St

.Thomas’
Col
l
egeofEngi
neer
ingandTechnol
ogy

TOPI
C:SENSORTECHNOLOGY
GROUP6
ROLL48,
49
ECE3RD YEAR

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ect
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ogy

I
NTRODUCTI
ON

I
nt hebroadestdef
ini
ti
on,a 
sensor
 i
sadev ice,modul
e,orsubsyst
em whosepur poseisto
detectevent
sorchangesinitsenv
ironmentandsendt hei
nformati
ont ootherelect
roni
cs,
fr
equentl
ya computerpr
ocessor
.Asensorisalwaysusedwit
hotherelect
ronics.
Sensorsar eusedi nev er
ydayobj ectssuchast ouch-sensi
ti
veel evatorbuttons( t
act il
e
sensor)and l ampswhi ch dim orbr i
ghten byt ouching thebase,besi desinnumer able
appli
cationsofwhi chmostpeopl ear enev eraware.Wi thadvancesi n 
mi cromachiner
yand
easyt o use microcontroll
er 
plat
forms,t heusesofsensor shav eexpanded bey ond t he
[
1]
tr
aditi
onalf i
eldsoft emper at
ure,pressureorf l
ow measur ement, forexampl einto MARG
sensors.Mor eover,analogsensor ssuchas  potenti
omet ers 
and 
force-sensingresi
stors are
sti
llwi dely used.Appl i
cati
ons include manuf acturi
ng and machi nery,airpl
anes and
aerospace,cars,medi ci
ne,roboti
csandmanyot heraspect sofourday -t
o-daylif
e.
Inor
derforanel
ectr
onicci
rcui
torsyst
em t
operform anyusef
ultaskorf
uncti
onitneedsto
beablet
ocommuni cat
ewiththe“r
ealwor
ld”whetherthi
sisbyreadi
nganinputsignal
from
an“ON/OFF”swi
tchorbyactiv
ati
ngsomef or
m ofoutputdevi
cetoil
lumi
nateasinglel
ight
.
Inot
herwords,
anEl
ectroni
cSystem orci
rcui
tmustbeableorcapabl
eto“do”somet
hing
and 
Sensor
sandTransducers 
aret
heperfectcomponent
sfordoingt
his.
Thewor d“Transducer
”isthecoll
ect
iveter
m usedf
orboth Sensors 
whichcanbeusedto
senseawi derangeofdiff
erentener
gyformssuchasmov ement ,
elect
ri
calsi
gnal
s,r
adi
ant
energy
,thermal ormagneti
cenergyetc,
and Act
uat
ors 
whichcanbeusedt oswitchvol
tages
orcurr
ents.
Therear
emanydi f
fer
entty pesofsensorsandtransducers,bot
hanal ogueanddi gi
taland
i
nputandoutputavai
l
ablet ochoosefrom.Thet ypeofinputoroutputtransducerbeingused,
real
l
ydependsuponthet ypeofsignalorpr
ocessbei ng“Sensed”or“Cont r
oll
ed”butwecan
defi
neasensorandtransducersasdev i
cesthatconvertsonephysicalquantit
yintoanother
.
Dev i
ceswhichper for
m an“ I
nput”funct
ionarecommonl ycall
ed 
Sensorsbecausethey
“sense”aphy si
calchangei nsomechar act
eristi
ct hatchangesinresponsetosome
excitat
ion,f
orexampl eheatorforceandcov ertthatintoanelectr
icalsi
gnal
.Devi
ceswhich
perform an“Output”funct
ionaregenerall
ycalled Actuators 
andareusedtocontrolsome
externaldevi
ce,forexamplemov ementorsound.

Sensor
sar
ecl
assi
fi
edi
ntot
hef
oll
owi
ngcr
it
eri
a:
1.
  
  
 Pr
imar
yInputquant
it
y
2.
  
  
 Tr
ansduct
ionpr
inci
ples
3.
  
  
 Mat
eri
alandTechnol
ogy
4.
  
  
 Pr
oper
ty
5.
  
