10/9/2011

Introductiontosensors&transducers
Sensorclassification
SensorSelection
Performancecharacteristics

Inindustrialautomationextractionof

information/dataplaysamajorrolein
monitoringandcontrollingthepant
Thisisaccomplishedbythe

Atypicalmeasuring/dataacquisitiondevice

Measurand (Typicallyan
analogsignalfromplant)

instrumentation/measuring/dataacquisition
systemoftheplant

Sensor

Transducer

Transmittable
signal

MeasuringDevice

Measurand
o

Thequantity/parameterbeingmeasured

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Atypicalmeasuring/dataacquisitionsystem

Atypicalmeasuring/dataacquisitionsystemfor
controlling

Input
signal

Outputs

Signal
conditioning
From plant

Sensor

Transducer

Signal
conditioning
&
modification

Control
Hardware

Actuator

Plant

To
controller/
display
Signal
conditioning

Measuring System

Transducer

Sensor

Measuring System

Sensor
o

Adevicethatsensethemeasurand

Acquiresinformationfromtherealworld

Mechanical
Thermal

Transducer
o

Adevicethatconvertsaprimaryformofenergyinto
acorrespondingsignalwithadifferentformof
energy
Inotherwords,inameasuringdevice,atransducer
convertsinformationsuppliedbyasensorintoa
standardizedsignalwhichcanbeprocessed

Primaryformsofenergy

Electromagnetic

Chemical

Optical

Sensorsandactuatorsareexamplesfortransducers

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Someimportantnotesonsensorsand

Someimportantnotesonsensorsand

transducers

transducers(Cont..)

Almostanyphysicalpropertyofamaterialthat
changesinresponsetosomeexcitationcanbeused
asasensor

Physicalpropertiesusedbysomecommonly
availablesensors
Resistive
Inductive

Capacitive

Piezoelectric
Thermal

Mostsensorswillcomewithatransducercoupled
toit
Strain Gauge

Deflection

Voltage
Generation

Strain
Generation

Magnetosrtictive
Elastic

Electrical Signal

Photoresistive

Importanceofsensinginindustrialautomation
o

Manufacturingprocesscontrol

Processmonitoringandsupervision

Productqualitycontrol

Classificationofsensorscanbedoneon

severalbasis
SENSORS

SIGNAL
CHARACTERISTICS

Analogue
o Digital
o

POWER
SUPPLY

Active
o Passive
o

MODE OF
OPERATION

Nulltype

Deflectiontype

SUBJECT OF
MEASUREMENT

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Analogue

Analogue

Analoguemainlyreferstocontinuousunbroken
seriesofevents

Therefore,theyareusedformeasurementof
continuousprocessvariablessuchas,
Speed
Temperature

Pressure

Flow

Thesesensorstypicallyproducersacontinues
outputsignal(Voltage)thatisgenerally
proportionaltothemeasurand

Theoutputsignalisusuallyslowchangingandsmall
invalue,thussomekindofamplificationmaybe
necessary

Thetypicalvoltagerangeafteramplificationis05V

Strain

Analogue
o

TheoutputwillusuallypassthroughaA/D
converterbeforeenteringthecontroller/display

Examples:

Analogue

Potentiometer

Thermocouple
LVDT

Pressuresensors

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Digital

Digital

Digitalmainlyreferstoasequenceofdiscrete
events
o Thesesensorsproducesadiscreteoutputsignalor
voltagethatisadigitalrepresentationofthe
quantitybeingmeasured
o

Digital
o

Itproducesabinary outputsignalintheformofa
logic"1"oralogic"0",("ON"or"OFF")which
meansthatadigitalsignalonlyproducesdiscrete
(noncontinuous)valueswhichmaybeoutputtedas
asingle"bit",(serialtransmission)orbycombining
thebitstoproduceasingle"byte"output(parallel
transmission).

Sincetheoutputfromthesesensorsaredigital,
thesewillnotrequireanyconversionmodules
beforeenteringthecontroller/display

Active

Examples

Limitswitch
Opticalencoder

Theoutput(mostofit)isproducedbyanexternal
powersource

Examples

Ultrasonicranger

Ultrasonicsensors

Photosensitivesemiconductor(Photosensors)

Radar

CCD
CMOS

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Passive
o

Passive

Inpassivesensorstheoutputisgeneratedonlyfrom
theinputparameter(inputenergy)theyaresensing

Thatis,noadditionalpowersourceisnotrequired
togenerateanoutputsignal

However,thegeneratedoutputsignalcanbevery
smallorweak,henceitmaybenecessarytoamplify
theoutputsignalsbyusingactivedevicessuchas
OPamps

