Sensors

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Sensors
Definition: a device for sensing a physical variable of a
physical system or an environment,
a device that receives a stimulus and responds with an
electrical signal.

Classification of Sensors
 Mechanical quantities: displacement, Strain, rotation
velocity, acceleration, pressure, force/torque, twisting, weight,
flow
 Thermal quantities: temperature, heat.
 Electromagnetic/optical quantities: voltage, current,
frequency phase; visual/images, light; magnetism.
 Chemical quantities: moisture, pH value

Specifications of Sensor

 Accuracy: error between the result of a

measurement and the true value being
measured.
 Resolution: the smallest increment of measure
that a device can make.
 Sensitivity: the ratio between the change in the
output signal to a small change in input physical
signal. Slope of the input-output fit line.
 Repeatability/Precision: the ability of the
sensor to output the same value for the same
input over a number of trials

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Accuracy vs. Resolution

True value

measurement

Accuracy vs. Precision

Precision Accuracy Precision

without without and
accuracy precision accuracy

Specifications of Sensor

 Dynamic Range: the ratio of maximum recordable input

amplitude to minimum input amplitude, i.e. D.R. = 20 log
(Max. Input Ampl./Min. Input Ampl.) dB
 Linearity: the deviation of the output from a best-fit straight
line for a given range of the sensor
 Transfer Function (Frequency Response): The
relationship between physical input signal and electrical
output signal, which may constitute a complete description
of the sensor characteristics.
 Bandwidth: the frequency range between the lower and
upper cutoff frequencies, within which the sensor transfer
function is constant gain or linear.
 Noise: random fluctuation in the value of input that causes
random fluctuation in the output value
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Attributes of Sensors

 Operating Principle: Embedded technologies that make sensors

function, such as electro-optics, electromagnetic, piezoelectricity,
active and passive ultraviolet.
 Dimension of Variables: The number of dimensions of physical
variables.
 Size: The physical volume of sensors.
 Data Format: The measuring feature of data in time; continuous or
discrete/analog or digital.
 Intelligence: Capabilities of on-board data processing and decision-
making.
 Active versus Passive Sensors: Capability of generating vs. just
receiving signals.
 Physical Contact: The way sensors observe the disturbance in
environment.
 Environmental durability: will the sensor robust enough for its
operation conditions

Sensors and Transducers

Transducers
 Transducer
• a device that converts a primary form of energy into a
corresponding signal with a different energy form
 Primary Energy Forms: mechanical, thermal, electromagnetic,
optical, chemical, etc.
• take form of a sensor or an actuator
 Sensor (e.g., thermometer)
• a device that detects/measures a signal or stimulus
• acquires information from the “real world”
 Actuator (e.g., heater)
• a device that generates a signal or stimulus
sensor intelligent
real
feedback
world actuator system

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Sensor Systems
Typically interested in electronic sensor
• convert desired parameter into electrically measurable signal
 General Electronic Sensor
• primary transducer: changes “real world” parameter into electrical
signal
• secondary transducer: converts electrical signal into analog or digital
values

 Typical Electronic Sensor System

input
signal sensor data microcontroller network
(measurand)
sensor signal processing display
analog/digital
communication

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Measurand and transduction principle

Temperature Thermistor, Thermocouple, Thermo-mechanical

Humidity Resistive, capacitive
Pressure Piezo-resistive
Flow Pressure change, thermistor
Force Piezoelectric, piezoresistive
Torque Piezoresistive, optoelectronic
Strain Piezoresistive
Vibration Piezoresistive, piezoelectric, optical fiber,sound,ultrasound
Position E-mag, GPS, contact sensor
Velocity Doppler, Hall effect, optoelectronic
Angular Optical encoder
velocity Piezoresistive, piezoelectric, optical fiber
Acceleration Hall effect, capacitive, magnetic, seismic,
Proximity acoustic, RF
Contact switch, capacitive
Tactile/contact
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Why Measure Temperature?

 Temperature measurements are one of the most

common measurements...

 Temperature corrections for other sensors

• e.g., strain, pressure, force, flow, level, and position many
times require temperature monitoring in order to insure
accuracy.

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Thermistors (“thermally sensitive resistor”)

 Thermistors (“thermally sensitive resistor”)
• formed from semiconductor materials, not
metals
 often composite of a ceramic and a metallic
oxide (Mn, Co, Cu or Fe)
• typically have negative temperature coefficients

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Thermistors
Thermistor Types
As a 1st order approximation : dR = k.dT
 If k > 0 => Posistor or Positive Temperature Coefficient Thermistor (PTC)
 If k < 0 => Negative Temperature Coefficient Thermistor (NTC).