  
 Appl
i
cat
ion

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BACKGROUNDSTUDY

Sensorshavebeenaroundf orqui
tesometimeinv ariousf or
ms.Thef irstt
hermostatcame
tomar keti
n1883,andmanyconsi dert
hist
hef i
rstmoder n,manmadesensor .I
nfr
ared
sensorshavebeenaround sincet
helat
e1940s, event hought hey
’vereall
yonlyenter
edthe
popularnomenclat
ureoverthepastfewyears.Mot i
ondet ectorshavebeeni nusefora
numberofy ear
s.

Thefir
stmotionsensorusedf
oranalar
m syst
em cameabouti
ntheearlypartoft
he1950s,
andwast hei
nventi
onofSamuelBagno.Hisdevi
cemadeuseofult
rasonicfr
equenci
esas
well
ast heDoppl
erEffect
.

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WORKI
NGPRI
NCI
PLE

Inthemostusual cases, sensor

stransform somepr opertyoftherealwor ld,suchas
temper ature,mass,speed, pr
essure,etctosomeel ectr
icalsi
gnal t
hatwecanmeasur e.
Thesignal becomesar epresentat
ionoft heproperty.Commonl y
,av oltagerepr esents
thevalueoft hemeasuredpr opert
y.Forinstance,at emper at
uresensormi ghtpr oduce
anout putthati si
ntherange0Vol tDCt o10Vol tsDC.Thev olt
agewi l
lv arydirectlyandin
proportiont othetemperaturemeasur edbysensor .So0VDCmi ghtrepresent- 50
degrees, and10VDCmi ghtrepr
esent+50degr ees.Allofthetemper aturesinbet ween
canbedet erminedbymeasur i
ngthev olt
ageandappl yi
ngt hecorrectscal i
ngf actor.

Inmodernsystems, mostcommonl yt hevol

tageisdi
giti
zedtoconverti
tfr
om t
he
cont
inuousanalogrealmtoadigitalform wherewecanper f
orm ar
it
hmet i
conit
,
tr
ansmitit
,saveit,
etc.Thi
s,howev erisnotpartoft
hesensor,al
thoughthetwopar
ts
maybet i
ghtl
yintegrat
ed,asina‘digit
alther
momet er’
.

Thenat ureoft heparamet erbeingmeasur edwi l

l di
ctatethemakeupoft hesensor .
Usually,therear econst r
aintsthatdi ctatethingslikemaxi mum andmi nimum r angesof
measur ement .Thet ypeofsensorwi l
lthenimpar tcertainbehav ior
sandot her
characteristi
cst othemeasur ement .Acommonwayofmeasur i
ngtemper aturesin
someset ti
ngsi swithadev i
cecal l
edat hermocoupl e.Thesear ebasedonapr opertyof
metalst hatmakest hem cr eateav olt
aget hatisar epresent ativeoft hedi f
ferencein
temperat urebet weent wopar t
soft hemet al.Whent hemet al isawi re, youcanmeasur e
thevoltagesbet weent het woends.Thesear egreatforhight emper atur emeasur ements
wherey ouwantt odet ectt emper aturechangesi nt hehundr edsofdegr ees.Atl ow
temperat ures, t
hev oltagesar et oosmal ltomeasur eaccur at ely,soot hermet hodsar e
chosenf ort hose.Thi ngsl ikethermi storshav etemper aturedependentr esistances,
wheret her esistancechangescanber el
iabl
ymeasur edat‘ human’ temper atures.Two
dif
ferentappl icati
ons, differentprinciplesofoper ati
on, anddi fferentr angesof
measur ement .

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Somesensor smi ghtuseacombi nat

ionofmat erialpropertiestotr
ansformt he
measur edpropertyintosomethi
ngelect
rical
lyuseful.Forinstance,abaromet r
ic
pressuresensormi ghtrel
yonasealedbel l
owst ochangeshapeundert heinf l
uenceof
baromet r
icpressurechanges.Tomaket hatmeasur able,weappl ystr
aingaugest ot he
bell
ows, anduset heirpr
opert
yofchangingelectr
ical r
esistancewhenst r
etchedor
compr essedtomaket hetr
ansfor
mationofbellowsdi stort
ionintoanelectr
icalsignal
thatwecanmeasur e.

