Course Outline

 Introduction
 Fundamental Concepts Of Measurement
 Signal Processing and Sensors
 Basics of Mechatronics
 Accuracy And Error Analysis
 Measurement Statistics
 Data Presentation And Curve Fitting
 Slide Content
• Introduction

• Elements of a Measurement System

• Signal Processing

• Filtering

• Amplification

• Isolation

• Analog-to-Digital conversion
First and foremost……………

A measurement system has several components which contribute

to the measurement process.

Digital Signal Conditioning

The signal conditioning stage consists of complex sub-components
and is thus the center of consideration in this course.

Signal Processing
Signal processing includes the following stages:
signal sensing,
signal conversion,
signal conditioning,
signal transmission.
signal presentation/storage.
 Digital Signal Processing

Digital signal processing (DSP) is the use of digital processors

(electronic/digital devices) to perform a wide variety of signal
processing operations.

The digital signals processed in this manner are a sequence of

numbers that represent sample of a continuous variable in a domain
such as time, space, or frequency.

In digital electronics, a digital signal is represented as a pulse train

which is typically generated by the switching of a transistor.

The digital signal processor may be:

- an electronic system.
- a computer program
 ELEMENTS OF A MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Signal Processing

Generally classified into the following:

 Primary sensing element.
 Variable conversion element.
 Signal conditioning element
 Signal transmission element
 Signal presentation/recording element.

 PRIMARY SENSING ELEMENT

- The quantity under measurement makes its first contact with the primary
sensing element of a measurement system.

- Examples of primary sensors include liquid-in-glass thermometer,

thermocouple, and strain gauge etc.
 ELEMENTS OF A MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
 VARIABLE CONVERSION ELEMENT
- It converts the output of the primary sensing element into a suitable form
where preservation of the information content of the original signal is
maintained.

- Variable conversion elements are needed where the output variable of a

primary transducer is in an inconvenient form and has to be converted to a
more convenient/suitable form.

 SIGNAL CONDITIONING ELEMENT

- Exists to improve the quality of the output of a measurement system in
some way.

- A very common type of signal conditioning element is the electronic

amplifier (amplifies the output of the primary transducer or variable
conversion element) thus improving the sensitivity and resolution of
measurement.
 ELEMENTS OF A MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

 SIGNAL TRANSMISSION ELEMENT

- Needed when the observation or application point of the output of a
measurement system is some distance away from the site of the primary
transducer.

- Sometimes, this separation is made solely for purposes of convenience,

but more often, it follows from the physical inaccessibility or
environmental unsuitability of the site of the primary transducer for
mounting the signal presentation/recording unit.

 SIGNAL PRESENTATION/RECORDING ELEMENT

- Information about the quantity under measurement has to be conveyed to
the personnel handling the instrument/system for the purpose of
monitoring, control or analysis.
 ELEMENTS OF A MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
…..in summary

- The first component of a measurement system is the sensor that converts the

physical variable to be measured into an electrical quantity.

- However, the signal is usually in a format that cannot be directly used: i.e. it

requires ‘conversion’!!

- Analog-to-digital converters are usually employed to achieve this aim.

- The third part of any measurement system is the signal conditioning phase

which seeks to improve the quality of the signals.

- Other processes to modify and prepare the signal for transmission and
eventual storage are also carried out.

- The graphical figure overleaf further illustrates the flow of signals in a

ELEMENTS OF A MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
…..in summary
ELEMENTS OF A MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
Signal Conditioning Component in a Mechatronic
System (Block Diagram)
Sometimes …………………..

Single unit
• In most cases, signal conditioning circuits improve the quality of
signals generated by transducers before they are converted into
digital signals by the PC's data-acquisition hardware.

• Majorly involves filtering and amplification of measured signals.

• Figure below illustrates the output of a signal conditioning stage.

 Functions of the signal conditioning unit (sub system) include the following:

MAJOR FUNCTIONS
• Filtering
- This is the most common signal conditioning function, as usually not
all the signal frequency spectrum is desired.
- A typical example is 50/60 Hz AC power lines, present in most environments,
which cause noise in the sensed signals.

• Amplification
Signal amplification performs two important functions: =
SN R
- increment in the resolution of the input signal. P s/P n
- increment in the signal-to-noise ratio.

Commonly used amplifiers in signal conditioning include:

Sample and hold amplifiers Inverting amplifier

Non-Inverting amplifier Summing amplifier
Subtracting amplifier Integrating amplifier
Differentiating amplifier Difference amplifiers
• Isolation
- Signal isolation must be used to pass the signal from the source to the
measuring device without a physical connection.

