MODULE-5

Introduction to Transducers: Introduction, Resistive Transducers, Inductive

Transducers, Capacitive Transducers, Thermal transducers, Optoelectronic
transducer, and Piezoelectric transducers.

Communications: Introduction to communication, Communication System,

Modulation.

Introduction:
A transducer is a device that converts a signal in one form of energy to another
form of energy. It is a device or combination of elements, which responds to the
physical condition or chemical state of a substance and converts it into an output
signal.

Classification Based on Operation

Based on the operation, transducers are classified into active and passive
transducers.

1. Active Transducer
It develops a voltage or current as the output signal from the physical parameter
being measured. It does not require any external source of power for its
operation. Examples: Thermocouple, piezoelectric transducer, photovoltaic cell,
photoelectric cell, etc.

2. Passive Transducer
It requires an external source of power. It produces a change in the electrical
parameters such as resistance, inductance or capacitance in response to the
physical parameter being measured. Examples: Resistance strain gauge,
thermistor, LVDT, resistance thermometer, etc.

Table 1 Comparison between active and passive transducers

Active Transducers Passive Transducers

They do not require any external They require an external source of
source of power for their operation power for their operation
They are self-generating type of They are not self-generating type of
transducers. transducers
They produce electrical parameter such They produce a change in the electrical
as voltage or current proportional to the parameters such as resistance,
physical parameter being measured inductance or capacitance in response
to the physical parameter being
measured
Examples: Thermocouple, Examples: Resistance strain gauge,
piezoelectric transducer, photovoltaic thermistor, LVDT, resistance
cell, photoelectric cell, etc. thermometer, etc.

Passive Electrical Transducers

 The transducers that are based on the variation of the parameters due to
application of an external stimulus are called passive transducers.
 The passive elements in an electric circuit are resistor, inductor and
capacitor.
 Passive electrical transducers can be further classified into:
 i) Resistive Transducers (where resistance is varied)
ii) Inductive Transducers (where inductance is varied)
iii) Capacitive Transducers (where capacitance is varied)
Resistive Transducers
 A resistance transducer produces a resistance variation in
accordance with the physical quantity sensed.
 The resistance of a conductor is given by
R=
where 𝜌 = resistivity in Ω𝑚
𝐿 = length of conductor in 𝑚
𝐴 = area of cross-section in 𝑚2
 The electrical resistance transducer is designed on the basis of the methods of
variation of any one of the quantities in (A), such as change in length, change
in area of cross section and change in resistivity.
 The resistance change due to the change in length of the conductor is used in
rotational displacement.
 The change in resistance of conductor or semiconductor due to the strain applied is
the working principle of the strain gauge which is used to measure various
physical quantities such as pressure, displacement and force.
 The change in resistivity of conductor due to the temperature variations causes
change in resistance. This principle is used to measure temperature.

Advantages:
 Both ac and dc voltages and currents are suitable for the measurement of
resistance change.
 The speed of response of the resistance transducer is high.
 They are available in various sizes with wide range of resistance value.
 High resolution in measurements can be achieved.

Potentiometric Transducer
 A potentiometric transducer is an electromechanical device containing a
resistance element that is contacted by a movable slider.
 Motion of the slider results in a resistance change that may be linear,
logarithmic, exponential, and so on, depending on the manner in which
the resistance wire is wound.
 In some cases, deposited carbon, platinum film, and other techniques are
used to provide the resistance element. The basic elements of the
potentiometric transducer are given in figure below.

Fig: Principle of the potentiometric transducer

  A voltage source is applied across the resistive element in a potentiometer. Thus a
voltage divider circuit is formed.
 When the wiper comes across any displacement, it slides across a fixed
resistive element. The output voltage (Vout) is measured as shown in the figure
above.
 The output voltage is proportional to the distance travelled by the wiper.
Advantages of Potentiometer
1. They are cheap.
2. It is easy to use and useful in many applications where requirements are
not severe.
3. It gives sufficient output that does not require further amplification.
4. Potentiometer efficiency is high.
5. They are useful for the measurement of large displacement.
6. The resolution is infinite in cermet and metal film potentiometers.

Disadvantages of Potentiometer
1. The major disadvantage is that it requires a large force to move their sliding
contacts i.e. wiper. There is wear and tear due to movement of the wiper. It
reduces the life of this transducer.
2. Also, there is limited bandwidth.
3. There is inertial loading.

Applications of Potentiometer
It is used in many applications such as
1. Linear displacement measurement
2. Liquid level measurements using floats
3. Rotary displacement measurement
4. Brightness control
5. Volume control

Inductive Transducers
The self-inductance of a coil or mutual inductance of pair of coil is altered in
value due to a variation in the value of the quantity under measurement.