Thetypesofdev i
cesandmeasur ementpri
ncipl
esusedi swil
dlydi
v er
se.Iti
saf i
eldri
ch
wit
hpossibil
i
ties,asengi
neeri
ng,sci
ence,i
ndustryandmanki ndi
ngener alseeksto
l
earnmor eaboutt heworl
dandthepropert
iesthatinf
luenceourexist
ence.Bril
li
ant
mindsaredail
yf i
ndingnewway stosensethi
ngswepr obabl
ydon’teventhinkabout.

CONCEPTANDPROBLEM ANALYSI
S

Thesensorisasophisti
cateddevicethati
sfrequent
lyusedtosenseandrespondto
el
ect
rical
(or)opti
calsi
gnals.Usuall
y,theout
putofthesensorwil
lbeinthefor
m ofan
el
ect
rical
signaloropti
calsignal
.

Therearesev
eralcl
assi
fi
cat
ionsofsensor
smadebydif
fer
entauthor
sandexperts.Some
arever
ysimpleandsomearev erycompl
ex.Thefol
l
owi
ngclassi
fi
cat
ionofsensorsmay
al
readybeusedbyanexpertinthesubj
ectbutt
hisi
saver
ysimplecl
assi
fi
cati
onofsensors.

I
nt hef
ir
stcl
assif
icat
ionofthesensor
s,t
heyaredivi
dedi
ntoAct
iveandPassi
ve.Act
ive
Sensor
sarethosewhichrequir
eanexter
nalexci
tat
ionsi
gnal
orapowersi
gnal
.

Passi
veSensors,
ontheot herhand,
donotr
equi
reanyext
ernal
powersi
gnal
anddi
rect
ly
gener
atesout
putresponse.

Theot
hertypeofcl
assi
fi
cati
onisbasedonthemeansofdetect
ionusedinthesensor
.
Someofthemeansofdetecti
onareElect
ri
c,Bi
ologi
cal
,Chemi
cal,
Radioact
iveet
c.

Thenextcl
assif
icati
onisbasedonconver
sionphenomenoni
.e.t
heinputandtheout
put
.
Someofthecommonconv ersi
onphenomenaarePhotoel
ect
ri
c,Thermoel
ectr
ic,
El
ect
rochemical
, El
ectr
omagneti
c,Ther
mo-opti
c,et
c.

Thefinalcl
assi
fi
cat
ionofthesensorsareAnal
ogandDigi
talSensor
s.Anal
ogSensor
s
produceananalogoutputi
.e.acont
inuousout
putsi
gnalwit
hrespectt
othequant
it
ybei
ng
measur ed.

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Someoft hemostcommonsensorprobl
emsaredowntotheini
ti
alchoi
ceofsensor–without
knowingwhatelsei
savai
labl
eonthemarket
,manypeopl
echoosethesamesensorsoverand
overagai
n,repl
aci
ngfaul
tyorwor
noutoneswit
hthesamemodel .

Somet i
mes,i
tmayactual
lybethecaset
hattr
adi
tionalsensortechnol
ogyisnotthemost
suit
ablewayofdet
ecti
nglocat
ionormovement,
andact uall
ynewert y
pesofsensor,suchas
RFID,aremor
esuit
edtotheneedsofaparti
cul
arbusiness;warehousetr
ackingbeingagood
exampleofwherenewerdevel
opmentscoul
dperform bet
terthanoldert
echnologi
es. 
 
Themount i
ngst y
leoft hesensorcanalsocausepr obl
emswi thdet
ecti
on,assensorsthat
det ectt
hepresenceofapar ti
cularmetalshouldnotbemount edonthatty
peofmet alwithouta
freezonebet weenthesensingf aceandthemet ali
tismountedon. 
 I
ncorr
ectmountingleadsto
falsedetect
ionreadingsandsomet i
mesthissimplefactori
soverl
ooked,l
eadi
ngtoal engthy
processoftryingdif
ferentsensorswhenallthatisneededisatweaktothemount .
 