- Often used to isolate sensors from sources of noise.

It is important to isolate the potentially expensive equipment used to

process the signal after conditioning from the sensor.

Typical examples include magnetic or optic isolation.

Magnetic isolation
- transforms the signal from voltage to a magnetic field so the signal can
be transmitted without physical connection (i.e. using a transformer).
Remember relays !!

Optic isolation
- modulates an electronic signal into a signal coded by light transmission
(optical encoding), which is then used for input to the next stage of
processing.
 MINOR FUNCTIONS

Transducer excitation
• Many common sensors require external power sources to generate
a signal.

• These include strain gauges and RTDs.

• Others draw energy from the measurand.

• This is known as transducer excitation.

• In this case the measurand provides the necessary power for the
sensor to operate.

• Thus the sensor does not require an external power source.

 Cold-junction compensation

• Specifically required by thermocouples.

• Cold-junction compensation removes small voltage errors caused by

connecting a thermocouple using terminal blocks made of different metals
than the T/C itself.

• This is achieved by noting the ambient temperature at the point where the
thermocouple connects to the system.
 Linearization
• Often sensors do not have a linear relationship between the output signal and
the physical quantity measured.

• A thermocouple's nonlinear temperature-to-voltage relationship is a

prime example.

• Linearization maps the relationship between a sensor's signal value and the
physical quantity it is measuring.
• Thus an incremental change in the physical quantity corresponds to a similar
incremental change in the output signal.

• Linearization can be implemented either on hardware or software component of a

system.

Multiplexing
• In mechatronics, multiplexing is a method by which multiple analog or digital
signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium.

• The aim is to share a scarce resource.

• For example, several sensor signals may be carried using a single wire.

• Advantage is mainly that of cost.

 Bridge completion
• Particularly used with strain gauges.

• Configuration can be either quarter-,

half- or full-bridge.

• In the cases of non full bridge, the

measurement device's signal conditioning
must provide the necessary completion
resistors to make a full Wheatstone
bridge.
 Shunt calibration
• Shunt calibration is a convenient way of calibrating a wheat-stone bridge
strain gauge circuit.

• Shunt calibration employs shunt resistors (of very low resistance).

• Basically the shunt resistor is added in parallel to one of the strain gauges
to simulate what would happen if a real load was measured by the
pressure transducer.
 Switching relays/Transistors
• Both electromechanical and solid-state relays can be used to control
external system components/equipment whether they receive power or
not.

• They employ low voltage (ac/dc) to control devices that may require
much larger voltages and currents to operate.

• Ordinarily used to control motors, fans, lights, or even other relays.

 MAJOR FUNCTION: Filtering
• A filter is used to remove undesirable frequency information from a
dynamic signal.

• Filters permit signal information associated with a defined band of

frequencies to pass. This is known as a band-pass filter.

• On the other hand, filters are also capable of blocking signals associated
with a band of frequencies. This is known as a band-stop filter.
Low Pass Filter
n m e nt:
Assi g
fin e a ll the
De s i n the
et er
param ation
equ
more examples of low pass filter………….
 High Pass Filter
Capacitive high pass Inductive high pass filter
filter

m e nt
ign l
Ass fine al
D e he
t rs
m ete
a
par the
in s
a t ion
equ
more examples of high pass filter………….
 Band Pass Filter

Simple band pass filter

More complex band pass filter

 Band Stop Filter

A simple band stop filter

A more complex band stop filter

 Notch Filter
Notch filters attenuate (make narrower/lesser) the filter range.
SENSORS
 SENSO
RS
• A device which provides a usable output in response to a specified
measurand.

• A sensor acquires a physical quantity and converts it into a signal

suitable for processing (e.g. optical, electrical, mechanical).

• Nowadays common sensors convert measurement of physical

phenomena into an electrical signal.

• The active element of a sensor is called a transducer.

Commonly Detectable Phenomena are:
• Biological
• Chemical
• Electric
• Electromagnetic
• Heat/Temperature
• Magnetic
• Mechanical motion (displacement, velocity, acceleration,
etc.)
• Optical
• Radioactivity
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurements
LINEAR POSITION:
 For manual measurement, traditional instruments such as micrometers,

vernier callipers, and dial indicators are all used, and give accuracy down to .
 Electronic versions now common, with digital readouts and the capability to

be linked with computers and data loggers.

 Electronic versions usually give 2 to 4 times higher resolution than their

purely mechanical equivalents.

 The electronic micrometer or calliper is usually in the same form as its

mechanical equivalent, but with a linear encoder unit (LEU) incorporated.

