Sensors and Actuators

Signal Conditioning & Data Acquisition

System
Session 1
Module 4
 CONTENTS
• Real-time interfacing
• Introduction - Elements of data acquisition and control
• Overview of I/O process
• Analog signals, discrete signals
• Frequency signals – Over framing
Real Time Interfacing
• Real-time interfacing is a general term used to describe the aspects of connecting a
computer with a real-world process and communicating data between the two.
• Monitors, keyboards, printers, disks, modems, and CD’s are familiar (but specific)
examples of real-time interfacing.
• A more general approach categorizes the interfacing process into four major components:
sensors, actuators, the computer, and a real-world process.
• For example, the process of entering data into a computer satisfies this categorization if
the human operator is viewed as the real-time process. The sensor is the keyboard; it
transfers information from the real-time process to the computer. The monitor is the
actuator, transferring information from the computer back to the real-time process.
4.1. Data acquisition
• A data acquisition (DA) system is a collection of add-on hardware and software
components that allow your computer to receive real-world information from sensors.
• Although sensors can be based on electrical, mechanical, optical, or other principles, they
all perform the same function: to convert real-world information (such as motion,
temperature, and pressure) into low-power electrical signals which can be read by the
computer.

“Data acquisition is the process by which physical phenomena from the real world are
transformed into electrical signals that are measured and converted into a digital format for
processing, analysis, and storage by a computer. Data acquisition (DAQ) system is designed
not only to acquire data, but to act on it as well.”

“Data acquisition involves measuring signals (from a real-world physical system) from
different sensors, and digitizing the signals for storage, analysis and presentation.”
Needs of data acquisition
● Data acquisition systems interface between the real world of physical parameters, which
are analog, and the artificial world of digital computation and control.
● DAQ are used widely because they are low cost, accurate, and relatively simple to
implement.
● Data acquisition systems are capable of measuring hundreds of variables simultaneously.
● They are now used by most engineers and scientists for laboratory research, industrial
control, test, and measurement of input and output data to and from a computer.
● Industries that presently employ such automatic systems include steel making, food
processing, paper production, oil refining, chemical manufacturing, textile production,
cement
Elements of data acquisition and control
• A data acquisition system also can be thought of as a monitoring system. It can receive
data from a real-world process and display the data. It can also display the features of the
data extracted through its processing.
• In situations where it is necessary to acquire and process data and to also send data back
to the real-time process, we make use of a data acquisition and control (DAC) system.
• A DAC system is a superset of a DA system and requires both sensors and actuators. The
purpose of the actuator is to convert low-power computer signals real-world signals, into
resulting in motion, heat, pressure, etc. Common actuators include stepper motors,
solenoids, relays, hydraulic motors, speakers, and piezoelectric actuators.

“Control is the process by which digital control signals from the system hardware are
convened to a signal format for use by control devices such as actuators and relays. These
devices then control a system or process. Where a system is referred to as a data acquisition
system or DAQ system, it is possible that it includes control functions as well.”
Elements of data acquisition and control
The PC-based DAQ system depends on each of the following system elements.
• Computer
• Transducers and sensors
• Signal conditioning
• DAQ hardware
• Screw terminal panel(s)
• General purpose input/output (GPIO) card
• Software
Digital/Analog Data Acquisition Systems

1. The input transducers measure some property of the environment.

2. The output from the transducers is conditioned (amplified, filtered..)
3. The conditioned analog signal is digitized using an analog-to-digital converter (ADC).
4. The digital information is acquired, processed and recorded by the computer.
5. The computer may then modify the environment by outputting control signals. The digital control signals are converted
to analog signals using a digital-to-analog converter (DAC).
6. The analog signals are conditioned (e.g. amplified and filtered) appropriately for an output transducer.
7. The output transducer interacts with the environment.
 Working of each element of DAC
1. Transducer is used to convert the physical quantity into an electrical signal. The transducer generate a
voltage proportional to physical quantity being measured. This voltage is applied to data acquisition system
as a input. Examples: Strain gauge, Thermocouple, Piezoelectric device.
2. Signal Conditioning: This signal has to be modified before it becomes usable & satisfactory to drive the
signal presentation stage. The proper representation of analog or digital signal obtained from the signal
conditioning stage. The conditioning equipment required for process like Amplification, Attenuation,
Integration, Differentiation, Subtraction etc.
3. Acquisition Hardware: Its function is: The input, processing and conversion to digital format, using ADCs,
of analog signal data measured from a system or process – the data is then transferred to a computer for
display, storage and Analysis. The input of digital signals. The processing, conversion to analog format,
using DACs, output of digital control signals.
4. Ports for data acquisition: RS232, IEEE-488 (GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus), Printer port, Sound
Card ports, Specially designed BUS Cards, DAQ cards.
5. Application software can be a full screen interactive panel, a dedicated input/output control program, a data
logger, a communications handler, or a combination of all of these.
 General Purpose I/O Card (GPIO)