Anothercommonpr obl
em wit
hposit
ionsensor sisthesuscepti
bil
it
ytopol l
utionand
contaminati
onont hesensi
ngface.
  
Ift
hesensorr eliesonpositi
vecontactbet weentwo
swit
chesandt her
eisanymatteri
ntheway( evenascr apofpaperordust)thensensingcan
fai
l.
  
Againthisdoescomedownt ocareful
lythinkingabouttheenvir
onmenti nwhi chthesensor
wil
loperate,butmorespeci
fi
call
yaboutthelikeli
hoodofany thi
nggetti
ngint hewayoft he
sensor.
 

Thef
oll
owi
ngt
abl
eshowssomeadv
ant
agesanddi
sadv
ant
agesofv
ari
oust
ypesofsensor
s:

Sensor Adv
ant
ages Di
sadv
ant
ages Appl
icat
ions

o Requi
res
o Hi
gh Physical
Current Contactwit
h
Capabi l
i
ty Target
o LowCos t o Veryslow o I
nter
locki
ng
o Fami l
iar response o Basi
cEnd-of
LimitSwit
ch “Low-Tech” o Contact -Tr
avel
sensors Sensing bounce sensi
ng

o Sensoral
l
kindsof o Lenssubj
ect
mat er
ial
s to
o Longl i
fe contaminati
o
o Longes t n
sensing ·Sensingrange o Packagi
ng
range aff
ectedbycol or o Materi
al
o Veryfast andreflect
ivi
tyof handl
i
ng
Photoel
ect
ri
c response tar
get o Par
ts
sensors ti
me det
ect
ion

o Resi
stant o I
ndust
ri
al
toharsh and
envi
ronme machines
Induct
ive nts o Di
stance o Machines
sensors o Very l
i
mit
ati
ons tool

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pr
edi
ctabl
e
o Longl
if
e o Senses
o Easyt
o metal
-onl
y
i
nst
all t
arget
s

o Det
ect
s
thr
ough
some
contai
ner
s
o Candetect o Ver
ysensi
ti
ve
non- extr
eme
Capaci
ti
ve metall
i
c envi
ronment o Lev
el
sensor
s tar
gets changes sensi
ng

o Resol
uti
on
o Repeat
abil
i
ty o Anti
-coll
i
sion
o Sensi
ti
veto o Doors
Ult
rasoni
c o Sensesal
l temperat
ure o WebBr ake
sensors mat
eri
als changes o Levelcontr
ol

APPLI
CATI
ONS

Thefoll
owingi sali
stofdiff
erentty
pesofsensorsthatar
ecommonl yusedin
vari
ousapplicati
ons.All
thesesensorsareusedformeasuri
ngoneofthephysical
proper
ti
eslikeTemper atur
e,Resist
ance,
Capacit
ance,Conduct
ion,
HeatTransferet
c.

 Temper atur
eSensor
 Proximit ySensor
 Accel er
omet er
 IRSensor( I
nfr
aredSensor)
 PressureSensor
 LightSensor
 UltrasonicSensor
 Smoke, GasandAl cohol
Sensor
 TouchSensor
 Col orSensor
 Humi di
tySensor
 TiltSensor
 FlowandLev elSensor

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Temper
atur
eSensor

Oneofthemostcommonandmostpopul arsensori
stheTemper
atur
eSensor.A
Temperatur
eSensor,
asthenamesuggests,
sensesthet
emperat
urei
.e.i
tmeasures
thechangesint
hetemperat
ure.

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I
naTemper at
ureSensor
,thechangesi
ntheTemper
atur
ecor
respondt
ochangei
n
i
tsphy
sical
proper
tyli
keresi
stanceorv
olt
age. 

Ther
earedi
ff
erenttypesofTemper
atur
eSensorsli
keTemperatureSensorI
Cs(li
ke
LM35),
Ther
mistors,
Thermocoupl
es,RTD(
Resisti
veTemperatureDevi
ces),
etc.

