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EE05321 Notes 1

instrumentation note1

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Sanapala RAJENDRA PRASAD
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14 views4 pages

EE05321 Notes 1

instrumentation note1

Uploaded by

Sanapala RAJENDRA PRASAD
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction

Electrical instrumentation is important for every engineering discipline. Instrumentation


is the design and use of an electrical system to collect and process physically meaningful
data. Examples of instrumentation applications include non-destructive testing,
monitoring of biological activity, and environmental monitoring.

A non-destructive testing application illustrates principles that are typical of most


instrumentation systems. In non-destructive testing applications, sound or
electromagnetic energy is transmitted into an object or structure. Reflected or transmitted
energy is detected by a sensor. The signal output by the sensor is conditioned, then
converted into a digital signal for processing by computer. The computer processing
creates a two or three dimensional image of the object under test. Almost all
instrumentation systems include sensors, signal conditioning, conversion into digital
signals, and computer processing.

Components of a Typical Instrumentation System


Figure 1 shows a block diagram of the components of a typical instrumentation system.
These components include:

• Sensor - converts the measured value into an electrically useful value.


• Signal Conditioning - "conditions" the signal from the sensor so that it can be
sampled by the A/D converter.
• A/D Converter - converts the signal into a digital format.
• Computer - processes, displays, and records the signal.

We now describe each component in more detail.

Figure1: components of a typical instrumentation system

Sensor

The output of a sensor is a function of the physical quantity to be measured. Sensor


outputs may be a voltage or current (from some temperature and pressure sensors, for
example), a resistance (from a strain gauge, for example), or a frequency (from an
accelerometer, for example).

Signal Conditioning

The output of the signal conditioning is (usually) a voltage; the signal conditioning
converts the sensor output to this voltage. The signal conditioning circuitry usually
includes an amplifier. Amplifiers are characterized in terms of attributes such as gain,
bandwidth and/or frequency response, linearity, harmonic distortion, and input and output
impedance. In a typical instrumentation system, the gain of the amplifier is set so that the
output voltage falls between lower and upper limits (for example, -10V to 10V)
determined by the A/D converter.

One commonly used type of amplifier is the Operational Amplifier (OpAmp). Op Amps
have differential inputs: the output voltage is the amplified difference of two input
voltages. Op Amps have very large gains (typically larger than 105). Most op amp circuits
use negative feedback to achieve desired signal gains. Op amp circuits can be designed to
provide voltage gain or attenuation, convert current to voltage, integrate or differentiate,
and filter out noise or interference.

A/D Converter

Analog-to-digital conversion consists of two operations:

• Sampling - measuring the voltage signal at equally spaced points in time.


• Quantization - approximating a voltage using a specified number of bits (usually
8 to 16)

Instrumentation Issues
Issues in instrumentation systems include noise and signal bandwidth.

Noise

Noise is undesirable variation in a signal. Figure 2illustrates the effects of noise on a


signal. Noise reduces the accuracy and repeatability of measurements and introduces
distortion in signals. It creates errors in control systems.
Figure 2: (a) A signal without noise and (b) a signal with noise.

There are several different types of noise:

• Thermal noise - caused by the random thermal motion of charged particles in


electrical components in the sensor and the amplifier.
• Electromagnetic noise - from electrical wiring (e.g. 60Hz noise), electrical
equipment (e.g. computers) or communication devices.
• Shot noise - from quantum mechanical events.

We reduce the undesirable effects of noise by grounding and shielding electrical


connections, filtering (smoothing out variations in the signals), and averaging several
measurements.

Signal Bandwidth

Conceptually, bandwidth is related to the rate at which a signal changes. As illustrated in


Figure 3, a high bandwidth signal changes rapidly, while a low bandwidth signal changes
more slowly. The rate of change of the signal in turn affects the rate at which the signal
must be sampled; higher rates of change require more samples per unit time, as illustrated
in Figure 4.
Figure 3: (a) A high bandwidth signal; (b) a low bandwidth
signal.

Figure 4: More samples are necessary to represent (a) a high


bandwidth signal than (b) a low bandwidth signal.

Every component in the instrumentation system has bandwidth limitations. Sensors do


not respond immediately to changes in the environment. The amplifier output does not
change immediately in response to changes in the input. The A/D converter sampling rate
is limited.

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