MT23303 - SENSORS

AND
INSTRUMENTATION
INTRODUCTION – SENSORS
• Sensor is a device that detects and responds to some type of input from the physical
environment
• Input could be light, heat, motion, moisture, force, pressure, displacement, etc.
• It produces a proportional output signal (electrical, mechanical, magnetic, etc.)
Human beings are equipped with 5 different types of sensors.
• Eyes detect light energy
• Ears detect acoustic energy
• A tongue and a nose detect certain chemicals
• Skin detects pressures and temperatures.
• The eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and skin receive these signals then send
messages to the brain which outputs a response.
For example, when you touch a hot plate, it is your brain that tells you it
is hot, not your skin.
THE BASIC BIOLOGICAL SENSING
PROCESS
NEED FOR SENSORS
• Sensors are omnipresent. They embedded in our bodies, automobiles, airplanes, cellular
telephones, radios, chemical plants, industrial plants and countless other applications.
• Sensors in industrial applications being used for process control, monitoring, and safety,
and in medicine being used for diagnostics, There monitoring, critical care, and public
health.
• Sensors can improve the world through diagnostics in medical applications; improved
performance of energy sources like fuel cells and batteries and solar power; improved
health and safety and security for people; sensors for exploring space and improved
environmental monitoring.
• Without the use of sensors, there would be no automation
• We live in the World of Sensors.
• In our day-to-day life we frequently use different types of sensors in several
applications
• We can find different types of Sensors in our homes, offices, cars etc.
• Working to make our lives easier by turning on the lights by detecting our presence,
adjusting the room temperature, detect smoke or fire, make us delicious coffee and
open garage doors as soon as our car is near the door and many other tasks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsdMxdPnJNs
Measurement
• Measurement is the process or the result of determining the
magnitude of a quantity, such as length or mass, relative to a unit of
measurement, such as a meter or a kilogram.
UNIT I
SCIENCE OF MEASUREMENT
• Units and standards
• Calibration techniques
• Errors in measurements
• Generalized measurement system
• Static and Dynamic characteristics of transducers
• Generalized performance of zero order and first order systems
• Classification of transducers
Units and standards
Process of Calibration
• The procedure involved in calibration is called as process of
calibration.
• Calibration procedure involves the comparison of particular
instrument with either
A primary standard
A secondary standard with higher accuracy than the instrument to be
calibrated
An instrument of known accuracy.
Procedure of calibration as follows
• Study the construction of the instrument and identify and list all the
possible inputs.
• Choose, as best as one can, which of the inputs will be significant in
the application for which the instrument is to be calibrated.
• Standard and secure apparatus that will allow all significant inputs to
vary over the ranges considered necessary.
• By holding some input constant, varying others and recording the
output, develop the desired static input-output relations.
Calibration Methods
• Calibration methods are classified into following two types,
Primary or Absolute method of calibration
Secondary or Comparison method of calibration
Direct comparison method of calibration
Indirect comparison method of calibration
Primary or Absolute method of calibration
• If the particular test instrument (the instrument to be calibrated) is
calibrated against primary standard, then the calibration is called as
primary or absolute calibration.
• After the primary calibration, the instrument can be used as a
secondary calibration instrument.
Secondary or Comparison calibration
method
• If the instrument is calibrated against secondary standard instrument,
then the calibration is called as secondary calibration. This method is
used for further calibration of other devices of lesser accuracy.
• Secondary calibration instruments are used in laboratory practice and
also in the industries because they are practical calibration sources.
Direct comparison method of Calibration
• Direct comparison method of calibration with a known input source
with same order of accuracy as primary calibration.
• So the instrument which is calibrated directly is also used as secondary
calibration instruments.
Indirect comparison method of Calibration
• The procedure of indirect method of calibration is based on the
equivalence of two different devices with same comparison concept.
Errors in measurements
Errors in a measurement system can be classified into following
categories
Gross errors
Systematic errors
• Instrumental error
• Environmental error
• Observational error
Random errors
Gross Errors
• This class of errors mainly covers human mistakes in reading
instruments, recording and calculating measurement results.
The causes of these errors are as follows,
Misreading of the instruments
Incorrect adjustments
Improper application of the instruments.
Gross error can be avoided by adopting two means.
i) Great care should be taken in reading and recording the data.
ii) Two, three or even more readings should be taken for the quantity
under measurement.
 Systematic errors

