ENGR 2000

Engineering Design III

Sensors

Dr. Muhammad Hanif

Department of Engineering
Thompson Rivers University
Email: [email protected]

Copyright © Muhammad Hanif

 Learning Objectives
• By the end of this lecture, you should know about sensing devices,
such as
– Temperature sensors
– Proximity sensors
– Movement sensors
– Position sensors
– Chemical sensors
 Sensors
• Devices that measure a physical property, such as temperature,
humidity, stress, and so on.
• Types of sensors
– Analog
• Variable passive element, such as a resistor, capacitor, or inductor
– Digital
• Digital representation of an analog signal
• Switch, ON or OFF
 Temperature Sensors
• One of the most common sensors
– Thermistors
– Thermocouples
– Resistive Temperature Detector (RTD)
– Analog Thermometer IC
– Digital Thermometer IC
 Thermistor
• Thermistor = Thermal Resistor
– Negative Temperature Coefficient
– Positive Temperature Coefficient
– Temp. Range: -40 oC to 125 oC R0 = 4700

Source: Figure 6.5 and Figure 6.6 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
 Analog-Output Thermometer IC
• Special-purpose temperature measurement IC
– TMP36
– T = 100 Vout – 50 oC
– 10 mV/ oC
– Temperature Range
• -40 oC to 125 oC
– Accuracy
• ±2 oC

Source: Figure 6.8 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
 Digital-Output Thermometer IC
• Special-purpose temperature measurement IC
– DS18B20, TMP100 etc.
– Serial data output
– Temperature Range
• -55 oC to 125 oC
– Accuracy
• ±0.5 oC

Source: Figure 6.9 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
 Other Temperature Sensors

Source: Table 6.1 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
 Proximity Sensors
• Detect objects or measure their distance from the sensor
– Touch screens
– Ultrasonic sensors
– IR proximity sensors

Source: Figure 6.10 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
 Ultrasonic Sensors
• Sends a ultrasonic wave (> 20 kHz)
– Time difference computed
– Distance = speed x time/2
• Gives a fair estimate
– Sound speed varies
– Not extremely accurate
• Digital or Serial output

Source: Figure 6.12 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
 Optical/Infrared Sensor
• IR waves instead of ultrasonic waves
– Not very accurate (Proximity detection only)

Source: Figure 6.13 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
 Resistive Sensors
• Membrane Potentiometer

Source: Figure 6.11 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
 Capacitive Sensors
• Variable Capacitance
• RC Circuit

Source: Figure 6.15 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
 Movement Sensors
• Sensors to detect movement of objects (people etc.)

Source: Figure 6.16 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
 Passive Infrared Sensor
• Photo transistor
• Switch ON/OFF

Source: Figure 6.17 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
 Accelerometer
• Spring mass system
• Hooke’s Law
– F = k (x-x0)
– F=ma
• Variable capacitor

Source: Figure 6.17 and Figure 6.19 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
 Rotation Sensor
• Potentiometer

• Rotary Encoder
– Absolute
– Relative

Source: Figure 6.21 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
 Flow Sensor
• Anemometer
– Rotation speed is measured
by a proximity sensor
• Ultrasonic sensors
– Speed of sound is different
in and against the direction
of fluid flow
• Doppler effect based sensors
– Reflected waves from the
fluid have different wavelengths

Source: Figure 6.22 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
 Position, Force, and Pressure Sensors
• Tilt Switch
– Conducting ball in a case
– Contacts established when horizontal/vertical
or when inclined in one direction
• Pressure Sensor
– Barometer
• Force Sensor - Strain Gauge
– Pressure applied on a metal changes its length
– Resistance changes

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strain_gauge
 Chemical Sensors
• Humidity Sensors
– Capacitive sensors
• Dielectric constant varies with the humidity level

• Water-level Sensors
– Bare separated wires
• One side connected with the base of a transistor, other to the power
• Resistance varies with the immersion level

• Smoke Sensors
– Ionizing (Radioactive)
– Photoelectric (IR LED and photodiode assembly)
 Radiation, Magnetism, and Sound Sensors
• Radiation Sensor (Gieger-Müller Tube)
– Chemically inert gas between two electrodes
• Radiations ionize the gas (electric spark or a click sound)

• Magnetic Sensors
– Hall-effect Sensors
– Small voltage difference
• Amplification or Switching

• Sound Sensor
– Microphone (Diaphragm)

Source: Figure 6.27 of P. Scherz and S. Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, McGraw-Hill Education, 2016.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_effect
Questions