Module 2

• IoT Sensing and Actuation: Introduction, Sensors,

Sensor Characteristics, Sensorial Deviations,
Sensing Types, Sensing Considerations, Actuators,
Actuator Types, Actuator Characteristics.
Introduction
• A major chunk of IoT applications involves sensing in
one form or the other.
• Almost all the applications in IoT—be it a consumer
IoT, an industrial IoT, or just plain hobby-based
deployments of IoT solutions—sensing forms the first
step.
• Incidentally, actuation forms the final step in the whole
operation of IoT application deployment in a majority
of scenarios.
• The basic science of sensing and actuation is based on
the process of transduction.
• Transduction is the process of energy conversion from
one form to another.
• A transducer is a physical means of enabling
transduction.
• Transducers take energy in any form (for which it is
designed)—electrical, mechanical, chemical, light, sound,
and others—and convert it into another, which may be
electrical, mechanical, chemical, light, sound, and others.
• For example, in a public announcement (PA) system, a
microphone (input device) converts sound waves into
electrical signals, which is amplified by an amplifier system (a
process).
• Finally, a loudspeaker (output device) outputs this into audible
sounds by converting the amplified electrical signals back into
sound waves.
• Table 2.1 outlines the basic terminological differences
between transducers, sensors, and actuators.
Table 2.1 Basic outline of the differences between transducers, sensors, and actuators
Sensors
• Sensors are devices that can measure, or quantify, or respond to the
ambient changes in their environment or within the intended zone of
their deployment.
• They generate responses to external stimuli or physical phenomenon
through characterization of the input functions (which are these
external stimuli) and their conversion into typically electrical signals.
• For example, heat is converted to electrical signals in a temperature
sensor, or atmospheric pressure is converted to electrical signals in a
barometer.
• A sensor is only sensitive to the measured property (e.g., a
temperature sensor only senses the ambient temperature of a room).
• It is insensitive to any other property besides what it is designed to
detect (e.g., a temperature sensor does not bother about light or
pressure while sensing the temperature).
• Finally, a sensor does not influence the measured property (e.g.,
measuring the temperature does not reduce or increase the
temperature). Figure 2.1 shows the simple outline of a sensing task.
• Here, a temperature sensor keeps on checking an environment
for changes.
• In the event of a fire, the temperature of the environment goes
up.
• The temperature sensor notices this change in the temperature
of the room and promptly communicates this information to a
remote monitor via the processor.

Figure 2.1 The outline of a simple sensing operation

• The various sensors can be classified based on: 1) power
requirements, 2) sensor output, and 3) property to be
measured.
• Power Requirements: The way sensors operate decides the
power requirements that must be provided for an IoT
implementation.
• Some sensors need to be provided with separate power
sources for them to function, whereas some sensors do not
require any power sources.
• Depending on the requirements of power, sensors can be of
two types.
(i) Active: Active sensors do not require an external circuitry or
mechanism to provide it with power.
• It directly responds to the external stimuli from its ambient
environment and converts it into an output signal.
• For example, a photodiode converts light into electrical
impulses.
(ii) Passive: Passive sensors require an external mechanism to
power them up.
• The sensed properties are modulated with the sensor’s
inherent characteristics to generate patterns in the output of
the sensor.
• For example, a thermistor’s resistance can be detected by
applying voltage difference across it or passing a current
through it.
• Output: The output of a sensor helps in deciding the
additional components to be integrated with an IoT node or
system.
• Typically, almost all modern-day processors are digital; digital
sensors can be directly integrated to the processors.
• The integration of analog sensors to these digital processors or
IoT nodes requires additional interfacing mechanisms such as
analog to digital converters (ADC), voltage level converters,
and others.
• Sensors are broadly divided into two types, depending on
the type of output generated from these sensors, as follows.
(i) Analog: Analog sensors generate an output signal or voltage,
which is proportional (linearly or non-linearly) to the quantity
being measured and is continuous in time and amplitude.
• Physical quantities such as temperature, speed, pressure,
displacement, strain, and others are all continuous and
categorized as analog quantities.
• For example, a thermometer or a thermocouple can be used
for measuring the temperature of a liquid (e.g., in
household water heaters).
• These sensors continuously respond to changes in the
temperature of the liquid.
(ii) Digital: These sensors generate the output of
discrete time digital representation (time, or
amplitude, or both) of a quantity being measured, in
the form of output signals or voltages.