 These LEUs typically use capacitance sensors, with multiple sender plates

fed with alternating current (a.c.) voltages of different phases.

 As the sender and receiver plates move relative to one another, the induced

current on the receiver plate varies in phase.

 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurement
 Early versions of these devices had a habit of giving errors if :
- moved too rapidly or
- dirt contaminates the sensor surface.

 However, these problems have largely been eliminated with later designs.

Linear transducers vary enormously in terms of accuracy, range, and cost.

Some of the principal types are described below.

Potentiometers are relatively low-cost, low-accuracy devices, with errors of

the order of 1 or 2 % typically.

Higher accuracy versions are available, at higher costs.

Available in linear forms with operating range from a few mm to hundreds of mm.
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurement
 Linear Variable Differential Transformers (LVDTs)
- Commonly used and highly accurate.

- Consist of a core whose displacement gives rise to the signal or measurement

by
flux linking the energizing coil to the detecting coil.

- Voltage output is in proportion to the displacement.

 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurement
LINEAR POSITION:
Detecting coil is actually split, so that motion of the core in a particular direction will increase
the flux linkage with one of the detection coils while decreasing the flux linkage with the
other coil.

The two halves are connected in opposition, as shown in figure below, so that the output is the
difference between the two signals (hence the term ‘differential’).
This action doubles the sensitivity of the transducer.

Output is normalized via division by the sum of the two signals.

Hence susceptibility to external influences such as temperature is decreased.
Example 1
An LVDT has the following data: Vin = 6.3V, Vout = + 5.2V @ displacement range = +0.5
in. Calculate the displacement when Vout is +2.6V.

Solution
Using a graphical approach as shown below, ……

Since we have a linear situation we can set up an equation such as that below…..

y = mx + c

Here c = 0, since graph passes thru d origin.

Then, y = mx (or better still, V = mx)

where m = 5.2v/0.5”

Thus Vout = 5.2v × d/0.5”

Since Vout = 2.6V

Then displacement (d) is (2.6V x 0.5”)/5.2V = 0.25”

Example 2
An ac LVDT has the following data: input 6.3V, output ± 5.2V, range
±0.50 in. Determine:
a) The plot of the output voltage versus core position for a core
movement going from +0.45in to -0.3in.
b) The output voltage when the core is -0.25 in. from center.

Ans: a. 4.68V, 3.12V b. -2.6V.

 Applications of LVDT Sensors
• Measurement of spool position in a wide range of servo valve applications
• To provide displacement feedback for hydraulic cylinders
• To control weight and thickness of medicinal products viz. tablets or pills
• For automatic inspection of final dimensions of products being packed for dispatch
• To measure distance between the approaching metals during Friction welding process
• To continuously monitor fluid level as part of leak detection system
• To detect the number of currency bills dispensed by an ATM
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurement
Various types of proximity sensors exist for measuring small displacements, operating
on inductive, capacitive, or Hall effect principles.

These are only suitable for movements of at most a few mm, and typically 1 mm or less.

One typical use is for monitoring the position of a shaft in a plain bearing, which is an
indication of the thickness of the lubricating oil film.

Also, hall effect sensors are used for measuring the lift of a diesel fuel injector needle.

Another highly accurate non-contacting method is the silicon semiconductor position

sensitive detector. An example of its use is given on ‘Position sensing of photo masks
using a semiconductor sensor’.

For larger distances, (hundreds of mm to tens or hundreds of metres) various forms of

rangefinder exist.
- Older types (optical rangefinder) as used on older cameras, where two images are
adjusted until they are superimposed, and the distance is read from a mechanical
scale.
- Modern versions (infra-red, ultrasound, or radio waves, radio-altimeters, radar),
detecting phase differences or time lags between the transmitted and reflected signals.
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurement
LINEAR POSITION:
 All methods mentioned above require a good target for reflecting the

signal. It may be speculated that poor signal reflection from forested

hillsides could upset radio-altimeters and contribute to some aircraft
crashes.

 One example of the use of ultrasound distance measurement is for

detecting the level of product in large tanks and silos.

 For even larger distances, the Global Positioning System (GPS) can locate
the absolute position of an object in the open air (i.e. an aircraft) or on the
surface of the earth (e.g. vehicle) to within 50 metres or so, by reference to
a system of orbiting satellites.

 Military versions of this technology are believed to be considerably more

accurate than this, but are not readily available for civilian use. The system
gives vertical heights above sea level including horizontal coordinates.
It is frequently convenient to convert linear distance/motion into rotary motion
by means of a wheel, rack and pinion, or cable and drum, and then use a rotary
measurement technique as described below.
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration
Measurement
ANGULAR POSITION AND ROTATION:
A. Level Measurement and Navigation:
 A simple form of angular position reference is

the spirit level, often combined with an angular

scale or protractor.

