Module 2:

Velocity, motion, force and pressure sensors

1. Tachogenerator

Figure 2.4.1 Principle of working of Techogenerator [1]

Tachogenerator works on the principle of variable reluctance. It consists of an

assembly of a toothed wheel and a magnetic circuit as shown in figure 2.4.1. Toothed
wheel is mounted on the shaft or the element of which angular motion is to be
measured. Magnetic circuit comprising of a coil wound on a ferromagnetic material
core. As the wheel rotates, the air gap between wheel tooth and magnetic core
changes which results in cyclic change in flux linked with the coil. The alternating
emf generated is the measure of angular motion. A pulse shaping signal conditioner is
used to transform the output into a number of pulses which can be counted by a
counter.

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 Figure 2.4.2 Construction and working of AC generator

An alternating current (AC) generator can also be used as a techognerator. It

comprises of rotor coil which rotates with the shaft. Figure 2.4.2 shows the schematic
of AC generator. The rotor rotates in the magnetic field produced by a stationary
permanent magnet or electromagnet. During this process, an alternating emf is
produced which is the measure of the angular velocity of the rotor. In general, these
sensors exhibit nonlinearity error of about ± 0.15% and are employed for the rotations
up to about 10000 rev/min.

2. Pyroelectric sensors

Figure 2.4.3 Principle of pyroelectricity

These sensors work on the principle of pyroelectricity, which states that a crystal
material such as Lithium tantalite generates charge in response to heat flow. In
presence of an electric field, when such a crystal material heats up, its electrical
dipoles line up as shown in figure 2.4.3. This is called as polarization. On cooling, the
material retains its polarization. In absence of electric field, when this polarized
material is subjected to infra red irradiation, its polarization reduces. This
phenomenon is the measure of detection of movement of an object.

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 Figure 2.4.4 Construction and working a Pyroelectric sensor

Pyroelectric sensor comprises of a thick element of polarized material coated with

thin film electrodes on opposite faces as shown in figure 2.4.4. Initially the electrodes
are in electrical equilibrium with the polarized material. On incident of infra red, the
material heats up and reduces its polarization. This leads to charge imbalance at the
interface of crystal and electrodes. To balance this disequilibrium, measurement
circuit supplies the charge, which is calibrated against the detection of an object or its
movement.

Applications of Pyroelectric sensors [2]

 Intrusion detector
 Optothermal detector
 Pollution detector
 Position sensor
 Solar cell studies
 Engine analysis

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 3. Strain Gauge as force Sensor

Figure 2.4.5 Strain gauge based Load cell

Strain gauge based sensors work on the principle of change in electrical resistance.
When, a mechanical element subjects to a tension or a compression the electric
resistance of the material changes. This is used to measure the force acted upon the
element. The details regarding the construction of strain gauge transducer are already
presented in Lecture 2 of Module 2.

Figure 2.4.5 shows a strain gauge load cell. It comprises of cylindrical tube to which
strain gauges are attached. A load applied on the top collar of the cylinder compress
the strain gauge element which changes its electrical resistance. Generally strain
gauges are used to measure forces up to 10 MN. The non-linearity and repeatability
errors of this transducer are ±0.03% and ±0.02% respectively.

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 4. Fluid pressure

Chemical, petroleum, power industry often need to monitor fluid pressure. Various
types of instruments such as diaphragms, capsules, and bellows are used to monitor
the fluid pressure. Specially designed strain gauge
gaugess doped in diaphragms are generally
used to measure the inlet manifold pressure in applications such as automobiles. A
typical arrangement of strain gauges on a diaphragm is shown in figure 2.4.6.
Application of pressurized fluid displaces the diaphragm. T This
his displacement is
measured by the stain gauges in terms of radial and/or lateral strains. These strain
gauges are connected to form the arms of a Wheatstone bridge.

Figure 2.4.6 A diaphragm

Figure 2.4.7 Schematic of Capsule and Bellow

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 Figure 2.4.8 Bellow with a LVDT [1]

Capsule is formed by combining two corrugated diaphragms. It has enhanced

sensitivity in comparison with that of diaphragms. Figure 2.4.7 shows a schematic of
a Capsule and a Bellow. A stack of capcapsules
sules is called as ‘Bellows’. Bellows with a
LVDT sensor measures the fluid pressure in terms of change in resultant voltage
across the secondary coils of LVDT. Figure 2.4.8 shows a typical arrangement of the
same.
5. Tactile sensors

Figure 2.4.9 Schematic of a tactile sensor [1]

In general, tactile sensors are used to sense the contact of fingertips of a robot with an
object. They are also used in manufacturing of ‘touch display’ screens of visual
display units (VDUs) of CNC machine tools. Figure 2.4.9 sho shows
ws the construction of
piezo-electric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) based tactile sensor. It has two PVDF
layers separated by a soft film which transmits the vibrations. An alternating current is
applied to lower PVDF layer which generates vibrations due to reverse piezoelectric
effect. These vibrations are transmitted to the upper PVDF layer via soft film. These
vibrations cause alternating voltage across the upper PVDF layer. When some

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 pressure is applied on the upper PVDF layer the vibrations gets affected and the
output voltage changes. This triggers a switch or an action in robots or touch displays.