Applications:
 Displacement measurements
 Thickness measurements
Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT)

The LVDT is a variable inductance displacement transducer in which the

inductance is varied according to the displacement.
Construction:

Fig. Linear variable differential transformer

It consists of a primary coil, uniformly wound over a range of the transducer and
two identical secondary coils symmetrically wound on either side of the primary
as shown in figure. The iron core is free to move inside the coil in either
direction from the center.

Principle of Operation:

Fig: Operation of LVDT

 The LVDT is based on mutual inductance with variable coupling between the
primary and the two secondary coils.
 As shown in figure, when the iron core is at the center, the secondary emfs are
equal to each other. i.e. 𝐸𝑠1 = 𝐸𝑠2. The secondary coils are connected in
series, but in phase opposition so that net voltage is zero.
 If the core is moved in any direction, it results in an output voltage that is
proportional to displacement.
 When the core is moved to the right (Position A), more flux links the right-
hand coil than the left-hand coil. i.e. 𝐸𝑠1 < 𝐸𝑠2. Therefore, 𝐸𝑜𝑢𝑡 is
negative.
 When the core is moved to the left (Position B), more flux links the left-hand
coil than the right-hand coil. i.e. 𝐸𝑠1 > 𝐸𝑠2. Therefore, 𝐸𝑜𝑢𝑡 is positive.

Advantages
1. Wide range of displacement
2. Frictionless operation as there is no physical contact
3. Ruggedness
4. Insensitive to temperature change
5. High sensitivity
6. Linearity of output

Disadvantages
1. Sensitive to stray magnetic fields
2. Large displacements are necessary for differential output

Applications

1. LVDT is used to measure displacement ranging from millimeters to

centimeters.
2. As secondary transducer, it can also be used to measure force, weight,
pressure, etc. Force or pressure is first converted into a displacement using a
primary transducer. This displacement is applied to an LVDT that acts as a
secondary transducer.

Capacitive Transducer:

 The capacitance of a parallel-plate capacitor is given by

𝐴
C=
Where A = The area of each plate in m2
d = The plate spacing in m, €0 = 9.85 X 1012 in F/m
k = Dielectric constant
 From the equation it is clear that the value of capacitance C and the distance
between the parallel plates are inversely proportional to each other.
 An increase of distance between the parallel plates will decrease the capacitance
value correspondingly. The same theory is used in a capacitive transducer.
 This transducer is used to convert the value of displacement or change in pressure
in terms of frequency.
 As shown in the figure below, a capacitive transducer has a static plate and a
deflected flexible diaphragm with a dielectric in between.
 When a force is exerted to the outer side of the diaphragm the distance between
 the diaphragm and the static plate changes. This produces a capacitance which
is measured using an alternating current bridge or a tank circuit.







 A tank circuit is more preferred because it produces a change in frequency
according to the change in capacitance. This value of frequency will be
corresponding to the displacement or force given to the input.

Advantages
• It produces an accurate frequency response to both static and dynamic
measurements.

Disadvantages
• An increase or decrease in temperature to a high level will change the
accuracy of the device.
• As the lead is lengthy it can cause errors or distortion in signals.

Applications:
• Linear and Angular displacement.
• To find humidity level, pressure variations.

Thermal transducers:
• Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTDs) are another sort of thermal
(temperature) transducer.
• Resistance of a conductor changes when its temperature changes. The
resistive element is usually made of a solid material, a metal, a metallic
alloy or semiconductor compound.
• The resistivity of the metal increases with temperature, but in semiconductor
and insulator gradually decreases. It is also called as “Resistive Temperature
Detector (RTD)”.
• Wire-wound elements employ considerable length of wires, and it is free to
expand. The length also increases with increase in temperature. Hence, as
temperature changes, the change in resistance will be due to changes in both
lengths and resistivity.
• The temperature co-efficient of resistance is given by:
α=
Where, ∆𝑇 = change in temperature
∆𝑅⁄ = fractional change in resistance
𝑅𝑜
 Ro = Resistance at 0 C
• The resistance RT at any other temperature T oC is given by
RT = Ro (1 + αT)

Construction of RTD:

Fig: Resistance thermometer

• An RTD or resistance temperature detector is made by wounding the resistive
material around a mica base.
• The element is protected by a stainless steel case or sheath. There is an
insulator between the element and the outer sheath.
• The element is designed in a helical shape to reduce the effects due to tension on
it. As we know that the resistance of a wire depends on the temperature as
well as the length of the wire.
• Due to thermal expansion, the wire length increase with temperature which also
affects the resistance of the elements.
• It causes an error in the reading because we want the only temperature to change
the resistance and not the physical strain on the wire. Therefore, the element is
designed in a helical shape.
• The outer protective sheath is made of Inconel, an alloy made of nickel, iron and
chromium. It has excellent corrosion resistive properties to protect the inner
element from harsh environments.
• It is an excellent heat conductor that quickly reaches the surrounding
temperature and passes it to the element.

