CHAPTER 8

INTERFACING WITH ANALOG

DEVICES
CHAPTER OUTLINE
 Introduction

 D/A converter
 A/D converter

 OP-AMP
 Voltage comparator
 Digital Voltmeter

 Digital Light meter

 Sensors and Transducers
INTRODUCTION
 Most real-world information is analog
 All parameters such as time, speed, weight pressure etc
are all analog in nature….
 The electronic system to convert analog input to analog
output thru digital system normally consist of:
 Analog input – in voltage
 Encoder – A/D converter
 Digital processing unit
 Decoder – D/A converter
 Analog output – in display
 INTRODUCTION
 Analog input – voltage that vary continuously from 0 to 3 V.
 Encoder – special device that converts the analog signal to
digital information (A/D converter)
 Decoder – special device that convert the digital information from
digital processing unit to an analog output (D/A converter)
 The system itself might be called hybrid system because it
contains both digital and analog devices.
 Encoder and decoder called interface devices
 Interface – a device or circuit that converts from one mode of
operation to another.
 The input voltage produced by transducer – a device that
converts form of energy to another.
D/A CONVERTER
 To convert binary from the processing unit to voltage output.

 Need truth table for all the possible situation.

 These situations are the inputs in binary (D,C,B,A) into the D/A
converter.
 The decoder consist of two section: the resistor network and the
summing amplifier.
D/A CONVERTER
 Resistor network
 Several resistors are used to do this job.
 Depend on the inputs.
 Called resistive ladder networks

 Summing amplifier (a.k.a scaling amplifier)

 Takes the output voltage from resistive network.
 Amplifies the voltage to proper amount.
 Typically uses an IC unit called an operational amplifier (op-
amp).
OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER
 Op amp – special amplifier with special characteristics:
 High input impedance.
 Low output impedance.
 Variable voltage gain.

 Has two inputs and one output:

 Inverting input ( – ) .
 Non inverting input (+).
OP-AM DIAGRAM
 OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER
 Op amp is used with additional electronic component:
 Input Resistor (Rin)
 Feedback resistor (R f)

 These two resistor can determine the voltage gain of the

op amp.

Av (voltage gain) = Rf / Rin Av = Vout / Vin

PROBLEMS…OPERATIONAL AMPLIFIER

What is output voltage ?

Av (voltage gain) = Rf / Rin Av = Vout / Vin

BASIC D/A CONVERTER
 s
A/D CONVERTER
 A/D converter is a special type of encoder.

 Basic A/D converter is shown at figure at next slide.

 Convert a voltage input to binary output.

 A/D converter has voltage comparator, AND gate, a binary

counter, am a D/A converter.
A/D CONVERTER
COUNTER-RAMP-TYPE A/D CONVERTER
HOW A/D CONVERTER WORKS?
 Concentrate at voltage comparator…..
 If the input voltage at A is greater then B, the clock is
allowed to increase the count of 4-bit counter.
 The count will stop when the voltage B is greater then
the analog input A.
 The comparator stops the counter from advancing to a
higher count.
VOLTAGE COMPARATOR
 Use to compare two different voltage, A and B which one
larger.
 If A > B, the output is 1(high)

 If B > A, the output is 0 (low)

 The heart of the comparator is an op amp.

COMPARATOR CIRCUIT
 DIGITAL VOLTMETER
 One use of an A/D converter is in digital voltmeter.
 The A/D converter will converts the analog voltage to
binary form.
 This binary output can be displayed with the aid of decoder
an display device.
AN ELEMENTARY DIGITAL VOLTMETER
DIGITAL LIGHT METER
DIGITAL LIGHT METER
DIGITAL LIGHT METER
DIGITAL LIGHT METER
 SENSORS AND TRANSDUCERS

SENSORS
 Introduction
 Describing Sensor Performance

 Temperature Sensors

 Light Sensors

 Force Sensors

 Displacement Sensors

 Motion Sensors

 Sound Sensors

 Sensor Interfacing
INTRODUCTION 3.1

 To be useful, systems must interact with their

environment. To do this they use sensors and
actuators
 Sensors and actuators are examples of
transducers
A transducer is a device that converts
one physical quantity into another
 examples include:
 a mercury-in-glass thermometer (converts temperature into
displacement of a column of mercury)
 a microphone (converts sound into an electrical signal).