6. Piezoelectric sensor

Figure 2.4.10 Principle of working of Piezoelectric sensor

Piezoelectric sensor is used for the measurement of pressure, acceleration and

dynamic-forces such as oscillation, impact, or high speed compression or tension. It
contains piezoelectric ionic crystal materials such as Quartz (Figure 2.4.10). On
application of force or pressure these materials get stretched or compressed. During
this process, the charge over the material changes and redistributes. One face of the
material becomes positively charged and the other negatively charged. The net charge
q on the surface is proportional to the amount x by which the charges have been
displaced. The displacement is proportion to force. Therefore we can write,

q = kx = SF (2.4.1)

where k is constant and S is a constant termed the charge sensitivity.

7. Liquid flow

Liquid flow is generally measured by applying the Bernoulli’s principle of fluid flow
through a constriction. The quantity of fluid flow is computed by using the pressure
drop measured. The fluid flow volume is proportional to square root of pressure
difference at the two ends of the constriction. There are various types of fluid flow
measurement devices being used in manufacturing automation such as Orifice plate,
Turbine meter etc.

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 Orifice plate:

Figure 2.4.11 Orifice Plate [1]

Figure 2.4.11 shows a schematic of Orifice plate device. It has a disc with a hole at its
center, through which the fluid flows. The pressure difference is measured between a
point equal to the diameter of the tube upstream and a point equal to the half the
diameter downstream. Orifice plate is inexpensive and simple in construction with no
moving parts. It exhibits nonlinear behavior and does not work with slurries. It has
accuracy of ± 1.5%.

Turbine meter

Figure 2.4.12 Schematic of turbine meter [1]

Turbine flow meter has an accuracy of ±0.3%. It has a multi blade rotor mounted
centrally in the pipe along which the flow is to be measured. Figure 2.4.12 shows the
typical arrangement of the rotor and a magnetic pick up coil. The fluid flow rotates
the rotor. Accordingly the magnetic pick up coil counts the number of magnetic
pulses generated due to the distortion of magnetic field by the rotor blades. The
angular velocity is proportional to the number of pulses and fluid flow is proportional
to angular velocity.

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 8. Fluid level

The level of liquid in a vessel or container can be measured,

a. directly by monitoring the position of liquid surface
b. indirectly by measuring some variable related to the height.
Direct measurements involve the use of floats however the indirect methods employ
load cells. Potentiometers or LVDT sensors can be used along with the floats to
measure the height of fluid column. Force sensed by the load cells is proportional to
the height of fluid column.

Quiz:

1. PVDF piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride is used in the manufacture

of sensor.
2. Suggest a suitable sensor to measure the level of sulphuric acid in a
storage tank. The sensor must give an electric signal as output.
3. ‘Bellows are more sensitive than capsules’. State true or false and
justify your answer.
4. State the applications of pyroelectric sensors.
References

1. Boltan, W., Mechatronics: electronic control systems in mechanical and

electrical engineering, Longman, Singapore, 1999.
2. Hossain A. and Rashid M. H., Pyroelectric Detectors and Their
Applications, IEEE Trans. on Ind. Appl., 27 (5), 824-829, 1991.

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 Temperature and light sensors

Temperature conveys the state of a mechanical system in terms of expansion or

contraction of solids, liquids or gases, change in electrical resistance of conductors,
semiconductors and thermoelectric emfs. Temperature sensors such as bimetallic
strips, thermocouples, thermistors are widely used in monitoring of manufacturing
processes such as casting, molding, metal cutting etc. The construction details and
principle of working of some of the temperature sensors are discussed in following
sections.

1. Bimetallic strips

Figure 2.5.1 Construction and working of Bi-metallic strip

Bimetallic strips are used as thermal switch in controlling the temperature or heat in a
manufacturing process or system. It contains two different metal strips bonded
together. The metals have different coefficients of expansion. On heating the strips
bend into curved strips with the metal with higher coefficient of expansion on the
outside of the curve. Figure 2.5.1 shows a typical arrangement of a bimetallic strip
used with a setting-up magnet. As the strips bend, the soft iron comes in closer
proximity of the small magnet and further touches. Then the electric circuit completes
and generates an alarm. In this way bimetallic strips help to protect the desired
application from heating above the pre-set value of temperature.