1 ) Posistor/Positive Temperature
Coefficient (PTC) Thermistors
PTC Thermistors are broadly classified
into two.
The first one is called ‘Silistors’, as to
Sensitive Silicon Resistors. (have a
positive coefficient of 08% / °C ).
The second is called Switching Type PTC
Thermistors. It is made from ceramic type
materials
Exp App :The device is famous for its
application as a circuit protecting device,
such as a fuse 15

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Thermistors
 2) Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) Thermistors : NTC
Thermistors that are used in industries are broadly classified into
two. Thus classification is based on the method by which the
electrodes are placed on the ceramic body,
 NTC thermistors are used for temperature measurements (usually in
a narrow span and low temperature ranges).
 The device can be used to limit the sudden over current that flows in
supply circuits. The resistance gradually decreases by the heating up
of the device. As the resistance decreases, the usual operation of the
circuit is restored and the high current flows through it without
damaging other parts of the circuit.
 NTC thermistors are used to measure and monitor batteries while
they are kept for charging.
 They are used to know the temperature of oil and coolant used inside
automotive engines

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http://www.eng.hmc.edu/NewE80/PDFs/VIshayThermDataSheet.pdf
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Thermistors

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Thermistors
The temperature from measured R using the Steinhardt-Hart
equation.
1/T=A+B*ln(R)+C*(ln(R))3
Where, R in W and T in oK

Using these three values we can get three equations in A, B

and C.
 (1/273) = A + B ln(16330) + C (ln(16330))3
 (1/298) = A + B ln(5000) + C (ln(5000))3
 (1/323) = A + B ln(1801) + C (ln(1801))3
These equations can be solved and calculated for A, B, C
A = 0.001284
B = 2.364x 10-4
C = 9.304x 10-8

From the above equation, we can calculate the temperature

T=1/[A+B*ln(R)+C*(ln(R))3]
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Thermistor Problems: Self-heating

 You need to pass a current through to measure the
voltage and calculate resistance.

 Power is consumed by the thermistor and manifests itself

as heat inside the device
• P = I2 RT
• You need to know how much the temp increases due to
self heating by P so you need to be given θ = the
temperature rise for every watt of heat generated.

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Self Heating Calculation

The temperature difference (increase or decrease) is related to the power
dissipated as heat and the thermal
ΔoC = P x θ = (I2 RT) θ Device to ambient

Example : ( I = 5mA, RT = 4kΩ and θDevice to ambient = 15 oC /W )

ΔoC = (0.005)2 X 4000 X 15 = 1.5 C

Current through Thermistor is dominated by 10k Ω resistor.

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 Linearization of a 1O k-Ohm Thermistor

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This plot Ti = 50 0C, Ri = 275 Ω

Resistive Temperature Device RTD

 Accurate & Stable
 Reasonably wide temperature range
 More Expensive
 Positive temperature constant
 Requires constant currant excitation
 Smaller resistance range
 Self heating is a concern
 Lead wire resistance is a concern

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pRTD, cRTD and nRTD

 The most common is one made using platinum so we
use the acronym pRTD

 Copper and nickel as also used but not as stable

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 Linearity: The reason RTDs are so popular

RTD are almost linear

Resistance increases with
temperature (+ slope)

RT = R0(1+ α)(T –T0)

Recognized standards for

industrial platinum RTDs are
IEC 6075 and ASTM E-1137
α = 0.00385 Ω/Ω/°C

Measuring the resistance needs a constant current source

Read AN 687 for more details (e.g. current excitation circuit):
http://ww1.microchip.com/downloads/en/AppNotes/00687c.pdf
http://www.control.com/thread/1236021381

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With long wires precision is a problem

 Two wire circuits,

 Three wire circuits and

 Four wire circuits.

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Two wire: lead resistances are a problem

Power supply connected here

No current flows in here

The IDAC block is a constant current sink

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Three wire with two current sinks

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Four wire with one current sink.