• The necessary ingredients for the general I/O process are the PC and operating system
software, general purpose I/O (GPIO) card and software driver, and the proper termination
panel(s) and cabling for the GPIO card.
• The GPIO card is installed into a free expansion slot in the PC bus. Its address is specified
both on the card (using micro-switches) and in its driver software.
• The termination panel is connected to the GPIO card by one or more cables. At this point,
the system is ready to operate, except for the application software.
• Whatever application software is selected for the mechatronic programming tasks, it must
provide the programmer with the ability to create open-loop as well as closed-loop
applications.
COMPONENTS OF A DAC SYSTEM AND INTERCONNECTIONS FOR A SYSTEM WITH FOUR SENSORS
AND TWO ACTUATORS
 I/O channels
Once you have selected a manufacturer and identified the potential card(s) which could be used, you must
determine the type and precision of the I/O channels needed. I/O channels may be either inputs or outputs and
are classified based on the type of data transferred. This leads to three channel types:
• Analog
• Digital
• Frequency (counter timer)

1. Precision of the I/O channel pertains to the accuracy and transient characteristics of the D/A and A/D
converter employed. Accuracy of the converter is a function of bit length. Most converters have 12-bit
resolution, which is ample for most applications; however, this depends on your application and should be
a consideration prior to purchasing.
2. In mechatronic applications, the I/O typically operates in either of two modes, open loop or closed loop.
Open-loop operation exists when inputs are read and/or outputs are written, but no relationship or
dependency exists between the inputs and outputs.
 I/O channels
• Analog signal: It has three types of information
 I/O channels
• Digital signal: It has two types of information
Signal Conditioning
The electrical signals generated by the transducers must be optimized for the input
range of the DAQ device. Signal conditioning accessories amplify low-level signals
and then isolate and filter them for more accurate measurements.
Basic specifications, which are available on most DAQ products, tell you the number
of channels, the sampling rate, the resolution, and the input range.

•Amplification
•Attenuation
–Voltage divider
•Filtering
–Anti-aliasing
•Isolation
 Signal Conditioning
1. Amplification The most common type of conditioning is amplification. For example, the low level
thermocouple signals should be amplified to increase the resolution and reduce noise. The signal should
be amplified so that the maximum voltage range of the conditioned signal equals the maximum input
range of the ADC.
• Used on low-level signals (less than around 100 mV )
• Maximizes use of Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) range and increases accuracy
• Increases Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)
Devices for Data Conversion: Operational and
Instrumentation Amplifiers
In this section, the basic principles of the operational amplifiers are discussed followed by
some of the basic circuits that are used in signal conditioning.
Operational Amplifiers: An amplifier is an electronic device which increases the size of
voltage or current signal without altering the signal’s basic characteristics. Operational
amplifiers (op-amps) are termed operational because of their early growth in a computing
area—mainly to perform mathematical operations. The operational amplifier has emerged as
a basic building block in electronic circuits and is made up of many transistors fabricated on
a processor chip. Its use arises from its ability to provide accurate and stable results under a
wide range of operational conditions.
Operational Amplifiers
The operational amplifier has three terminals known as the inverting input, non-inverting
input, and the output. Depending on the magnitude of the components and the configuration
used, different characteristics are obtained.
Basic characteristics of operational amplifier are
• (-) Inverting input terminal; A voltage applied to this terminal is amplified with an 180°
phase shift.
• (+)Non-inverting terminal; A voltage applied to this terminal is amplified without a phase
shift.
• The voltage gain is so great that the voltage difference between the inputs is zero
• The input impedance is so great that the inputs draw no current.
• Zero output impedance.
Operational Amplifiers: Non Inverting mode
Basic Op-Amp Circuits: As an example of a basic op-amp circuit, let us consider the non-
inverting amplifier shown in Figure.
The output is considered to be taken from across a potential divider circuit consisting of R1
and R2 in series. The voltage Vx is a fraction of the output voltage.

(1)

Since there is no current through the operational amplifier between the two inputs, there is
no potential difference between them. Therefore,
Vx = Vin (2)
Equating Equations (1) and (2) and solving for
the output voltage yields voltage gain as
Operational Amplifiers: Inverting mode
Inverting Mode: The signal is applied to the inverting terminal through a resistor R1 with
the non-inverting input connected to the ground. This results in an output that is out of phase
with the input. A feedback path is provided from the output, through the resistor RF, and to
the inverting input. It is to be noted that, since the (+) input terminal is at ground potential,
then the (-)input terminal also must be at the ground; therefore,
V_ = 0
Since the voltage at the junction of the resistors R1 and RF = 0 and the input current to the
op-amp is also 0, the currents in the resistors must be equal; therefore,
Instrumentation Amplifier
The output signals of transducers are rarely at the levels required for the job at hand. The
desired signal is often achieved using a versatile amplifier known as an instrumentation
amplifier. The gain of this amplifier can be precisely set by the addition of a single external
resistor, and it has a very high input resistance. It also has the ability to amplify small
signals in the presence of noise. Figure shows the schematic of an instrumentation amplifier.