• Typically, binary output signals in the form of a
logic 1 or a logic 0 for ON or OFF, respectively
are associated with digital sensors.
• The generated discrete (non-continuous) values
may be output as a single “bit” (serial
transmission), eight of which combine to produce
a single “byte” output (parallel transmission) in
digital sensors.
• Measured Property: The property of the environment being
measured by the sensors can be crucial in deciding the number
of sensors in an IoT implementation.
• Some properties to be measured do not show high spatial
variations and can be quantified only based on temporal
variations in the measured property, such as ambient
temperature, atmospheric pressure, and others.
• Whereas some properties to be measured show high spatial as
well as temporal variations such as sound, image, and others.
• Depending on the properties to be measured, sensors can be of
two types.
(i) Scalar: Scalar sensors produce an output proportional to the
magnitude of the quantity being measured.
• The output is in the form of a signal or voltage. Scalar physical
quantities are those where only the magnitude of the signal is
sufficient for describing or characterizing the phenomenon and
information generation.
• Examples physical quantities include color, pressure,
temperature, strain, and others.
• A thermometer or thermocouple is an example of a
scalar sensor that has the ability to detect changes in
ambient or object temperatures (depending on the
sensor’s configuration).
• Factors such as changes in sensor orientation or
direction do not affect these sensors (typically).
(ii) Vector: Vector sensors are affected by the magnitude
as well as the direction and/or orientation of the
property they are measuring.
• Physical quantities such as velocity and images that
require additional information besides their
magnitude for completely categorizing a physical
phenomenon are categorized as vector quantities.
• Measuring such quantities are undertaken using vector
sensors.
Figure 2.2 The functional blocks of a typical sensor node in IoT
Figure 2.3 Some common commercially available sensors used for IoT-based sensing
applications
Sensor Characteristics
• All sensors can be defined by their ability to measure or capture
a certain phenomenon and report them as output signals to
various other systems.
• Still, even within the same sensor type and class, sensors can be
characterized by their ability to sense the phenomenon based
on the following three fundamental properties.
 Sensor Resolution: The smallest change in the measurable
quantity that a sensor can detect is referred to as the resolution
of a sensor.
• For digital sensors, the smallest change in the digital output
that the sensor is capable of quantifying is its sensor resolution.
• The more the resolution of a sensor, the more accurate is the
precision.
• A sensor’s accuracy does not depend upon its resolution.
• For example, a temperature sensor A can detect up to 0.5◦ C
changes in temperature; whereas another sensor B can detect up
to 0.25 ◦C changes in temperature.
• Therefore, the resolution of sensor B is higher than the
resolution of sensor A.
 Sensor Accuracy: The accuracy of a sensor is the ability of
that sensor to measure the environment of a system as close to
its true measure as possible.
• For example, a weight sensor detects the weight of a 100 kg
mass as 99.98 kg.
• We can say that this sensor is 99:98% accurate, with an error
rate of 0:02%.
 Sensor Precision: The principle of repeatability governs
the precision of a sensor.
• Only if, upon multiple repetitions, the sensor is found to have
the same error rate, can it be deemed as highly precise.
• For example, consider if the same weight sensor described
earlier reports measurements of 98.28 kg, 100.34 kg, and
101.11 kg upon three repeat measurements for a mass of
actual weight of 100 kg.
• Here, the sensor precision is not deemed high because of
significant variations in the temporal measurements for the
same object under the same conditions.
Sensorial Deviations
• Most of the sensing in IoT is non-critical, where minor
deviations in sensorial outputs not often change the
nature of the undertaken tasks.
• However, some critical applications of IoT, such as
healthcare, industrial process monitoring, and others,
do require sensors with high-quality measurement
capabilities.
• As the quality of the measurement obtained from a
sensor is dependent on a large number of factors, there
are a few primary considerations that must be
incorporated during the sensing of critical systems.
• In the event of a sensor’s output signal going beyond its
designed maximum and minimum capacity for
measurement, the sensor output is truncated to its
maximum or minimum value, which is also the
sensor’s limits.
• The measurement range between a sensor’s characterized
minimum and maximum values is also referred to as the
full scale range of that sensor.
• Under real conditions, the sensitivity of a sensor may differ
from the value specified for that sensor leading to
sensitivity error.
• This deviation is mostly attributed to sensor fabrication
errors and its calibration.
• If the output of a sensor differs from the actual value to
be measured by a constant, the sensor is said to have an
offset error or bias.