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 2. Resistance temperature detectors (RTDs)

RTDs work on the principle that the electric resistance of a metal changes due to
change in its temperature. On heating up metals, their resistance increases and follows
a linear relationship as shown in Figure 2.5.2. The correlation is

Rt = R0 (1 + αT) (2.5.1)

where Rt is the resistance at temperature T (⁰C) and R0 is the temperature at 0⁰C and α
is the constant for the metal termed as temperature coefficient of resistance. The
sensor is usually made to have a resistance of 100 Ω at 0 °C

Figure 2.5.2 Behavior of RTD materials [1]

Figure 2.5.3 Construction of a Resistance temperature detector (RTD)

Figure 2.5.3 shows the construction of a RTD. It has a resistor element connected to a
Wheatstone bridge. The element and the connection leads are insulated and protected
by a sheath. A small amount of current is continuously passing though the coil. As the
temperature changes the resistance of the co coil
il changes which is detected at the
Wheatstone bridge.

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 RTDs are used in the form of thin films, wire wound or coil. They are generally made
of metals such as platinum, nickel or nickel-copper alloys. Platinum wire held by a
high-temperature glass adhesive in a ceramic tube is used to measure the temperature
in a metal furnace. Other applications are:
 Air conditioning and refrigeration servicing
 Food Processing
 Stoves and grills
 Textile production
 Plastics processing
 Petrochemical processing
 Micro electronics
 Air, gas and liquid temperature measurement in pipes and tanks
 Exhaust gas temperature measurement

3. Thermistors

Thermistors follow the principle of decrease in resistance with increasing

temperature. The material used in thermistor is generally a semiconductor material
such as a sintered metal oxide (mixtures of metal oxides, chromium, cobalt, iron,
manganese and nickel) or doped polycrystalline ceramic containing barium titanate
(BaTiO3) and other compounds. As the temperature of semiconductor material
increases the number of electrons able to move about increases which results in more
current in the material and reduced resistance. Thermistors are rugged and small in
dimensions. They exhibit nonlinear response characteristics.

Thermistors are available in the form of a bead (pressed disc), probe or chip. Figure
shows the construction of a bead type thermistor. It has a small bead of
dimension from 0.5 mm to 5 mm coated with ceramic or glass material. The
bead is connected to an electric circuit through two leads. To protect from the
environment, the leads are contained in a stainless steel tube.

Figure 2.5.4 Schematic of a thermistor

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 Applications of Thermistors

 To monitor the coolant temperature and/or oil temperature inside the engine
 To monitor the temperature of an incubator
 Thermistors are used in modern digital thermostats
 To monitor the temperature of battery packs while charging
 To monitor temperature of hot ends of 3D printers
 To maintain correct temperature in the food handling and processing industry
equipments
 To control the oper
operations
ations of consumer appliances such as toasters, coffee
makers, refrigerators, freezers, hair dryers, etc.

4. Thermocouple

Thermocouple works on the fact that when a junction of dissimilar metals heated, it
produces an electric potential related to temperatu
temperature.
re. As per Thomas Seebeck (1821),
when two wires composed of dissimilar metals are joined at both ends and one of the
ends is heated, then there is a continuous current which flows in the thermoelectric
circuit. Figure 2.5.5 shows the schematic of thermocouple circuit. The net open circuit
voltage (the Seebeck voltage) is a function of junction temperature and composition
of two metals. It is given by,

∆VAB = α ∆T (2.5.2)

where α, the Seebeck coefficient, is the constant of proportionality.

Figure 2.5.5 Schematic of thermocouple circuit

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 Generally, Chromel (90% nickel and 10% chromium)–Alumel (95% nickel, 2%
manganese, 2% aluminium and 1% silicon) are used in the manufacture of a
thermocouple. Table 2.5.1 shows the various other materials, their combinations and
application temperature ranges.