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4 wire with precision current source

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Different methods of connection of RTDs

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Passive Sensor Readout Circuit

Wheatstone Bridge
• R3 = resistive sensor

• R4 is matched to nominal value of R3

• If R1 = R2, Vout-nominal = 0
• Vout varies as R3 changes

VCC

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Mathematical Modelling the RTD

 The Callendar-Van Dusen equation

RT = R0 (1 + A T + B T2 + C T3(T-100) for T < 0 oC

= R0 (1+ A T + B T2) for T > 0 oC
• where R0 is the resistance at T0 = 0 oC and

 For platinum
 A = 3.9083 x e-3 oC-1
 B = -5.775 x e-7 oC-2
 C = -4.183 x e-12 oC-4

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 Experimentally
 Derive temperature (+/-) from the measured resistance.
 Easiest way is to construct a Look-Up table inside
LabView or your uP
 Precision, accuracy, errors and uncertainties need to be
considered.
 For real precision, each sensor needs to be calibrated at
more than one temperature and any modelling
parameters refined by regression using a least mean
squares algorithm.
• LabView, MATLAB and Excel have these functions
 The 0oC ice bath and the ~100 oC boiling de-ionised
water (at sea level) are the two most convenient standard
temperatures.
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Temperature Sensor with Arduino

http://www.pyroelectro.com/edu/sensors/temperature/

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Thermocouples

 High temperature range

 Inexpensive
 Withstand tough environments
 Multiple types with different temperature ranges
 Requires a reference temperature junction
 Fast response
 Output signal is usually small
 Amplification, noise filtration and signal processing
required

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Seebeck Effect

A thermocouple consists of two dissimilar

metals, joined together at one end, Based on the
Seebeck effect :
dissimilar metals at diff. temps.  signal

Type K thermocouple

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Thermocouples are very non-linear

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Thermocouples
Ref. Materials Range (oC) Sensitivity (μV/oC)
E Chromel / Constantan -200 to 1000 63
J Iron / Constantan -200 to 900 53
T Copper / Constantan -200 to 400 43
K Chromel / Alumel -200 to 1300 41
R Platinum / Platinum 0 to 1400 6
13% rhodium

Material characteristics of Thermocouples

Characteristics of some
thermocouple sensors

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Mathematical Model
 To cover all types of thermocouples, we need a 6 - 10th
order polynomial to describe the relationship between the
voltage and the temperature difference between the two
junctions

 Either
 T = a0 +a1 x V + a2 x V2 +++++ a10 V10

 Or

 V = b0 +b1 x T + b2 x T2 +++++ b10 T10

+ αo exp(α1(T-126.9686)2) for T >0oC

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10th order polynomial fit:

Find T from measured Voltage

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What happens when we connect a meter?

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Cold Junction Compensation

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Thermocouple with compensation and filtering

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Look-up table is easier than using a polynomial

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Fiber-optic Temperature Sensor

 Sensor operation
• small prism-shaped sample of single-crystal undoped GaAs
attached to ends of two optical fibers
• light energy absorbed by the GaAs crystal depends on
temperature
• percentage of received vs. transmitted energy is a function of
temperature
 Can be made small enough for biological implantation

GaAs semiconductor temperature probe

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Force Sensing

 Metal foil strain-gage based (load cell)

• Good in low frequency response
• High load rating
• Resolution lower than piezoelectricity-based
• Rugged, typically big size, heavy weight

Courtesy of Davidson Measurement

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Force Sensing

 Piezoelectricity based (force sensor)

• lower cutoff frequency at 0.01 Hz
 can NOT be used for static load measurement
• Good in high frequency
• High resolution
• Limited operating temperature (can not be used for high
temperature applications)
• Compact size, light

Courtesy of PCB Piezotronics

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Strain Gage: Gage Factor

 Remember: for a strained thin wire
• DR/R = DL/L – DA/A + Dr/r
 A = p (D/2)2, for circular wire D L

 Poisson’s ratio, m: relates change in diameter D to

change in length L
• DD/D = - m DL/L
 Thus
• DR/R = (1+2m) DL/L + Dr/r
dimensional effect piezoresistive effect

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Position, Displacement and Level detectors -

Potentiomertic

 Resistance of a conductor is directly

proportional to its length.
 Therefore by making an object to control the
length of a conductor, displacement or the
position can be sensed.
 This can either be linear displacement or
rotary displacement.
 Thus two types of potentiometer based
displacement sensors can be identified as
linear and rotary.
 This is sometimes known as the “pot”

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 Position, Displacement and Level detectors -
Potentiomertic
 This is essentially an active type of device.
 The stimulus is the position or the displacement and it is obtained as
a voltage upon an applied energy source.

V – output voltage (proportional to the displacement)

E – Applied voltage
D – Total length of the potentiometer (fixed)
d – length corresponding to the displacement

• ‘D’ can be identified as the full scale input (FSI)

• Assume no loading effect.