• For example, while measuring an actual temperature of
0◦C, a temperature sensor outputs 1.1◦C every time.
• In this case, the sensor is said to have an offset error or
bias of 1.1◦C.
• Similarly, some sensors have a non-linear behavior.
• If a sensor’s transfer function (TF) deviates from a
straight line transfer function, it is referred to as its
non-linearity.
• The amount a sensor’s actual output differs from the
ideal TF behavior over the full range of the sensor
quantifies its behavior.
• It is denoted as the percentage of the sensor’s full
range.
• Most sensors have linear behavior.
• If the output signal of a sensor changes slowly and
independently of the measured property, this
behavior of the sensor’s output is termed as drift.
• Noise is a temporally varying random deviation of
signals.
• If a sensor’s output varies/deviates due to deviations in the
sensor’s previous input values, it is referred to as hysteresis
error.
• The present output of the sensor depends on the past input
values provided to the sensor.
• Normally, the phenomenon of hysteresis can be observed in
analog sensors, magnetic sensors, and during heating of metal
strips.
• One way to check for hysteresis error is to check how the
sensor’s output changes when we first increase, then decrease
the input values to the sensor over its full range.
• It is generally denoted as a positive and negative percentage
variation of the full-range of that sensor.
• Focusing on digital sensors, if the digital output of a sensor is an
approximation of the measured property, it induces
quantization error.
• This error can be defined as the difference between the actual
analog signal and its closest digital approximation during the
sampling stage of the analog to digital conversion.
• Similarly, dynamic errors caused due to mishandling of
sampling frequencies can give rise to aliasing errors.
• Aliasing leads to different signals of varying frequencies to
be represented as a single signal in case the sampling
frequency is not correctly chosen, resulting in the input
signal becoming a multiple of the sampling rate.
• Finally, the environment itself plays a crucial role in inducing
sensorial deviations.
Sensing Types
• Sensing can be broadly divided into four different
categories based on the nature of the
environment being sensed and the physical
sensors being used to do so (Figure 2.4):
1) scalar sensing, 2) multimedia sensing, 3) hybrid
sensing, and 4) virtual Sensing.
1) Scalar sensing
• Scalar sensing encompasses the sensing of features that
can be quantified simply by measuring changes in the
amplitude of the measured values with respect to time [3].
• Quantities such as ambient temperature, current,
atmospheric pressure, rainfall, light, humidity, flux, and
others are considered as scalar values as they normally do
not have a directional or spatial property assigned with them.
• Simply measuring the changes in their values with respect
time provides enough information about these quantities.
• The sensors used for measuring these scalar quantities are
referred to as scalar sensors, and the act is known as scalar
sensing. Figures 2.3 (b), 2.3 (d), 2.3 (e), 2.3 (f), 2.3 (g), 2.3
(h), 2.3 (i), and 2.3 (j) show scalar sensors.
• A simple scalar temperature sensing of a fire detection
event is shown in Figure 2.4(a).
Figure 2.4 The different sensing types commonly encountered in IoT.
2) Multimedia sensing
• Multimedia sensing encompasses the sensing of features that
have a spatial variance property associated with the
property of temporal variance [4].
• Unlike scalar sensors, multimedia sensors are used for
capturing the changes in amplitude of a quantifiable
property concerning space (spatial) as well as time
(temporal).
• Quantities such as images, direction, flow, speed,
acceleration, sound, force, mass, energy, and momentum
have both directions as well as a magnitude.
• Additionally, these quantities follow the vector law of
addition and hence are designated as vector quantities.
• The sensors used for measuring these quantities are known
as vector sensors. Figures 2.3(a) and 2.3(c) are vector
sensors.
• A simple camera-based multimedia sensing using
surveillance as an example is shown in Figure 2.4(b).
3) Hybrid sensing
• The act of using scalar as well as multimedia sensing at the
same time is referred to as hybrid sensing.
• Many a time, there is a need to measure certain vector as
well as scalar properties of an environment at the same
time.
• Under these conditions, a range of various sensors are
employed (from the collection of scalar as well as
multimedia sensors) to measure the various properties of
that environment at any instant of time, and temporally
map the collected information to generate new
information.
• For example, in an agricultural field, it is required to
measure the soil conditions at regular intervals of time to
determine plant health.
• Sensors such as soil moisture and soil temperature are
deployed underground to estimate the soil’s water
retention capacity and the moisture being held by the soil
at any instant of time.
