Measurements and Sensors

Third Year
Mechatronics Department
Al-Khawarizmi College of Engineering
University of Baghdad
2014 - 2015
Dr. Furat Ibrahim Hussein Al-Najjar

The aim of the two courses:

Define the basic concepts of instrumentation,
Review the sensors characteristics,
Study some sensors techniques,
Study some actuators techniques, and
Fundamentals of essential measurements processes.
References:
1) Instrumentation, Measurements and Analysis. B C Nakra and K K Chaudhry,
2nd edition. Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing, 2004.
2) Sensors for Mechatronics. Paul P.L. Regtien, 1st edition. Elsevier Inc, 2012.
3) Experimental Methods for Engineers. J. P. Holman, eighth edition. McGraw-Hill
Publishing, 2012.

Chapter One
Instruments and their Representation

Instruments and their Representation

Measurement: A method to obtain information
regarding a physical values of the variable.
Instrumentation: Devices and applications used in
measurement system
Instrumentation and measurements is the field that
encompasses areas of detection, acquisition, control and
analysis of data in almost all the areas of science and
technology.

Measurement
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Instrumentation applications covers three major areas:

1) Measuring physical quantities such as length, volume
temperature and mass in terms of standard units.

Simple instrument model for

measuring physical quantities

List of physical quantities

2) Monitoring functions and providing necessary information

Temperature measuring in a simple water heating process

3) Automatic controlling of systems through using a part of

automatic feedback to control systems.

Temperature and flow (or level) control in a water heating unit.

Generalised measuring system

Measuring System Stages

Calibration: is the act or result of quantitative

comparison between a known standard and the
output of the measuring system measuring for
the same type quantity.
In a way, the process of calibration is in effect
the procedure for determining the scale of the
measuring system.

Definitions
Physical quantity: variable such as pressure, temperature, mass, height,
distance, speed, etc.
Data: Information obtained from the instrumentation/measurement
system as a result of the measurements made of the physical quantities
Information: Data that has a calibrated numeric relationship to the
physical quantity.
Parameter: Physical quantity within defined (numeric) limits.
Transducer is an electrical device that converts one form of energy into
another.
A transducer with a non-electrical input is an input transducer,
intended to convert a non-electrical quantity into an electrical signal in
order to measure that quantity.
A transducer with a non-electrical output is called an output transducer,
intended to convert an electrical signal into a non-electrical quantity in
order to control that quantity.

Accordingly, these transducers are also called sensor and

actuator, respectively

Sensor is an input transducer and

an Actuator is an output transducer.

Actuators

Functional elements of a measurement system

1) Basic functional elements
Transducer
Signal conditioning element
Signal Transmission
Data presentation element

2) Auxiliary functional elements

Calibration element
External power element
Feedback element
Microprocessor element

Typical examples of transducer elements

Some Examples of Identification of

Functional Elements in Instruments

Mechanical Bourdon tube pressure gauge

1) Transducer element: the tube acts as a transducer element as it

converts the input fluid pressure into a displacement at its free end.
2) Signal conditioning elements: the displacement is amplified by the
combined lever and the gearing assembly.
3) Data presentation: the movement of the pointer attached to the gear
on a scale gives an indication of the pressure.

Digital Bourdon pressure gauge

Electrodynamic displacement
measuring device

Sensing and controlling the

temperature of a water reservoir

Instruments Classification
1) Energy considerations
Passive instruments: self-operated instruments that are the output
energy (output signal) is supplied by its input signal.
Such as: glass thermometer, Bourdon tube pressure measuring device
exposure meter of a camera, which is in effect, a photovoltaic cell, Pitot
tube for the measurement of fluid flow velocity, a tachogenerator for
measurement of rpm, etc.

Air-flow is right to left.

Airbus A380, pitot tube (right)

tachogenerator for
measurement of rpm

 Active instruments: they are power-operated instruments that

require auxiliary source of power (such as compressed air, electricity,
hydraulic supply, etc) for their operation.
Such as: the differential transformer which is used in the
measurement of displacement, force, pressure. etc. and float-type
petrol tank level indicator.

2) Analog and Digital Types

Analog instruments present the information in the form of
continuous or stepless variations with respect to time.

 Digital instruments present the measured physical variables are

represented by digital quantities which are discrete and vary in steps.

3) Operation on a deflection or null principles

Deflection instrument: is that in which the physical effect
generated by the measuring quantity produces an equivalent opposing
effect in some part of the instrument and this effect is closely related
to some variable like mechanical displacement or deflection in the
instrument.
Examples: a typical spring balance, bourdon tube, etc. The deflection
of the spring is however magnified by an electrical device like LVDT
or by using suitable lever and gear mechanisms to be read off from
the scale of the instrument.

 Null instrument: a device that generates an equivalent opposing

effect to nullify the physical effect caused by the quantity to be
measured. The equivalent null-causing effect in turn provides the
measure of the quantity.
Examples for such type are dead weight pressure gauge, equal arm
balance and electrical resistance measurement by Wheatstone bridge.

4) Contacting and Non-Contacting Types

Contacting type of instrument is one that is kept in the measuring
medium itself such as a clinical thermometer is an example of such
instruments.

Non-contacting or proximity instruments type measure the desired

input even though they are not in close contact with the measuring
medium. For example, a variable reluctance tachometer, which
measures the rpm of a rotating body, is also a proximity type of
instrument. In this, the toothed rotor made of ferromagnetic material
causes variation of flux in the magnetic circuit due to changes in air
gap. This in turn induces an emf that is in the form of pulses. The
output of the instrument is fed to a frequency counter from which the
rpm of the rotor can be determined.