CHAPTER 3

MONITORING AND CONTROL

Learning Objectives

Be By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

Describe describe a sensor

Identify identify a range of different sensors

Describe describe the calibration of Sensor

Highlight highlight the importance of calibration

Describe describe how sensors are used in monitoring and control technologies

Evaluate evaluate using monitoring and control technologies in everyday life

3.1 Monitoring
Technologies

• Monitoring technologies uses sensors to

monitor an environment
• Sensors:
• Definition: an input device that collects data
from the surrounding physical environment.
The sensor input this data into a computer
system to be processed.
• A sensor is a type of input device. It is used to
collect data about a physical environment
automatically. This removes the need for
human to collect the data manually. The data
collected from sensor is input into a system
and any necessary action required is taken.
 Types of sensors
There are different Sensors that collect data
about different aspects of the environment,
• Light/UV Sensors
• Temperature Sensors
• Pressure Sensors
• Humidity Sensors
• Sound Sensors
• Infrared Sensors
• Touch Sensors
• Electromagnetic Field Sensors
• Proximity Sensors
Uses of Sensors

• Weather Stations as an Example:

• Temperature Sensors: Measure ambient
temperature
• Pressure Sensors: Measure atmospheric
pressure
• Humidity Sensors: Measure absolute and
relative humidity
• Light Sensors: Measure sunlight
 Advantages of using
sensors
• Data can be repeatedly collected 24 hours a
day. This means that a human doses not
need to be present all the time and can rest
• Data can be collected in harmful and
dangerous environments, without the need
for a human to be present. This means that
the lives of humans are not endangered to
collect the data
• A sensor may be more consistent in the data
that it sample as it is a mechanical device. It
is therefore likely to be accurate. A human
may be inconsistent, and this could lead to
errors in data samples.
 Disadvantages of a
sensor

• Costly implementation
• Maintenance
challenges
• Limited accuracy in
certain conditions
Calibration
• Calibration is the process of
testing and modifying a
device to make sure that it
is taking the correct
readings. The goal of
calibration is to minimise
any measurement
uncertainty by ensuring the
accuracy of test equipment
  Depending on the type of instrument/
The measuring device and the environment in
which it is being used, the measuring
importance device may degrade very quickly or over a
of long period of time. Calibration improves
the accuracy of the measuring device.
Calibration  Calibration quantifies and controls errors
or uncertainties within measurement
processes to an acceptable level
  Calibration is vitally important
wherever measurements are
The important, it enables users and
importance of businesses to have confidence in
the results that they monitor
Calibration record and subsequently control.
(Contd.)  To be confident in the results being
measured, there is an on-going
need to maintain the calibration of
equipment throughout its lifetime
for reliable, accurate and
repeatable measurements.
Categories of result that can be
given by a sensor

• Offset: this means that the readings are higher or lower

than the ideal reference
• Sensitivity: this means that the reading change over a
range at a different rate to the ideal reference
• Linearity: this means that the readings are directly
proportional to the ideal reference.
Methods used to calibrate
devices/sensors

• A. One point calibration

• One point calibration is the simplest type of calibration.
Only one measurement point is needed.
• If your sensor output is already scaled to useful
measurement units, a one-point calibration can be used
to correct for sensor offset errors
  Take a measurement with your sensor.
 Compare that measurement with your
reference standard.
How to  Subtract the sensor reading from the
reference reading to get the offset.
perform a  In your code, add the offset to every sensor
reading to obtain the calibrated value
one -point E.g. if the thermometer tells you the
temperature of a room is 22⁰C, but the reading
calibration: from your sensor tells you that the room is
20.5⁰C, the calculation would be:
22-20.5=1.5
This means the offset that needs to be
calculated to add to each reading from the
sensor is 1.5.
B. Two -point calibration

A two-point calibration is a more accurate

calibration technique than the one-point
calibration.

In two -point calibration we adjust the sensor

offset at two different values, creating accurate
measurements across the entire scale.