Advantages
 High accuracy
 Does not require temperature compensation
 Excellent stability
 Good sensitivity

Disadvantages
 High Cost.
 Large sixe compared to thermocouples.
 Affected by shock vibration.

Optoelectronic transducer:
 Optoelectronic transducer is a device which convert light beam into an
electrical signal.
 By proper interruption of the light signal due to motion input, the electrical
signal produced can be related to the input.
 Operate on principle that when light strikes special combination of materials
 then following may result.
1. Electrons may flow
2. A voltage may be generated
3. A resistance change may take place

 Types are

1. Photo-emissive
2. Photo-conductive
3. Photo-voltaic

Photo-emissive
 Light beam strikes a photo-emissive cathode, which releases electrons.
 Electrons are attracted towards the anode producing a current I in the circuit.
 Current I depend upon intensity of radiation and anode cathode voltage.
Photo-conductive
 It uses semiconductor material whose resistance changes in accordance with the
radiant energy received.
 Resistivity of selenium, cadmium sulphaide, lead sulfide and thalmium
sulphide is decreased when irradiated.
 Used for detecting ships & aircrafts by the radiations given out by their
exhausts and for telephony by modulated infrared lights.

Photo-voltaic
 A sensitive element is semiconductor (not metal) generates voltage in
proportion to the light or any radiant energy incident on it.
• In „selenium cell‟ due to light, a negative charge will build up on gold
electrode and positive charge on bottom electrode.
• Used in fields 1. Automatic control system 2. Television circuits 3. Sound
motion picture & reproducing equipment.

Piezoelectric transducers:
They convert mechanical energy into electrical energy and are based on the direct
piezoelectric effect observed in certain non-metallic and insulating dielectric
compounds.

Principle of Operation
• Electrical charge is developed on the surface of the crystals, when they are
under mechanical strain due to application of stress. This is called piezoelectric
effect.
• Piezoelectric transducers are having high mechanical rigidity so it is used to
measure force, pressure, acceleration, torque, strain and amplitude of vibration.
• The basic Piezoelectric phenomenon is the effect of force applied in
longitudinal and transverse directions.
• The three modes of operations are
• Thickness expander mode
• Length expander mode
• Volume expander mode
 Fig. Piezoelectric transducer
 These modes are based on the direction of force applied which is to be
measured.
 The materials exhibiting piezoelectric effect are quartz, Rochelle salt,
tourmaline, Ammonium Dihydrogen Phosphate (ADP), Lithium Sulphate (LS),
Di Potassium Tartrate (DKT), etc. Fig. 8 shows a piezoelectric crystal used as
a transducer.
 The net piezoelectric effect is represented by the vector of electric Polarization
𝑃𝑥𝑥 + 𝑃𝑦𝑦 + 𝑃𝑧𝑧
Where, 𝑥𝑥, 𝑃𝑦𝑦, 𝑃𝑧𝑧 refer to the effect on the face perpendicular to each
axis due to the application of stress.

Advantages
1. Smaller in size
2. High natural frequency
3. Linearity
4. High sensitivity
5. Wide measuring angle
6. Polar sensitivity
7. High mechanical rigidity

Applications
Piezoelectric transducers are used to measure force, pressure, acceleration,
torque, strain.
INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION:

Communication is a process of transferring information meaningfully (voice, text,

picture etc) from one point to another. In electronics, communication refers to
sending, receiving information.

Elements of a Communication System:

Figure shows the generic block diagram of a communication system. Any
communication system will have five blocks, including the information source
and destination blocks.

Fig: Basic block diagram of communication system

Information source
 Information source gives the message to be transmitter. EX: Text, voice, video
etc.

Transmitter
 The message is converted into electrical form and then transmitted.
 Before transmitting, the electrical signal is modulated. So that it becomes
easy to transmit for a longer distance.

Channel
 Channel is a medium through which the electrical signal is transmitted from
one place to another.
 There are two types of channels
1. Wired channel or line communication.
Ex: Co-axial cable, OFC, pair of conducting wire.
2. Wireless channel or radio communication
Ex: Free space.

Noise
 Noise is an unwanted signal that gets added to the message signal
during transmission over the channel.
 Noise signal is random in nature. Its effect is greatest when message signal
is weak.
 Noise may be natural or man-made.