 We will look at sensors in this lecture and at

actuators in the next lecture
 Almost any physical property of a material that
changes in response to some excitation can be
used to produce a sensor
 widely used sensors include those that are:
 resistive
 inductive

 capacitive

 piezoelectric

 photoresistive

 elastic

 thermal.

 in this lecture we will look at several examples

DESCRIBING SENSOR PERFORMANCE 3.2

 Range
 maximum and minimum values that can be measured
 Resolution or discrimination
 smallest discernible change in the measured value
 Error
 difference between the measured and actual values
 random errors
 systematic errors

 Accuracy, inaccuracy, uncertainty

 accuracy is a measure of the maximum expected error
 Precision
 a measure of the lack of random errors (scatter)
 Linearity
 maximum deviation from a ‘straight-line’ response
 normally expressed as a percentage of the full-scale
value
 Sensitivity
 a measure of the change produced at the output for a
given change in the quantity being measured
TEMPERATURE SENSORS 3.3

 Resistive thermometers
 typical devices use platinum wire (such a device is
called a platinum resistance thermometers or PRT)
 linear but has poor sensitivity

A typical PRT element A sheathed PRT

 Thermistors
 use materials with a high thermal coefficient of
resistance
 sensitive but highly non-linear

A typical disc thermistor A threaded

thermistor
 pn junctions
 a semiconductor device with the
properties of a diode (we will
consider semiconductors and
diodes later)
 inexpensive, linear and easy to use
 limited temperature range (perhaps
-50C to 150 C) due to nature of
semiconductor material

pn-junction sensor
LIGHT SENSORS 3.4

 Photovoltaic
 light falling on a pn-junction can be
used to generate electricity from
light energy
(as in a solar cell)
 small devices used as sensors are
called photodiodes
 fast acting, but the voltage produced
is not linearly related to light
intensity
A typical photodiode
 Photoconductive
 such devices do not produce
electricity, but simply change their
resistance
 photodiode (as described earlier) can
be used in this way to produce a
linear device
 phototransistors act like photodiodes
but with greater sensitivity
 light-dependent resistors (LDRs) are
slow, but respond like the human eye

A light-dependent resistor (LDR)

FORCE SENSORS 3.5

 Strain gauge
 stretching in one direction increases the resistance of
the device, while stretching in the other direction has
little effect
 can be bonded to a surface to measure strain
 used within load cells and pressure sensors

Direction of sensitivity

A strain gauge
DISPLACEMENT SENSORS 3.6

 Potentiometers
 resistive potentiometers are one of the most widely
used forms of position sensor
 can be angular or linear
 consists of a length of resistive material with a sliding
contact onto the resistive track
 when used as a position transducer a potential is placed
across the two end terminals, the voltage on the sliding
contact is then proportional to its position
 an inexpensive and easy to use sensor
 Inductive proximity sensors
– coil inductance is greatly affected
by the presence of ferromagnetic
materials
– here the proximity of a
ferromagnetic plate is determined
by measuring the inductance of a
coil
– we will look at inductance in later
lectures

Inductive proximity sensors

 Switches
 simplest form of digital displacement sensor
 many forms: lever or push-rod operated microswitches; float
switches; pressure switches; etc.

A limit switch A float switch

 Opto-switches
 consist of a light source and a light sensor within a
single unit
 2 common forms are the reflective and slotted types

A reflective opto-switch A slotted opto-switch

 Absolute position encoders
 a pattern of light and dark strips is printed on to a strip
and is detected by a sensor that moves along it
 the pattern takes the form of a series of lines as shown below
 it is arranged so that the combination is unique at each point

 sensor is an array of photodiodes

 Incremental position encoder
 uses a single line that alternates black/white
 two slightly offset sensors produce outputs as shown below
 detects motion in either direction, pulses are counted to
determine absolute position (which must be initially reset)
 Other counting techniques
 several methods use counting to determine position
 two examples are given below

Inductive sensor Opto-switch sensor

MOTION SENSORS 3.7

 Motion sensors measure quantities such as velocity

and acceleration
 can be obtained by differentiating displacement
 differentiation tends to amplify high-frequency noise
 Alternatively can be measured directly
 some sensors give velocity directly
 e.g. measuring frequency of pulses in the counting techniques
described earlier gives speed rather than position
 some sensors give acceleration directly
 e.g. accelerometers usually measure the force on a mass
SOUND SENSORS 3.8

 Microphones
 a number of forms are available
 e.g. carbon (resistive), capacitive, piezoelectric and
moving-coil microphones
 moving-coil devices use a magnet and a coil attached to a
diaphragm – we will discuss electromagnetism later
SENSOR INTERFACING 3.9

 Resistive devices
 can be very simple
 e.g. in a potentiometer, with a fixed voltage across the outer terminals,
the voltage on the third is directly related to position

 where the resistance of the device

changes with the quantity being
measured, this change can be
converted into a voltage signal
using a potential divider – as shown
 the output of this arrangement is not
linearly related to the change in
resistance
 Switches
 switch interfacing is also simple
 can use a single resistor as below to produce a voltage output
 all mechanical switches suffer from switch bounce
 Capacitive and inductive sensors
 sensors that change their capacitance or inductance in
response to external influences normally require the use
of alternating current (AC) circuitry
 such circuits need not be complicated
 we will consider AC circuits in later lectures
KEY POINTS
 A wide range of sensors is available
 Some sensors produce an output voltage related to
the measured quantity and therefore supply power
 Other devices simply change their physical
properties
 Some sensors produce an output that is linearly
related to the quantity being measured, others do
not
 Interfacing may be required to produce signals in
the correct form