Principles of Embedded Systems: ESE63201

Data Acquisition
Analogue signals and Sensors

Almost all ESs would require to read some analogue input. This could be a signal that is been
provided by an external subsystem, or may be an integral part of the ES itself. The ES controller may
e.g. require to read the status data of the environment, e.g. temperature, pressure, humidity, etc.
The ES may e.g. require monitoring the current power, voltage etc at some part of the circuit.

All above means we must be able to handle the analogue signals, whether provided by a sensor or
some other source.

Most electric parameters of electronic components such as: resistance, capacitance, mutual
inductance and self-inductance, depend on both the material properties and the dimensions of the
component. This dependency allows us to construct special components that are essentially
sensitive to a particular physical quantity. Such components are then suitable for use as sensors, if
they meet the normal requirements with respect to sensitivity and reproducibility.

Temperature sensitive resistors:

The resistivity of a conductive material depends on the concentration of free charge carriers and
their mobility. The mobility is a parameter that accounts for the ability of charge carriers to move
more or less freely throughout the atom lattice, their movement is constantly hampered by
collisions. Both concentration and mobility vary according to temperature and a rate largely
determined by the material. In intrinsic (or pure) semiconductors, the electrons are bound quite
strongly to their atoms, only very few have enough energy (at room temperature) to move freely. At
increasing temperature more electrons will gain sufficient energy to be freed from their atom, so the
concentration of free charge carriers increases as the temperature increases. Since the temperature
has much less effect on the mobility of the charge carriers, the resistivity of a semiconductor
decreases as the temperature increases: its resistance has a negative temperature coefficient.
The temperature characteristic of a metallic thermometer is given as:

Where Ro is the resistance at T=0, and ,  etc are constants.

The resistance of most semiconductors has a negative temperature coefficient (NTC). Much the
same goes for thermistors. That is why a thermistor is also called an NTC-thermistor or just an NTC.
The temperature characteristic of an NTC satisfies the equation:
Thermocouples (Seebeck effect)
The thermoelectric effect is the direct conversion of temperature differences to electric voltage and
vice-versa. A thermoelectric device creates a voltage when there is a different temperature on each
side. Conversely, when a voltage is applied to it, it creates a temperature difference. At the atomic
scale, an applied temperature gradient causes charged carriers in the material to diffuse from the
hot side to the cold side, similar to a classical gas that expands when heated; hence inducing a
thermal current. They rely on Seebeck effect which states that a junction of different metals will
generate a voltage that is proportional to the temperature difference between the metals.
Thermocouples are low cost temperature sensors, they are readily available from multiple sources
and they can measure a wide range of temperatures that can not be measured with semiconductor
type temperature sensor. For example, they can be used to measure the temperature of the inside
of a ceramics kiln which can reach 1200 Celsius. The temperature range of a thermocouple depends
on the type of metals that make up the thermocouple.

Light sensitive resistors:

The resistivity of some materials depends on the intensity of incident light (the photoresistive
effect). A resistor made up of such a material is the LDR (light-dependent resistor or photoresistor).
A common material is cadmium sulfide. In the absence of light, the concentration of free charge
carriers is low which is why the resistance of the LDR is high. When light falls on the material, free
charge carriers are generated, concentration increases and so the resistance decreases as the
intensity increases. The light sensitivity depends on the wavelength of the light and is maximal at
about 680 nm (red light).

(a) The relative conductivity of an LDR versus wavelength at constant light intensity, (b) an
example of an LDR.

Force sensitive resistors:

When an electric conductor, like for instance a metal wire, is stressed its resistance increases
because the diameter decreases and the length increases. Semiconducting materials also change
their resistivity when subjected to a mechanical force (piezoresistive effect).
Strain gauges are sensors that are based on these effects. They are used to measure force, pressure,
torque and (small) changes in length in, for instance, mechanical constructions. Such strain gauges
consist of a meander-shaped metal wire or foil, fixed on an isolating flexible carrier (e.g. an epoxy).

(a) An example of a strain gauge,

(b) an application of a strain gauge for the measurement of bending.

Resistive displacement sensors:

A common resistive displacement sensor is the potentiometer which is a conductive track with a
movable ruler. The conductor may consist of a spiralized wire, a homogeneous track of carbon or a
conductive polymer. Linear displacement sensors have a straight conductive track but angular
displacement sensors have a circular (one-turn) or helix-shaped track (multi-turn potentiometer).