Referring to Figure op-amp1 and op-amp2 are the input section

of the amplifier. OP-amp3 is a unity gain amplifier in the
output section, which converts the output to the single end.
The instrumentation amplifier has two inputs, which is useful
for applications (such as strain gauge bridge circuits).
The resistor RG is the external gain setting resistor.
Instrumentation Amplifier
Letting V1 - V2 = ΔVin and VA - VB = Vo we can proceed with the following analysis:
Since the basic relation V _ = V + holds, the current through the gain setting resistor, RG, is
Instrumentation Amplifier
In practice, the designer selects the value for R and the external resistor RG to suit the gain
requirement. In addition to providing the gain necessary for a given application, most
commercial instrumentation amplifiers also allow for zero setting.
The characteristics of the instrumentation amplifier are high input resistance and their ability
to amplify small signals in the presence of noise. Amplifiers are susceptible to errors, such
as nonlinearity errors, hysteresis errors and thermal stability errors. The three-op-amp
configuration for instrumentation amplifiers is a popular design.
Commercial units with these characteristics are available in the form of monolithic, modular
single IC chips. Some models of instrumentation amplifiers are provided with power supply
and digitally programmable resistor network units representing RG. Since the gain of these
units can be changed in conjunction with data acquisition systems, they are known as
programmable gain instrumentation amplifiers.
 Signal Conditioning
Input Coupling

Use AC coupling when the signal contains a large DC component. If you enable AC
coupling, you remove the large DC offset for the input amplifier and amplify only the AC
component. This configuration makes effective use of the ADC dynamic range
 2.4. Signal Conditioning
Isolation Amplifiers
Another common signal-conditioning application is isolating the transducer signals from the computer for
safety purposes. The system being monitored may contain high-voltage transients that could damage the
computer without signal conditioning. Isolation ensures that the readings from the plug-in DAQ device are
unaffected by differences in ground potentials or common-mode voltages. When the DAQ device input and
the signal being acquired are each referenced to “ground,” problems occur if there is a potential difference in
the two grounds. This difference can lead to ground loop, which may cause inaccurate representation of the
acquired signal. If the difference is too large, it may damage the measurement system. Using isolated signal-
conditioning modules eliminates ground loops and ensures that the signals are accurately acquired.

•Isolation electrically separates two parts of a measurement device

•Protects from high voltages
•Prevents ground loops
–when two connected points are at a different ground potential, creating a current flow in the interconnection,
which produces an offset error
•Separate ground planes of data acquisition device and sensor
•Isolation techniques: Optical, Capacitive, Inductive Coupling
 2.4. Signal Conditioning
Isolation Amplifiers
2.4. Signal Conditioning
Attenuation

•Voltage divider
•A circuit that produces an output voltage (Vout) that is a fraction of its input voltage
(Vin)
•Can be needed to get a high-level signal down to the acceptable DAQ-card range
2.4. Signal Conditioning
Sampling
–An analog signal is continuous
–A sampled signal is a series of discrete samples acquired at a specified sampling rate
–The faster we sample the more our sampled signal will look like our actual signal
–If not sampled fast enough a problem known as aliasing will occur
2.4. Signal Conditioning
Filtering
The purpose of a filter is to remove unwanted signals from the signal that you are trying
to measure. A noise filter is used on DC-class signals, such as temperature, to attenuate
higher frequency signals that can reduce the measurement accuracy. If the noise signals
were not removed, they would erroneously appear as signals within the input bandwidth
of the device.

Anti-aliasing low-pass filtering (before the A/D converter)

To remove all signal frequencies that are higher than the input bandwidth of the device.
If the signals were not removed, they would erroneously appear as signals within the
input bandwidth of the device (known as aliasing). AC-class signals, such as vibration,
often require a different type of filter known as an anti-aliasing filter. Like the noise
filter, the anti-aliasing filter is also a low-pass filter; however, it requires a very steep
cutoff rate, so it almost completely removes all signal frequencies that are higher than
the input bandwidth of the device.
2.4. Signal Conditioning

Filtering

Frequency Domain:
2.4. Signal Conditioning

Filtering
Analog Filtering:

Filter types: LP, HP, BP, BS, Notch

•Passive filters:
–RC, LCR
–(often inductors L are avoided, but they are needed for
high Q-factor)
•Active filters
–opamp + R and C
–(can avoid L)

•Some common filter characteristics

–Butterworth
–Chebyshev
–Bessel (constant group delay in pass band)
–Elliptic
2.4. Signal Conditioning

Importance of LP-filter selection for DAQ bandwidth

 2.4. Signal Conditioning
3. Multiplexing A common technique for measuring several signals with a single measuring device is
multiplexing. Signal-conditioning hardware for analog signals often provides multiplexing for use with slowly
changing signals like temperature. The ADC samples one channel, switches to the next channel, samples it,
switches to the next channel, and so on. Because the same ADC samples many channels instead of one, the
effective sampling rate of each individual channel is inversely proportional to the number of channels
sampled.

ADC architectures
•Multiplexed
•Simultaneous sampling