Table 2.5.1 Thermocouple materials and temperature ranges [1]

Materials Range (ºC) (μV/ºC)

Platinum 30% rhodium/platinum 6%

0 to 1800 3
rhodium
Chromel/constantan -200 to 1000 63

Iron/constantan -200 to 900 53

Chromel/alumel -200 to 1300 41

Nirosil/nisil -200 to 1300 28

Platinum/platinum 13% rhodium 0 to 1400 6
Platinum/platinum 10% rhodium 0 to 1400 6
Copper/constantan -200 to 400 43

Applications of Thermocouples

 To monitor temperatures and chemistry throughout the steel making process

 Testing temperatures associated with process plants e.g. chemical production
and petroleum refineries
 Testing of heating appliance safety
 Temperature profiling in ovens, furnaces and kilns
 Temperature measurement of gas turbine and engine exhausts
 Monitoring of temperatures throughout the production and smelting process in
the steel, iron and aluminum industry

Light sensors

A light sensor is a device that is used to detect light. There are different types of light
sensors such as photocell/photoresistor and photo diodes being used in manufacturing
and other industrial applications.

Photoresistor is also called as light dependent resistor (LDR). It has a resistor whose
resistance decreases with increasing incident light intensity. It is made of a high
resistance semiconductor material, cadmium sulfide (CdS). The resistance of a CdS
photoresistor varies inversely to the amount of light incident upon it. Photoresistor
follows the principle of photoconductivity which results from the generation of
mobile carriers when photons are absorbed by the semiconductor material.

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 Figure 2.5.6 shows the construction of a photo resistor. The CdS resistor coil is
mounted on a ceramic subs
substrate.
trate. This assembly is encapsulated by a resin material.
The sensitive coil electrodes are connected to the control system though lead wires.
On incidence of high intensity light on the electrodes, the resistance of resistor coil
decreases which will be uusedsed further to generate the appropriate signal by the
microprocessor via lead wires.

Figure 2.5.6 Construction of a photo resistor

Photoresistors are used in science and in almost any branch of industry for control,
safety, amusement, sound reproduction, inspection and measurement.

Applications of photo resistor

 Computers, wireless phones, and televisions, use ambient light sensors to

automatically control the brightness of a screen
 Barcode scanners used in retailer locations work using light sensor technology
 In space and robotics: for controlled and guided motions of vehicles and
robots. The light sensor enables a robot to detect light. Robots can be
programmed to have a specific reaction if a certain amount of light is detected.
 Auto Flash for camera
 Industrial process control

Photo diodes

Photodiode is a solid-state device which converts incident light into an electric

current. It is made of Silicon. It consists of a shallow diffused p-n junction, normally
a p-on-n configuration. When photons of energy greater than 1.1eV (the bandgap of
silicon) fall on the device, they are absorbed and electron-hole pairs are created. The
depth at which the photons are absorbed depends upon their energy. The lower the
energy of the photons, the deeper they are absorbed. Then the electron-hole pairs drift
apart. When the minority carriers reach the junction, they are swept across by the
electric field and an electric current establishes.

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 Photodiodes are one of the types of photodetector, which convert light into either
current or voltage. These are regular semiconductor diodes except that they may be
either exposed to detect vacuum UV or X-rays or packaged with a opening or optical
fiber connection to allow light to reach the sensitive part of the device.

Figure 2.5.7 Construction of photo diode detector

Figure 2.5.7 shows the construction of Photo diode detector. It is constructed from
single crystal silicon wafers. It is a p-n junction device. The upper layer is p layer. It is
very thin and formed by thermal diffusion or ion implantation of doping material such
as boron. Depletion region is narrow and is sandwiched between p layer and bulk n
type layer of silicon. Light irradiates at front surface, anode, while the back surface is
cathode. The incidence of light on anode generates a flow of electron across the p-n
junction which is the measure of light intensity.

Applications of photo diodes

Camera: Light Meters, Automatic Shutter Control, Auto-focus, Photographic Flash

Control

Medical: CAT Scanners - X ray Detection, Pulse Oximeters, Blood Particle

Analyzers

Industry
• Bar Code Scanners
• Light Pens
• Brightness Controls
• Encoders
• Position Sensors
• Surveying Instruments
• Copiers - Density of Toner

Safety Equipment
• Smoke Detectors
• Flame Monitors
• Security Inspection Equipment - Airport X ray
• Intruder Alert - Security System

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 Automotive
• Headlight Dimmer
• Twilight Detectors
• Climate Control - Sunlight Detector

Communications
• Fiber Optic Links
• Optical Communications
• Optical Remote Control

Quiz:

1. ‘In thermistor sensors, resistance decreases in a very nonlinear manner

with increase in temperature.’ State true or false and justify.
2. List the various temperature sensors used by we in/around our
home/office/university.
3. Develop a conceptual design of a Light sensors based control system for
counting a number of milk packets being packed for discharge. Assume
suitable data if necessary.

References
1. Boltan, W., Mechatronics: electronic control systems in mechanical and
electrical engineering, Longman, Singapore, 1999.

Availaible at: VTU HUB (Android App)

Availaible at: VTU HUB (Android App)