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Position, Displacement and Level detectors -

Potentiomertic
Can be Linear or Rotational

Processing circuit

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Position, Displacement and Level detectors -

Potentiomertic

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 Position, Displacement and Level detectors -
Potentiomertic

If there is loading effect with

the interface circuit, the Potentiometric liquid level
output voltage will no longer detector
be proportional to the
displacement.
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Position, Displacement and Level detectors -

Potentiomertic

 As because this is an ratiometric device,

the resistance of the conductor doesn’t
affect the accuracy of the system.
 Few disadvantages of these detectors,
• Speed of response is slow.
• The sensor need to be physically coupled
with the object under measurement.
• Mechanical loading is there. (effect of
friction)
• Mechanical wear and tear.

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Position, Displacement and Level detectors –

Capacitive
 Capacitive detectors are widely used as proximity,
displacement and level detectors because they can be
used with both conductive and non conductive materials.

 Capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor (or rotary type)

can be controlled either by changing the width (d)
between the plates or by the permittivity of the medium.

 This capacitance variation can be converted to an

electrical signal. Therefore these are also active sensors

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 Position, Displacement and Level detectors –
Capacitive

 Capacitive proximity sensors

make use of the property of
permittivity of the medium in
order to detect the objects.

 In many practical applications

when capacitive sensors are
used as displacement detectors
the measured object it self forms
the one plate of the capacitor

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Position, Displacement and Level detectors –

Capacitive

Capacitive bridge type

displacement detector
High noise immunity, increased reliability, increased linearity

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Position, Displacement and Level detectors –

Capacitive
 When the liquid level changes the permittivity
changes, causing the total capacitance to be
changed.
 Thus the level of the liquid can be detected

Capacitive liquid level detector

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0du-QU1Q0T4 60

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 Position, Displacement and Level detectors –
Capacitive

 The middle plate is attached with the object under

measurement. The top and bottom plates are fed with
equal but opposite phase signals. Depending on the
movement of the center plate the output (voltage form the
middle plate) is obtained and its phase will give the
direction of the motion. (whether it is up or down)

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Position, Displacement and Level detectors –

Inductive
 Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT)
This is a device used to measure the
linear displacement by making use of the
property of mutual inductance. LVDT consists
of three solenoids placed end to end inside a
tube. One is the primary and other two are
secondary coils. A cylindrical ferromagnetic
core is attached to the object under
measurement, and it causes the ferromagnetic
core to slide along the axis of the tube.

The primary is driven by an alternating

current.

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Position, Displacement and Level detectors –

Inductive
Alternating supply in primary causes voltages to
be induced in secondary windings

As the core slides, the mutual inductance

changes, so the induced voltages in secondary
windings change.

Two secondary coils are connected in reverse

series so that the differential voltage is obtained
as the output.

When the core is in center position output is

zero. Equal and opposite voltages are induced in
secondary coils.

Both positive and negative displacement can

be measured, as the core moves left and
right. 63

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 Positional Sensors: LVDT
Linear Variable
Differential
Transformer

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anCnrtjNLQM

Displacement Sensing

LVDT (Linear Variable Differential

Transformer):
• Inductance-based mechanical sensor
• “Infinite” resolution
 limited by external electronics
• Limited frequency bandwidth (250 Hz
typical for DC-LVDT, 500 Hz for AC-
LVDT)
• No contact between the moving core Photo courtesy of MSI
and coil structure
 no friction, no wear, very long
operating lifetime
• Accuracy limited mostly by linearity
 0.1%-1% typical
• Models with strokes from mm’s to 1 m
available
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Position, Displacement and Level detectors –

Inductive

Rotary Variable Differential Transformer

(RVDT) :

 This is the angular counterpart of the

LVDT. RVDT is used to measure the
angular displacements.
 Has a stator and a rotor.
 The magnitude of the output voltage is
proportional to the angle of rotation.
 The direction of rotation (whether it is
clockwise or anticlockwise) can be obtained
by the phase of the output voltage with
respect to the phase of the primary voltage.

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 Position, Displacement and Level detectors –
Inductive

Advantages of LVDT and RVDT :

 The effect of friction is minimum because the core is not in contact

with the windings.
 Solid and robust construction have made it suitable for rugged use.
 High resolution and precision can be achieved.
 Very low output impedance.
 High noise immunity.
 Hystereses effects are negligible.

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Position, Displacement and Level detectors –

Inductive
 Detects the presence of metallic objects (non-contact) via changing
inductance
 Sensor has 3 main parts:
• field producing Oscillator via a Coil;
• Detection Circuit which detects change in the field;
• and Output Circuit generating a signal (NO or NC)

Used in traffic lights (inductive loop buried under the road).