 The spirit level works by gravity and therefore

is subject to lunar and solar attraction.

 Levels used for surveying purposes (in theodolites

and similar instruments) can be accurate to
better than 1 minute of arc (0.3 milliradians).

 This has been calculated to cause a maximum error of less than radians on
approximately a daily cycle.

 This error is insignificant for most practical engineering purposes.

 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurement
 There is an electronic version of the spirit level,

the fluid level inclinometer.

 Various types of inclinometer exist, working

either on a fluid level or on pendulum

principle.

 A magnetic compass is another familiar

device, again typically of low accuracy

of the order of a degree.

 Versions used for ships and aircraft can be more accurate, by a factor of 10 or so.

 Many mechanical types of compass create large errors due to accelerations in an

East-West direction.

 This is a consequence of the inclination to the horizontal of the earths magnetic flux
and the way in which the compass needle is suspended.
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurement
ANGULAR POSITION AND ROTATION:
Specific Angles
A. Gyroscopes mounted in gimbals can provide an accurate angular position reference for
only a short period.
Friction in the gimbals and in the gyro bearings cause drift, and also the rotation of the
earth requires compensating for.

B. Gyro-compass is a combination of gyroscope and compass.

The compass compensates for the drift of the gyro, while the gyro stabilizes the short-term

fluctuations of the compass.

Relative Angles:
The rotary potentiometer, as with the linear potentiometer, is an economical
and commonly used angle transducer with an accuracy typically of the order
of 1%. Higher accuracy can be achieved at higher cost.

An interesting variant is the multiple turn potentiometer, often with 10

turns, which is a convenient way of measuring angular position varying by
more than 360°, and which also gives higher accuracy to the order of
0.25%.

The resistive track and wiper follow a helical path, but the drive shaft
rotates normally.

Digital shaft encoders exist in various forms. Incremental encoders are

essentially slotted discs with an optical detector which counts the slots and
deduces the relative shaft position.
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurement
ANGULAR POSITION AND ROTATION:
 In the absolute shaft encoder, the rotating element is a digitally encoded disc

with several concentric tracks, and the output is a binary code.

 If it is in standard binary, then a single increment can mean that several of the
digits have to change at once, so if one or more is slow to change then the output
is momentarily entirely wrong.

 Some encoders use the Gray code, which avoids this problem.

 If it is only required to detect one or a few angular positions accurately, then a

toothed or slotted steel wheel with a suitably positioned inductive sensor can
be used.

 This can accurately detect the leading or trailing edge of each tooth, and this
method is used for providing accurate timing signals for the spark on an internal
combustion (IC) engines, or for synchronizing various actions on high-speed
machinery.
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurement
LINEAR SPEED AND VELOCITY:
Many of the position measurement techniques described above are used also for
speed or velocity measurement by differentiating the signals with respect to time.
In a similar fashion, velocity information is often derived by integration from
accelerometer signals (described later in this note). In addition, there are certain
techniques which measure linear speed or velocity directly.

 Doppler effect devices measure the frequency difference between a transmitted

and a reflected signal, and deduce the relative velocity from this. A well-known
manifestation of this effect is the change in pitch of a siren on a vehicle as it goes
past a stationary observer. Devices based on ultrasound and microwave beams are
available.

 Photographic methods can directly show the velocity of moving particles or

markers (e.g. lights) on larger objects. If the time of exposure is known, the
velocity can be found from the length and direction of the streaks on the
photograph. This method is very useful for flow visualization. There are particular
types of errors which can occur with this method when focal plane shutters (as on
a typical SLR camera) are used.
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration
Measurement
 Another photographic principle is the time and distance method where a time
exposure photograph is taken of a target marker under stroboscopic lighting.
This can be a good method to reveal varying speeds.

Frequently it is convenient to mechanically convert linear motion to rotary

motion, the measure of speed by one of the techniques is illustrated in the next
sub-topic.

ROTATIONAL SPEED AND ANGULAR VELOCITY:

A. Basic Methods:
 Car Speedometer uses a small magnet and an aluminium disc.

- The magnet is rotated by an arm, inducing eddy currents in the disc which is
restrained by a hair-spring; the disc is deflected in proportion to the eddy
current drag.

- The usual output is a pointer on a circular scale.

 Position, Speed, and Acceleration
Measurement
Mechanical tachometers generally work on this principle or on a centrifugal
principle.