A Two Point calibration essentially re-scales the

output and is capable of correcting both slope
and offset errors.
Multipoint calibration
• The multi-point
calibration consists of
a high, middle, and
low check, and thus
grants you proof of
accuracy over a larger
range.
Monitoring
Technologies
• Sensors are used in both
monitoring and control
applications (systems).
• There is a subtle
difference between how
these two methods work:
 Monitoring
System
• A monitoring system is designed to collect the data and the store it so
that it can be used at a later stage. For example, data may be collected
about the temperature in a garden over a period of 24 hours, for a
week. The data could then be analysed at a later stage to see which
day was the warmest and what time of the day the warmest
temperature was recorded. The main technologies used in a
monitoring system are sensors. Other technologies that may be used
are storage devices to store the data collected. Graphing software
could be used to create visual representation of the date to make it
easier to interpret.
 • An example of this type of system could
be a monitoring system for the level of
chlorine in the water of a swimming
pool:
a pH sensor is place in the swimming
pool
Example of The pH sensor takes reading at regular
monitoring system intervals, such as every minute
The readings are sent to a storage
device
The readings are put into a graph by
the manager so that she can see the
level of chlorine in the water
throughout the day.
 Examples of Monitoring
Technology include
 CCTV monitoring, workplace monitoring.
 environmental monitoring
 monitoring a patient in a hospital for vital signs such as heart
rate, temperature, etc.
 monitoring of intruders in a burglar alarm system
 checking the temperature levels in a car engine
 monitoring pollution levels in a river
 • A weather station uses lots of temperature
sensors that are spread across a region or
Real life country. These temperature sensors takes
examples of data samples of the ambient temperature
monitoring in that area. The data samples are sent
systems- back to the weather station. This data can
then be used in many ways, for example,
weather to report the current temperature. The
stations weather station could also analyse lots of
samples of data and predict what the
weather may be in the future. A weather
station may also use pressure sensors,
humidity sensors and light sensors.
 Control system
• Control system not only
monitors but also regulates or
manipulates the system to
achieve a desired outcome by
adjusting inputs based on the
feedback received from the
monitoring
 microprocessor
• Microprocessor: is an integrated circuit
that is used in monitoring and control
systems.
• A microprocessor is an electronic
component that can perform similar
functions to a central processing unit
(CPU). It can process instructions and
perform mathematical comparisons
and calculations. Microprocessor also
have small areas to hold data called
registers. Microprocessors are
normally a single integrated circuit.
 Advantages of
microprocessor
• 1. they can be programmed to execute several
different tasks.
• 2. they are small so can be easily built into different
technologies
• 3. they are relatively fast at moving data between
different memory locations.
Disadvantages of
microprocessor

•1. there is a limit on the size of the

data they can handle
•2. they are only small and can
overheat if too much demand is
placed on them
 Actuator
• Actuator: is a type of motor that is used to move and
operate another mechanism or device. Actuator can
be based on different methods of operation such as
hydraulic, pneumatic or electric. Actuator could
control operations such as opening and closing a
valve, turning a switch on and off or driving a
mechanism to open a door. They can also be used to
drive each of the individual parts in a robot.
 Advantages of
actuator
• 1. hydraulic and electric actuators are fairly
quiet
• 2. the cost of pneumatic actuators is relatively
low
• Most actuators have moderate to high-speed
abilities to perform an action
 • 1. pneumatic actuators can
be quite noisy
Disadvantages • 2. the cost of hydraulic and
electric actuators is
of actuator relatively high
• 3. Fluid leaks can be a
problem in hydraulic
actuators
• Sensors, microprocessors and actuators are
programmed to interact with each other to create a
control system. There are several stages in the
process of a control system.
The sensor collects the data at set-time intervals, for
example once every minute.
The data is sent to a microprocessor
The microprocessor will analyse the data. This could
involve comparing it to a pre-stored value, or range
of values.
If the data dose not match the pre-stored value, the
microprocessor will send a signal to an actuator or
device
The actuator or device will trigger any action that
needs to be taken.
A real-world example
of a control system-
growing crops
• A farm that grows fruit and vegetables makes
use of many different control systems. It relies
on these systems to make sure that the produce
it grows are kept in the correct conditions to
make sure that they do grow. It would be a huge
task for a farmer to constantly check his
produce, so he relies on these systems to do this
for him. One control system that he could use is
to control the conditions within his
greenhouses. The correct level of light and
temperature will need to be maintained. The
control systems will incorporate light sensors,
temperature sensors, microprocessors and
actuators to maintain the correct conditions.
The farmer wants to make sure the temperature
 • 1. the control system uses a temperature sensor to
read the temperature within the greenhouse on a
regular basis.
• 2. The readings are sent to a microprocessor. They will
Step by step on need to be converted from analogue data to digital
data to be processed by the microprocessor
how the control • 3. the microprocessor compares the reading to the set
system works range
• 4. if the reading is within the range, no further action
is taken
• 5. if the reading is greater than 25⁰C, the
microprocessor sends a signal to an actuator that
could drive an action, such as open a window to the
green house
• 6. if the reading is less than 22⁰C, the microprocessor
send a signal to an actuator that could drive an action,
such as turn on a heater in the greenhouse
• 7. the whole process is repeated
ALGORITHM • Algorithm: a set of instructions or
steps to be followed to achieve a
certain outcome. Before you write
algorithms on a computer, you
can design then using a flowchart
or pseudocode.
• Pseudocode simply means there
is no specific syntax that you have
to use.