• However, this setup only determines whether the plant
is getting enough water or not.
• There may be a large number of other factors besides
water availability, which may affect a plant’s health.
• The additional inclusion of a camera sensor with the
plant may be able to determine the actual condition of
a plant by additionally determining the color of leaves.
• The aggregate information from soil moisture, soil
temperature, and the camera sensor will be able to
collectively determine a plant’s health at any instant of
time.
• Other common examples of hybrid sensing include smart
parking systems, traffic management systems, and
others. Figure 2.4(c) shows an example of hybrid
sensing,
4) Virtual sensing
• Many a time, there is a need for very dense and large-scale
deployment of sensor nodes spread over a large area for
monitoring of parameters.
• One such domain is agriculture [5].
• Here, often, the parameters being measured, such as soil
moisture, soil temperature, and water level, do not show
significant spatial variations.
• Hence, if sensors are deployed in the fields of farmer A, it is
highly likely that the measurements from his sensors will be
able to provide almost concise measurements of his neighbor
B’s fields; this is especially true of fields which are
immediately surrounding A’s fields.
• Make use of this property, if the data from A’s field is
digitized using an IoT infrastructure and this system advises
him regarding the appropriate watering, fertilizer, and
pesticide regimen for his crops, this advisory can also be
used by B for maintaining his crops.
• In short, A ’s sensors are being used for actual
measurement of parameters; whereas virtual data (which
does not have actual physical sensors but uses extrapolation-
based measurements) is being used for advising B.
• This is the virtual sensing paradigm. Figure 2.4(d) shows an
example of virtual sensing.
• Two temperature sensors S1 and S3 monitor three nearby
events E1, E2, and E3 (fires).
• The event E2 does not have a dedicated sensor for monitoring
it; however, through the superposition of readings from
sensors S1 and S3, the presence of fire in E2 is inferred.
Sensing Considerations
• The choice of sensors in an IoT sensor node is critical and can
either make or break the feasibility of an IoT deployment.
• The following major factors influence the choice of sensors in
IoT-based sensing solutions: 1) sensing range, 2) accuracy and
precision, 3) energy, and 4) device size.
• These factors are discussed as follows:
(i) Sensing Range: The sensing range of a sensor node defines
the detection reliability of that node.
• Typical approaches to optimize the sensing range in
deployments include fixed k-coverage and dynamic k-
coverage.
• A lifelong fixed k-coverage tends to usher (lead) in
redundancy as it requires a large number of sensor nodes,
the sensing range of some of which may also overlap.
• In contrast, dynamic k coverage incorporates mobile sensor
nodes post detection of an event, which, is a costly solution
and may not be deployable in all operational areas and
terrains [1].
• Additionally, the sensing range of a sensor may also be used
to signify the upper and lower bounds of a sensor’s
measurement range.
• For example, a proximity sensor has a typical sensing range
of a couple of meters.
• In contrast, a camera has a sensing range varying between
tens of meters to hundreds of meters.
• As the complexity of the sensor and its sensing range goes
up, its cost significantly increases.
(ii) Accuracy and Precision: The accuracy and precision of measurements
provided by a sensor are critical in deciding the operations of specific
functional processes.
• Typically, off-the-shelf (used to describe a product that
is available immediately and does not need to be specially made
to suit a particular purpose) consumer sensors are low on requirements
and often very cheap.
• However, their performance is limited to regular application domains.
• For example, a standard temperature sensor can be easily integrated
with conventional components for hobby projects and day-to-day
applications, but it is not suitable for industrial processes.
• Regular temperature sensors have a very low-temperature sensing
range, as well as relatively low accuracy and precision.
• The use of these sensors in industrial applications, where a precision of
up to 3–4 decimal places is required, cannot be facilitated by these
sensors.
• Industrial sensors are typically very complicated, and as a result, very
costly.
• However, these industrial sensors have very high accuracy and precision
score, even under harsh operating conditions.
(iii) Energy: The energy consumed by a sensing solution is
crucial to determine the lifetime of that solution and the
estimated cost of its deployment.
• If the sensor or the sensor node is so energy inefficient that
it requires replenishment of its energy sources quite
frequently, the effort in maintaining the solution and its
cost goes up; whereas its deployment feasibility goes down.
• Consider a scenario where sensor nodes are deployed on the
top of glaciers (iceberg). Once deployed, access to these
nodes is not possible.