1. Instrumental Errors
These errors arise due to three main reasons
(i) Due to inherent shortcoming in the instruments
These errors are inherent in instruments because of their mechanical structure. They may be due
to construction, calibration or operation of the instruments or measuring devices. These errors
may cause the instrument to read too low or too high.
The possibility of such errors as it is often possible to eliminate them, or at least reduce
them to a great extent by using the following methods.
a) The procedure of measurement must be carefully planned.
Substitution methods or calibration against standard may be used for
the purpose.
b) Correction factors should be applied after determining the
instrumental errors.
c) The instrument may be re-calibrated carefully
(ii) Due to misuse of the instruments
The errors caused in measurements are due to the fault of the
operator than that of the instrument. A good instrument used in
an
unintelligent way may give erroneous results.
(iii) Due to loading effects of instruments
One of the most common errors committed by beginners, is the
improper use of an instrument for measurement work.
2. Environmental Errors
These errors are due to external condition to the measuring device
including conditions in the area surrounding the instrument.
These may be effects of temperature, pressure, humidity, dust,
vibrations or of external magnetic or electrostatic fields.
• The corrective measure employed to eliminate or to
reduce these
undesired effects are
1. Arrangements should be made to keep the conditions
as nearly as constant as possible.
2. Using equipment which is immune to these effects.
3. Employing techniques which eliminate the effects of
these disturbances.
3. Observation Errors
These are the errors introduced by the observer. There are many
sources of observational errors such as parallax error while
reading a meter, wrong scale selections, the habits of individual
observers etc.,
• To eliminate such observational errors, one should use the
instruments with mirrors, knife edged pointers etc.,
• Now a days, the instruments with digital display of output
which completely eliminates the errors on account of human
observational or sensing powers as the output is in form of
digits.
Random Errors
• Random errors are generally unpredictable errors, and they
occur even when all systematic errors are accounted for
although the instrument is selected properly based on the
nature of measurement, pre-calibration of the instrument is
properly done before the measurement and there is an
environmental control, random errors will be there.
• However, these errors can be minimized by taking more
number of readings and using proper statistical methods
for obtaining the best approximation of the true value.
Generalized measurement system
Static and Dynamic characteristics of transducers

• Static Characteristic
The main static characteristics discussed here are,
i) Accuracy and Precision
ii) Sensitivity
iii) Reproductively
iv) Drift
v) Static Error
vi) Dead Zone
The qualities (i), (ii) and (iii) are desirable, while qualities (iv), (v)
and (vi) are undesirable.
1. Accuracy and Precision
i) Accuracy
• It is the closeness with which an instrument reading approaches
the true value of the quantity being measured. Thus accuracy of a
measurement means conformity to truth.
ii) Precision
• It is a measure of the reproducibility of the measurements, i.e.,
given a fixed value of a quantity, precision is a measure of the
degree of agreement within a group of measurements. The term
‘precise’ means clearly or sharply defined.
2. Sensitivity
• The sensitivity of any instrument is stated as an ability to detect
changes in the measured quantity. It can be defined as the slope
of the calibration curve, if the input/output relationship is linear.
The sensitivity of an instrument is also referred to the true
quantity that is being measured.
3. Repeatability and
Reproducibility
• Repeatability describes the closeness of output readings, when
the same input is applied repetitively over a short period of time
with the same measurement conditions, same instrument and
observer, same location and same conditions of use maintained
throughout.
• Reproducibility describes the closeness of output readings for
the same input when there are changes in the method of
measurement, observer, measuring instrument, location, condition
of use and time of measurement
4. Drift
• All calibrations and specifications of an instrument are only valid
under controlled conditions of temperature, pressure etc., These
standard ambient conditions are usually defined in the instrument
specifications. As variations occur in ambient temperature etc.,
Drift may be classified into three categories
i) Zero Drift
• If the whole calibration gradually shifts due to slippage,
permanent set or due to undue warming up of electronic tube
circuits, zero drift sets in.
ii) Span Drift or Sensitivity Drift
• If there is proportional change in the indication all along the
upward scale, the drift is called span drift or sensitivity drift.
• iii) Zonal Drift
• In case the drift occurs only over a portion of span of an
instrument, it is called zonal drift.
• There are many environmental factors which cause drift. They
may be stray electric and magnetic fields, thermal emfs, change in
temperature, mechanical vibrations, wear and tear and high
mechanical stresses developed in some parts of the instruments
and systems.
5. Static Error
• Static error is defined as the difference between the measured
value and the true value of quantity then.
6. Dead Zone
• Dead zone is defined as the largest change of input quantity for
which there is no output of the instrument. The factors which
produce dead zone are friction, backlash and hystersis in the
instrument.
Dynamic Characteristics
• The dynamic characteristics of an instrument refers to performance of the
instrument when it is subjected to time varying input. The performance criteria
based upon the dynamic relation constitute the dynamic characteristics.
The dynamic characteristics of a measurement system are:
• Speed of response
It is defined as the rapidity with which a measurement system responds to
changes in the measured quantity.
• Measuring log
• It is the retardation or delay in the response of a measurement system to change
in the measured quantity.
• The measuring lags are of two types,
• i) Retardation type ii) Time delay type
i) Retardation Type
• In this case the response of the measurement system begins immediately after a change in
measured quantity has occurred.
ii) Time Delay Type
• In this case the response of the measurement system begins after a dead time after the
application of the input. Dead time simply shift the response of the system along the time scale
and causes a corresponding dynamic error.
Fidelity
• It is defined as the degree to which a measurement system indicates changes in the measured
quantity without any dynamic error.
Dynamic error
• It is the difference between the true value of quantity (under measurement)
• changing with time and the value indicated by the measurement system.
If no static error is assumed. It is also called measurement error.
Classification of transducers