 Electrical tachometers (tachogenerators)

- use the dynamo principle.

- a rotating magnet is used as in the previous paragraph, but induces a

direct current (d.c.) voltage in the stator winding.

- If required this voltage can be fed back to a controller for closed-loop

control.

 Pulse counting methods are very commonly used, and appear in a number
of forms.

 The optical tachometer detects pulses of light from discontinuities on a

rotating shaft.
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration
Measurement
These may be slots in a disc, a patch of white or reflective paint, or perhaps
the blades on a propeller. Reflection from oil streaks have been known to
give inadvertent extra signals.

Magnetic equivalents using rotating magnets or slotted steel discs and

inductive pick-ups are also commonly found.

Inductive pick-up types can sometimes give double the number of expected
pulses, due to the two flux changes at the leading and trailing edges of each
slot.

A particularly economical version is a rotating magnet actuating a reed

switch, which is used in bicycle speedometers, hand-held cup anemometers
and other relatively low-speed applications.

Pulse counting methods are applicable up to very high speeds, rotational

speeds of the order of 3000 revolutions per second (180,000 rpm) having
been measured accurately.
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurement
ROTATIONAL SPEED AND ANGULAR VELOCITY:
A. Basic Methods:
Stroboscopic methods consists of using a stroboscopic light or a mechanical
stroboscope.

With stroboscopes there is a very real danger of gross errors caused by illuminating
only every second or third revolution and under-indicating the speed by a factor of
2 or 3.

If only part of the shaft circumference is visible, then it is also possible to over
indicate the speed by a factor of 2, due to the second image at being invisible.

One way of avoiding this is to use a helical marker around the shaft (if space is
available), which will help in detecting double illumination.

When using stroboscobic methods, great care is needed, preferably using a second
indicating method as an approximate crosscheck.
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurement
ROTATIONAL SPEED AND ANGULAR VELOCITY:
B. Shaft Encoders:
 For high accuracy, shaft encoders are used, and these give both speed

and/or position information.

 Furthermore, unlike basic pulse counting methods, they can detect the
direction of rotation when used with two signals out of phase with each
other.

 The direction is determined from which signal appears first.

 Readily available encoders may give up to 6000 pulses per revolution or

operate to 12000 rpm and above.

 They differ from the tacho-generators in giving a digital output, which

may have to be converted to analogue for use such as in feedback control
of motor speed.
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurement
An incremental optical encoder works in a similar way to the toothed wheel and slotted
opto-switch, with a series of fine lines or grating on the rotating element, and light-emitting
diodes to transmit and photodiodes or equivalent to receive the light.

However, the light passes first through the rotating element and then through a second
(stationary) grating to give diffraction fringes.

This has the advantage that instead of the signal ramping from light to dark as each line
passes, the whole field goes light or dark, so that a square wave is obtained.

C. Gyroscopic Devices:
A gyroscope which is restrained (i.e. not gimbal mounted) and has its axis of rotation
forcibly rotated, exerts a moment on its mounts proportional to the absolute rate of axis
rotation.

This moment can be measured using load cells, or used to directly deflect a needle against a
spring force.

This latter principle is used in a simple rate-of-turn indicator used in light aircraft.

This method is obviously very valuable for angular velocity measurement where there is no
readily available static reference.
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurement
ROTATIONAL SPEED AND ANGULAR VELOCITY:

The ‘fibre-optic gyroscope’ which incorporates a very long loop of optical fibre
coiled up, with laser light sources and detectors, has been known for some time.

Its principle of operation is that when two light beams propagate in opposite
directions around a common path, they experience a relative phase shift depending
upon the rotation rate of the plane of the path.

This device therefore detects rotation rate, and the output can be integrated to give
the absolute heading.

These devices are of sufficiently low cost and high accuracy to be used in navigation
systems for cars.

Miniature low-cost ‘gyroscopes’ based on a vibrating beam principle are becoming

available, and these too should be appropriate for this purpose.
 Position, Speed, and Acceleration Measurement
ACCELERATION:
Acceleration can be deduced by differentiation of a velocity signal, or double
differentiation of a displacement signal.

This applies equally to both linear and angular accelerations.

Where acceleration is required to be measured directly, the most commonly used

device is the piezo-electric accelerometer, which measures the force required to
accelerate a small mass mounted within the device.

The only significant problem with this type is the low-frequency response, so when
signals of less than about 5 Hz are required to be measured accurately, it may be
necessary to consider other types of sensor, for example those based on strain
gauges.

For measuring angular acceleration a pair of carefully matched accelerometers can

be mounted parallel and a small distance apart, and their outputs subtracted.
THE END