 ⁄ full range (2.1.2)

11. Response time

Response time describes the speed of change in the output on a step-wise change of the
measurand. It is always specified with an indication of input step and the output range for which
the response time is defined.