Temper
atur
eSensorsareusedev
ery
wherel
ikecomputer
s,mobi
l
ephones,
aut
omobil
es,ai
rcondi
ti
oni
ngsyst
ems,i
ndustr
ieset
c. 

Pr
oxi
mit
ySensor
s
APr oximitySensori
sanon- cont
actty
pesensorthatdetectsthepresenceofan
object.Proxi
mitySensorscanbeimplementedusingdiff
erenttechni
quesli
keOpti
cal
(l
i
keI nfrar
edorLaser),Ul
tr
asonic,Hal
lEf
fect,
Capacit
ive,etc.

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Someoftheappl
icat
ionsofProxi
mit
ySensor
sareMobil
ePhones,
Car
s(Par
kingSensor
s),
i
ndust
ri
es(obj
ectali
gnment)
,GroundPr
oximi
tyi
nAir
craf
ts,
etc.

I
nfr
aredSensor(
IRSensor
)
IRSensorsorInf
rar
edSensorarel
ightbasedsensort
hatareusedi
nvari
ous
appli
cati
onsli
keProxi
mit
yandObj ectDet
ecti
on.IRSensor
sareusedasproxi
mit
y
sensorsinal
mostallmobi
lephones.

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Therearetwot ypesofI
nfrar
edorIRSensors: TransmissiveTy peandRef l
ect
ive
Type.InTransmissiv
eTypeIRSensor,theIRTr ansmi t
ter(usuall
yanI RLED)andthe
I
RDet ector(usual
lyaPhotoDiode)ar
epositionedf aci
ngeachot hersothatwhenan
objectpassesbetweenthem,thesensordetectstheobj ect.

TheothertypeofI
RSensori saRef l
ect
iveTypeIRSensor.Int
his,thetr
ansmit
terand
thedet
ectorareposit
ionedadjacentt
oeachotherfaci
ngt heobject.Whenanobject
comesinfrontofthesensor,t
hesensordetectstheobj
ect.

Di
ff
erentappl
icat
ionswher
eIRSensori
simpl
ement
edar
eMobi
l
ePhones,
Robot
s,
I
ndustr
ial
assembly,aut
omobi
leset
c.

Ul
tr
asoni
cSensor 
AnUl t
rasoni
cSensorisanon-cont
acttypedevicethatcanbeusedt omeasur
e
dist
anceaswel lasvel
oci
tyofanobject.AnUltr
asonicSensorworksbasedonthe
propert
iesofthesoundwaveswithfrequencygreat
erthanthatofthehumanaudi
ble
range.

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Usingt
het i
meoff l
ightoft
hesoundwave,anUl
trasoni
cSensorcanmeasurethedist
anceof
theobj
ect(simil
art
oSONAR) .TheDoppl
erShi
ftproper
tyoft
hesoundwav eisusedto
measurethev el
oci
tyofanobject
.

CONCLUSI
ON

Sensor
shav
emadeser
iousi
nroadsi
ntoaut
omot
ive,
medi
cal
,i
ndust
ri
al,
and

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aer
ospaceappl
i
cat
ions.Buty
ouai
n'
tseennot
hin'
yet
.Ri
singconcer
nsf
orsaf
ety
,
conv
eni
ence,
ent
ert
ainment
,andef
fi
ciencyf
act
ors,
coupl
edwi
thwor
ldwi
de
gov
ernmentmandat
es,
wil
lseesensorusageswel
ltounpr
ecedent
edl
evel
s.

Oneoft
hehot
testar
easi
nthewor
ldofwi
rel
esssensor
sisaut
omot
ivet
ir
e-pr
essur
e
moni
tor
ingsy
stems(
TPMSs)
, 
medi
cal
appl
i
cat
ionsar
enumer
ous.Thepot
ent
ial
forwi
rel
ess
sensi
ngal
soext
endst
othemedi
cal
fiel
d,wher
ewear
abl
eel
ect
roni
cswi
l
lmakeahuge
i
mpactonr
emot
epat
ientbi
o-moni
tor
ingandbi
o-chemi
cal
det
ect
ion.

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