Receiver
 The original message signal is extracted from the modulated signal at the
receiver. Most of the receivers are of super heterodyne receiver.
 The output of the receiver can be fed to the loud speaker or radio display
or video display and TV picture tube etc.
Block diagram of typical radio transmitter:
 The objective of the transmitter block is to collect the incoming message signal
and modify it in a suitable fashion (if needed), such that, it can be transmitted via
channel to the receiving point.
 Channel is a physical medium which connects the transmitter block with the
receiver block.
 For instance, if you are talking to your friend sitting in the next room via intercom
service then the speech signal collected from your handset need not go through the
sequence of steps needed when your friend is far off and you are reaching him/her
over the mobile phone.
 This is because; in the first case the channel is a simple copper wire
connecting your handset with your friend's hand set, whereas in the second case it is
the free atmosphere.

Fig: Block diagram of typical radio transmitter

 The block diagram of typical radio transmitter is shown in figure. This
transmitter block involves several operations like amplification, generation of high-
frequency carrier signal, modulation and then radiation of the modulated signal.
 The amplification process essentially involves amplifying the signal amplitude
values and also adding required power levels. The high-frequency signal is essential
for carrying out an important operation called modulation.
 The carrier signal is characterized by the three parameters amplitude, frequency
and phase. The modulation process involves varying one of these three parameters in
accordance with the variation of the message signal.
 The modulated signal from the modulator is transmitted or radiated into the
atmosphere using an antenna as the transducer. Which converts the signal energy in
guided wave form to free space electromagnetic waves and vice versa.

Block diagram of super heterodyne receiver:

 The receiver block receives the incoming modified version of the message signal
from the channel and processes it to recreate the original form of the message signal.
 There are a great variety of receivers in communication systems, depending on
the processing required to recreate the original message signal. Most of the
receivers do conform broadly to the super heterodyne type, as does the simple
broadcast receiver whose block diagram is shown in figure.
 Fig: Block diagram of AM super heterodyne receiver
 The super heterodyne receiver includes processing steps like reception,
Amplification, mixing, demodulation and recreation of message signal.
 Among the different processing steps, demodulation is the most important one
which converts the message signal available in the modified form to the original
electrical version of the message. Thus demodulation is essentially an inverse
operation of modulation.
 RF amplifier selects the desired radio wave and enhances the strength of the wave
to the desired level.
 Mixer and local oscillator combines RF amplifier and local oscillator frequencies
and produces an intermediate frequency (IF). IF is the difference between oscillator
frequency and radio frequency.
 The Audio signals are extracted from the demodulation circuit and it is
amplified by AF amplifier.

MODULATION
Modulation is the process of changing the parameters of the carrier signal, in
accordance with the instantaneous values of the modulating signal. Types of
modulation are AM, FM and PM.
1. Amplitude modulation (AM):
AM is defined as the modulation technique in which the instantaneous amplitude of
the carrier signal is varied in accordance with the instantaneous amplitude of the
analog modulating signal to be transmitted.
2. Frequency Modulation (FM):
A modulating signal may vary the frequency of the carrier keeping the amplitude
and phase constant. This type of modulation is called Frequency modulation.
Broadly speaking, the frequency modulation is the process of changing the
frequency of the carrier voltage in accordance with the instantaneous value of the
modulating voltage.
3. Phase modulation (PM):
Phase modulation is the process in which the instantaneous phase of the carrier
signal is varied in accordance with the instantaneous amplitude of the modulating
signal.

Need of modulation:
• Increases operating range of communication.
• Reduces size of transmitting & receiving antennas.
• Avoids mixing of signals.
• Improves quality of reception.
• Allows adjustments in the bandwidth.
• Extremely difficult to radiate low frequency signals through earth‟s atmosphere in
form of electromagnetic energy.
Noise:
Noise is an unwanted signal which interferes with the original message signal and
corrupts the parameters of the message signal. This alteration in the
communication process, leads to the message getting altered. It is most likely to
be entered at the channel or the receiver.

Effects of Noise:

Noise is an inconvenient feature which affects the system performance. Following

are the effects of noise.

 Noise limits the operating range of the systems.

Noise indirectly places a limit on the weakest signal that can be amplified by an
amplifier. The oscillator in the mixer circuit may limit its frequency because of noise.
A system‟s operation depends on the operation of its circuits. Noise limits the
smallest signal that a receiver is capable of processing.

 Noise affects the sensitivity of receivers

Sensitivity is the minimum amount of input signal necessary to obtain the
specified quality output. Noise affects the sensitivity of a receiver system, which
eventually affects the output.

 The noise might distract the receiver, causing them not to hear the sender's
message properly. Or it might distract the sender, making it difficult for them
to communicate the message effectively.