A linear resistive displacement sensor.

Inductive sensors
Inductive sensors are based on changes in self-inductance L or on the mutual inductance M of a
component which usually consists of two parts that can move relative to each other. Figure below
shows an inductor (coil) with a movable core. Its self-inductance L varies according to the position of
the core. Due to leak fields caused by the winding and at the ends of the coil, the self-inductance
varies only linearly according to displacement x over a limited range. Another disadvantage of this
type of sensor is that an impedance (self-inductance) needs to be measured which is somewhat
more difficult than simply dealing with a voltage or current.
 A coil with a movable core as a displacement sensor,

Capacitive sensors:
The capacitance of a set of conductors is given as:

where F is a factor determined by the geometry of the conductors. For a capacitor consisting of two
parallel flat plates, F = A/d while A is their surface area and d the distance between the plates.
Capacitive sensors are based on changes in e r or in F.

Some examples of the first possibility are:

 capacitive temperature sensors using temperature dependence r . These are used for the
measurement of temperatures close to absolute zero,
 capacitive level sensors. Usually a linear, tubular capacitor is connected vertically in a vessel or
tank. The dielectric varies according to the level, as does the capacitance.
 capacitive concentration sensors. The dielectric constant of materials like powders or grains
depends on the concentration of a particular (dielectric) substance (for instance water).
 Capacitive displacement sensors are based on variations in the factor F.
Examples of capacitive displacement sensors, (a) variable distance between the electrodes, (b)
variable electrode surface area, (c) variable dielectric, (d) & (e) balanced configurations (differential
capacitor) (f) as a proximity sensor.

The sensors with built-in interface – intelligent sensors

In the intelligent sensors more and more often the communication interface is embedded, for
example the serial interface. Figure below presents the intelligent type temperature sensor with a
built-in 1-wire interface.

A smart transducer is an analogue or digital transducer or actuator combined with a processing unit
and a communication interface.

As sensors and actuators become more complex they provide support for various modes of
operation and interfacing. Some applications require additionally fault-tolerance and distributed
computing. Such high-level functionality can be achieved by adding an embedded microcontroller to
the classical sensor/actuator, which increases the ability to cope with complexity at a fair price.

Interfacing to Computers:
 Analogue Sensors
Digital Sensors

Electronic Amplifier Circuits:

Each sensor type may require a different buffer/amplifier circuit. Normally, you need to consult the
datasheet of the specific sensor.

Photocurrent Amplifier Circuit

using Transistor

Photodiode: Photocurrent Amplifier

using an Operational Amplifier (Without
Bias)
Phototransistor: Amplifier Circuit using an Operational
Amplifier

Single Op Amp
Differential Amplifier

Three Op Amp
Instrumentation
Amplifier

The three op amp instrumentation amplifier, or in-amp, uses three op amps. The circuit, shown
above, has high input impedance, and source impedance does not play a role in calculation of gain.

Noise Reduction:
Many sensors, such as thermocouples, generate a relatively small voltage so noise is always an issue.
The most common source of noise is the utility power lines (50 Hz or 60 Hz). Typically, the
bandwidth for temperature sensors is much lower than 50 or 60 Hz so a simple low-pass filter will
work well in many cases.
Other measures to keep noise away may include one or more of the following:
 Keep the sensor wires short.
 Use shielded sensor cables with twisted pair wires.
 Use a dedicated precision voltage reference, not the microcontroller supply.
 Use a filter to remove any unwanted noise
 Use 4-20mA loop or even better, a digital signal for long cable runs.
 Provide low impedance paths to ground at the ADC inputs if possible.
 Average readings in software.
 Analogue ground and digital ground should connect at the ADC.
 Analogue ground should not carry large currents.
 Ground planes should not carry any currents.

The analogue signals are of continuous time – the value of such signal is determined in every instant
of time. An example of the analogue signal is presented below. The conversion of the analogue
signal x(t) to the digital form is realized in such a way that in assumed moment of time the value of
the signal x(n) is determined and represented by a number. We can say that the digital signal is
determined in discrete time, which means that the value of the signal is known only in selected
moments. Usually the discrete time is realized by collecting the samples of the analogue signal at
the constant interval called the period of sampling Ts.