• If the energy requirements of the sensor nodes are too high,
such a deployment will not last long, and the solution will
be highly infeasible as charging or changing of the energy
sources of these sensor nodes is not an option.
(iv) Device Size: Modern-day IoT applications have a wide
penetration in all domains of life.
• Most of the applications of IoT require sensing solutions
which are so small that they do not delay any of the regular
activities that were possible before the sensor node
deployment was carried out.
• Larger the size of a sensor node, larger is the obstruction
caused by it, higher is the cost and energy requirements, and
lesser is its demand for the bulk of the IoT applications.
• Consider a simple human activity detector. If the detection unit
is too large to be carried or too bulky to cause hindrance to
regular normal movements, the demand for this solution would
be low.
• It is because of this that the onset of wearables took off so
strongly.
• The wearable sensors are highly energy-efficient, small in size,
and almost part of the wearer’s regular attire.
Actuators
• An actuator can be considered as a machine or
system’s component that can affect the movement or
control the said mechanism or the system.
• Control systems affect changes to the environment
or property they are controlling through actuators.
• The system activates the actuator through a control
signal, which may be digital or analog.
• It bring out a response from the actuator, which is in
the form of some form of mechanical motion.
• The control system of an actuator can be a
mechanical or electronic system, a software-based
system (e.g., an autonomous car control system), a
human, or any other input.
• Figure 2.5 shows the outline of a simple actuation
system.
• A remote user sends commands to a processor.
• The processor instructs a motor controlled robotic arm to perform
the commanded tasks accordingly.
• The processor is primarily responsible for converting the human
commands into sequential machine-language command
sequences, which enables the robot to move.
• The robotic arm finally moves the designated boxes, which was its
assigned task.

Figure 2.5 The outline of a simple actuation mechanism

Actuator Types
• Actuators can be divided into seven classes: 1) Hydraulic, 2)
pneumatic, 3) electrical, 4) thermal/magnetic, 5) mechanical, 6)
soft, and 7) shape memory polymers.
• Figure 2.6 shows some of the commonly used actuators in IoT
applications.
1) Hydraulic actuators
• A hydraulic actuator works on the principle of compression
and decompression of fluids.
• These actuators facilitate mechanical tasks such as lifting
loads through the use of hydraulic power derived from fluids
in cylinders or fluid motors.
• The mechanical motion applied to a hydraulic actuator is
converted to either linear, rotary, or oscillatory motion.
• The almost incompressible property of liquids is used in
hydraulic actuators for exerting significant force.
2) Pneumatic actuators
• A pneumatic actuator works on the principle of compression
and decompression of gases.
• These actuators use a vacuum or compressed air at high
pressure and convert it into either linear or rotary motion.
• Pneumatic rack and pinion actuators are commonly used for
valve controls of water pipes.
• Pneumatic actuators are considered as compliant systems.
• The actuators using pneumatic energy for their operation are
typically characterized by the quick response to starting and
stopping signals.
• Small pressure changes can be used for generating large forces
through these actuators.
• Pneumatic brakes are an example of this type of actuator which is
so responsive that they can convert small pressure changes applied
by drives to generate the massive force required to stop or slow
down a moving vehicle.
• Pneumatic actuators are responsible for converting pressure
into force.
3) Electric actuators
• Typically, electric motors are used to power an
electric actuator by generating mechanical torque.
• This generated torque is translated into the motion
of a motor’s shaft or for switching (as in relays).
• For example, actuating equipments such as solenoid
valves control the flow of water in pipes in response
to electrical signals.
• This class of actuators is considered one of the
cheapest, cleanest and speedy actuator types
available. Figures 2.6(a), 2.6(b), 2.6(c), 2.6(d), 2.6(e),
2.6(f), 2.6(i), and 2.6(j) show some of the commonly
used electrical actuators.
Figure 2.6 Some common commercially available actuators used for IoT-based control
applications
4) Thermal or magnetic actuators
• The use of thermal or magnetic energy is used for
powering this class of actuators.
• These actuators have a very high power density
and are typically compact, lightweight, and
economical.
• One classic example of thermal actuators is shape
memory materials (SMMs) such as shape
memory alloys (SMAs).
• These actuators do not require electricity for
actuation.
• They are not affected by vibration and can work
with liquid or gases. Magnetic shape memory alloys
(MSMAs) are a type of magnetic actuators.
5) Mechanical actuators
• In mechanical actuation, the rotary motion of the actuator is
converted into linear motion to execute some movement.