Deflectiontype
o

Thesesensorsareusedinaphysicalsetupwhere
theoutputisproportionaltothemeasurand

Moreconvenientthannulltype.(Easeofreading
andoperation)

Intermsofaccuracy,itwillbelessthanthatofa
nulltypesensor

Examplewouldbethepressuregauge

Examples
Straingauges
LVDTs

Thermocouples

Piezoelectricsensors

Nulltype

Innulltypesensors,anydeflectionduetothe
measurand isbalancedbytheopposingcalibrated
forcesothatanyimbalancesaredetected
o Thesearemoreaccuratethanthedeflectiontypes
sensingequipment
o

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Inthisclassification,thetypeswilldependon

theparameterorsubjectbeingmeasured
o

Forexample
Acoustic
Biological
Electrical

Mechanical

Thermal

Optical

Performancecharacteristics/parametersofa

sensorcanbebroadlycategorizedundertwo
mainheadings
o

Staticcharacteristics
Parametersthatareconstantintimeorvary
slowlywithtime
Dynamiccharacteristics

Parametersthatvarywithtime

Selectionofasensorforaparticularapplication

dependson:
o

Performancecharacteristics

Durabilityandruggedness

Maintenance

Cost

Staticcharacteristics
o

Accuracy

Precision

Repeatability

Range/Span

Deadband/deadspace

Hysteresis

Tolerance

Threshold

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Staticcharacteristics(Cont..)

Dynamiccharacteristics

Sensitivity

Usefulfrequencyrange

Resolution

Bandwidth

Linearity

Dynamicrange

Impedance/loadingeffects

Accuracy
o
o

Precision

Theclosenessofthemeasuredvaluetothe
truevalue
Dependsontheinherentinstrument
limitations

Lowaccuracy

Highaccuracy

Theabilityofaninstrumenttoreproducea
certainsetofreadingswithinagivenaccuracy
andaminimumdispersion

Thatis,ifalargenumberofreadingsaretaken
ofthesamequantitybyahighprecision
instrument,thenthespreadofreadingswillbe
verysmall

Precisiondependsonthereliabilityofthe
instrument

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Repeatability

Precision

Highprecision

Lowprecision
o

Range
o

Therange/spanofaninstrumentisdefinedas
theminimumandthemaximumvaluesitis
designedtomeasure

Deadspace/deadband
o

Thisistherangeofdifferentinputvaluesover
whichthereisnochangeintheoutputvalues

Theclosenessofoutputreadingswhenthesame
inputisappliedrepetitivelyoverashortperiodof
time,withthesamemeasurementconditions,same
instrumentandobserver,samelocationandsame
conditionsofuse,maintainedthroughout
Inotherwords,itistheabilitytoreproducethe
outputsignalexactlywhenthesamemeasurand is
appliedrepeatedlyunderthesameenvironmental
conditions
Thedegreeofrepeatabilityisanalternatewayof
expressingprecision

Threshold
o

Ifaninputtoainstrumentisgradually
increasedfromzero,theinputwillhaveto
reachacertainminimumlevelbeforethe
changeintheinstrumentoutputreadingisofa
largeenoughmagnitudetobedetectable.This
minimumlevelofinputisdefinedasthe
threshold

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Linearity
o

Thisissimplythepropertyoftheinstrument
wheretheoutputisalinearfunctionofthe
input
However,100%linearityisrarelyachievedand
thedeviationsfromtheidealaretermed
linearitytolerances
Linearityisexpressedasthepercentageof
departurefromthelinearvalue(i.e.maximum
deviationoftheoutputcurvefromthebestfit
straightlineduringacalibrationcycle)

Linearity
o

Linearity

Thenonlinearityisnormallycausedbynon
linearelementssuchasmechanicalhysteresis,
viscousflow,creepandelectronicamplifiers

Theclosenessofthestaticcalibrationcurve(curveof
outputamplitudevs inputamplitudeunderstatic
conditionswithinthedynamicrange)toastraight
linemeasuresthedegreeoflinearity

Zerodrift
o

Definedasthedriftfromthenullreadingofthe
instrumentwhenthemeasurand ismaintained
atsteadyforalongperiodoftime.Similarly,
fullscaledriftisdefinedwithrespecttofull
scalereading

Causedbyinstrumentinstability,ambientchanges,
changesinpowersupply,nonlinearaties etc,

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Hysteresiseffects
o

Iftheinputmeasured
quantitytothe
instrumentissteadily
increasedfroma
negativevalue,the
outputvariationis
shownascurveA.Then
iftheinputissteadily
decreased,theoutput
curveisasdepictedas
incurveB