• The use of gears, rails, pulleys, chains, and other devices are
necessary for these actuators to operate.
• These actuators can be easily used in conjunction with pneumatic,
hydraulic, or electrical actuators.
• They can also work in a standalone mode. The best example of a
mechanical actuator is a rack and pinion mechanism.
• Figures 2.6(g), 2.6(h), 2.6(k), and 2.6(l) show some of the
commonly available mechanical actuators.
• The hydroelectric generator shown in Figures 2.6(g) and 2.6(h)
convert the water-flow induced rotary motion of a turbine into
electrical energy. Similarly, the mechanical switches shown in
Figures 2.6 (k) and 2.6(l) uses the mechanical motion of the switch
to switch on or off an electrical circuit.
6) Soft actuators
• Soft actuators (e.g., polymer-based) consists of
elastomeric polymers that are used as embedded
fixtures in flexible materials such as cloth, paper,
fiber, particles, and others [7].
• The conversion of molecular level microscopic
changes into tangible macroscopic deformations is
the primary working principle of this class of
actuators.
• These actuators have a high chance in modern-day
robotics.
• They are designed to handle fragile objects such as
agricultural fruit harvesting, or performing precise
operations like manipulating the internal organs
during robot-assisted surgeries.
7) Shape memory polymers
• Shape memory polymers (SMP) are considered as smart
materials that respond to some external stimulus by changing
their shape, and then revert to their original shape once the
affecting stimulus is removed [6].
• Features such as high strain recovery, biocompatibility, low
density, and biodegradability characterize these materials.
• SMP-based actuators function similar to our muscles. Modern-
day SMPs have been designed to respond to a wide range of
stimuli such as pH changes, heat differentials, light intensity,
and frequency changes, magnetic changes, and others.
• Photopolymer/light-activated polymers (LAP) are a particular
type of SMP, which require light as a stimulus to operate. LAP-
based actuators are characterized by their rapid response
times.
• Using only the variation of light frequency or its intensity, LAPs
can be controlled remotely without any physical contact.
• The development of LAPs whose shape can be changed by the
application of a specific frequency of light have been reported.
Actuator Characteristics.
• The choice or selection of actuators is crucial in an
IoT deployment, where a control mechanism is
required after sensing and processing of the
information obtained from the sensed environment.
• Actuators perform the physically heavier tasks in an
IoT deployment; tasks which require moving or
changing the orientation of physical objects,
changing the state of objects, and other such
activities.
• The correct choice of actuators is necessary for the
long-term nourishment and continuity of operations,
as well as for increasing the lifetime of the actuators
themselves.
• A set of four characteristics can define all actuators:
Weight: The physical weight of actuators limits its
application scope.
• For example, the use of heavier actuators is
generally preferred for industrial applications
and applications requiring no mobility of the IoT
deployment.
• In contrast, lightweight actuators typically find
common usage in portable systems in vehicles,
drones, and home IoT applications.
• It is to be noted that this is not always true.
Heavier actuators also have selective usage in
mobile systems, for example, landing gears and
engine motors in aircraft.
Power Rating: This helps in deciding the nature of the
application with which an actuator can be associated.
• The power rating defines the minimum and maximum
operating power an actuator can safely withstand without
damage to itself.
• Generally, it is indicated as the power-to-weight ratio for
actuators.
• For example, smaller servo motors used in hobby projects
typically have a maximum rating of 5 VDC, 500 mA,
which is suitable for an operations-driven battery-based
power source.
• Exceeding this limit might be detrimental to the
performance of the actuator and may cause burnout of the
motor.
• In contrast to this, servo motors in larger applications have
a rating of 460 VAC, 2:5 A, which requires standalone
power supply systems for operations.
• It is to be noted that actuators with still higher ratings are
available and vary according to application requirements.
Torque to Weight Ratio: The ratio of torque to the
weight of the moving part of an instrument/device
is referred to as its torque/weight ratio.
• This indicates the sensitivity of the actuator.
• Higher is the weight of the moving part; lower
will be its torque to weight ratio for a given
power.
Stiffness and Compliance: The resistance of a
material against deformation is known as its
stiffness, whereas compliance of a material is the
opposite of stiffness.
• Stiffness can be directly related to the modulus of
elasticity of that material.
• Stiff systems are considered more accurate than
compliant systems as they have a faster response
to the change in load applied to it.
• For example, hydraulic systems are considered as
stiff and non-compliant, whereas pneumatic
systems are considered as obedient.