Sensitivity
o

Sensitivityismeasuredbythemagnitude(peak,
rms value,etc.)oftheoutputsignalcorresponding
toaunitinputofthemeasurand

Inotherwords,itistheabilityoftheinstrumentto
respondtothechangesinthemeasurand

Itcanalsobeexpressedastheratioofchangeof
outputtothechangeoftheinput

Hysteresiseffects
o

Thepreviousfiguredepictstheoutput
characteristicsofainstrumentwhichexhibitsa
typicalhysteresis

Twoquantities,maximuminputhysteresisand
maximumoutputhysteresiscanbedefined
accordingtothediagram.Thesearenormally
expressedasapercentageofthefullscaleinputor
outputreadingrespectively

Sensitivity
o

Example
Ifamovementof0.001mmcausesanoutput
voltagechangeof0.02Vinaparticularelectrical
sensor,whatwouldbeitssensitivity?

Sensitivity=

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Sensitivity
o

Inthecaseofvectorial ortensorial signals

Crosssensitivityisthesensitivityalongdirections
thatareorthogonaltothedirectionofsensitivity
andoftenexpressedasapercentageofdirect
sensitivity

Resolutionisthesmallestincrementinthe
measuredvaluethatispossibletodetect
accurately

Itisalsoknownasthedegreeoffinenesswith
whichmeasurementscanbemade

Itcanbeexpressedasapercentageofthe
maximumrangeoftheinstrumentorastheinverse
ofthedynamicratio

Usuallysensitivitytoparameterchangesandnoise
shouldbeminimum(low)

Resolution
o

Resolution

Asensorhasadigitaloutputof12bits.Whatisits
digitalresolution?

Thesmallestpossibleincrementwillbethe
changeintheLSB (Leastsignificantbit)
Therefore,theresolution=1

Usefulfrequencyrange
o

Thiscorrespondstoaflatgaincurveandazero
phasecurveinthefrequencyresponse
characteristicsofaninstrument.

Themaximumfrequencyinthisbandistypically
lessthanhalf(aroundonefifth)ofthedominant
resonantfrequencyoftheinstrument

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Bandwidth

Gain

Usefulfrequencyrange

Bandwidthofaninstrumentdeterminesthe
maximumspeedorthefrequencyatwhichis
capableofoperating

TheBandwidthisnormallydeterminedbythe
dominantnaturalfrequencyorthedominant
resonancefrequencyofthesensor

Highbandwidthimpliesfasterspeedofresponse

bandwidthisdirectlyrelatedtotheuseful
frequencyrange

UFR

fr

Frq. (Hz)

Phase angle

fmax

Dynamicrange
o

Dynamicrageofaninstrumentisdeterminedby
theallowedlowerandupperlimitsofitsinputsor
outputssoastomaintainarequiredlevelof
measurementaccuracyofaninstrument

Usuallyexpressedasaratio,indecibels

Inmanysituations,thelowerlimitofthedynamic
rangeisequaltotheresolutionofthedevice

Dynamicrange
o

Asensorhasadigitaloutputof12bits.Whatisits
dynamicrange?

Letthesmallestpossibleincrementtobey

Letthesmallestpossiblevaluetobeymin andthe
largestpossiblevaluetobeymax

Notethata12bitwordcanhaveacombinationof
212 values

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Dynamicrange

Dynamicrange

Therefore,thelargestvalueymax =ymin +(212 1)y

Therewillbe212 valueswithinymin andymax,

Therefore,thedynamicrange=20log10 (4095)
Dynamicrangeofthesensor=72dB

Therefore,thedynamicrange=ymax ymin
y
Dynamicrange=(212 1)y=212 1=4905
y

Itisnoteworthytorememberthatinstrument

manufacturersdonotprovideallthe
performanceparametersthatwediscussed
Thetypical ratingparametersprovided
o
o
o
o
o

Sensitivity
o Accuracy
Dynamicrange
o Bandwidth
Resolution
o Input/outputimpedances
Linearity
Usefulfrequencyrange

Introductiontoinstrumentation/data

acquisitionsystems
Definitionsforsensorsandtransducers
Classificationof sensors
Selectioncriteriaofsensors
Performancecharacteristicsofsensors

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Introductiontocommonsensorsusedin

industrialautomation
o

Sensorsforpositionandmotionmeasurements

Sensorsfortemperaturemeasurements

Sensorsforforce,torqueandpressure
measurements

Sensorsforflowmeasurements

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