Sense objects in dirty environment.
Does not work for non-metallic objects. Omni-directional.

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Position, Displacement and Level detectors –

Inductive

 The Hall voltage developed can be used to encode a

rotary motion

The magnetic flux is shunted away

Hall sensor is ON
by the ferromagnetic object. Hall
sensor is OFF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpAA3qeOYiI
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Positional Sensors: Rotary Encoders

• Incremental and absolute types

• Incremental encoder needs a counter, loses absolute position between
power glitches, must be re-homed
• Absolute encoders common in CD/DVD drives

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT6FdvcEsMs
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Position, Displacement and Level detectors –

Inductive
 When the above assembly is enclosed in to a one housing, the
pulses produced with the presence and absence of the ferromagnetic
object, can be used to measure the angular displacement, hence the
angular speed.
Automobile distributor make use of
this kind of detector !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHE1imH9tdg
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Accelerometers
Static deformation:
F Ma
dstatic  
Spring Damping k k
F=kx F=Dv

Dynamic behavior
Inertial mass
M
F=Ma d 2x dx
M 2  D  kx  Fext  Ma
dt dt
k
r  Resonance frequency
M
M Quality factor
Q r
D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_iXLNkkjFo

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 Accelerometers

Accelerometer parameters
• acceleration range (G) (1G=9.81 m/s2)
• sensitivity (V/G)
• resolution (G)
• bandwidth (Hz)
• cross axis sensitivity

Application Range Bandwidth Comment

Air Bag Deployment ± 50 G ~ 1 kHz
Engine vibration ±1G > 10 kHz resolve small accelerations (< 1 micro G)
Cardiac Pacemaker control ±2G < 50 Hz multiaxis, ultra-low power consumption

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Capacitive Accelerometers
Anchor to
substrate

Spring
Displacement Inertial Mass

Stationary Polysilicon fingers

Based on ADXL accelerometers, Analog Devices, Inc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqZgxR6eRjo 74

Light sensors: photoconductive cells

• Light dependent resistor (LDR) cell

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Photojunction devices

phototransistor
photodiode

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Photovoltaic Solar Cells

• Can convert about 20% of light power into electricity
• Voltage is low (diode drop, ~0.6V)

Solar power is 1.4kW/m^2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYO83TkM0To

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Motion sensors/transducers
• Switches, solenoids, relays, motors, etc.
• Motors
Stepper motor
• DC
• Brushed/brushless
• Servo
• Stepper motors
• AC

Bruchless dc motor :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCEiOnuODac

Servo : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZhuD78BLDk
Stepper : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWMai3oirnM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bngx2dKl5jU 78

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 Piezo transducers
• Detect motion (high and low frequency)
• Sound (lab this week), pressure, fast motion
• Cheap, reliable but has a very limited range of motion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiu9zL10lIc

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Ultrasonic Sensors

 Ultrasonic Sensors Overview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPZ9izkt1pY

The Ultrasonic Flow Measuring Princip

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx2RnrfLkQg

Ultrasonic Level Sensor Beam Width Explained

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie3C9-VmR2g

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Ultrasonic distance measurement

 By using mechanical acoustic waves which are not sensitive to
humans (beyond 20kHz) a non contact type distance measurement
can be achieved.
 Ultrasonic energy is reflected in a diffuse manner. That is regardless
from the direction of incident energy the reflection occurs in a
considerable wide range. (wide solid angle).
 Once the object under measurement is moving the reflected
frequency will be different form that of the incident. (Doppler effect)

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 digital sensors
 Sensors in IoT Medical and Healthcare
Many types of sensors are involved in merging medical applications and
the Internet. Here an example
 a digital sensor with a signal path that includes a sensing element, a
14- bit analog-to-digital converter, a DSP, and an I/O block that
supports either an I²C or SPI interface (Figure). The sensor also
includes an internal temperature reference and associated control
logic to support the configured operating mode. The sensing element
is powered down while not being sampled to conserve power. Since
there is a single ADC, there is also a multiplexer at the front end of
the ADC that selects the signal source for the ADC

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Applications: Actuators
Texas Instruments Digital Micromirror DeviceTM

• Invented by Texas Instruments in 1986

• Array of up to 1.3 million mirrors
• Each mirror is 16 mm on a side with a pitch of 17 mm
• Resolutions: 800x600 pixels (SVGA) and 1280x1024 pixels (SXGA)

For an animated demo of this device, go to http://www.dlp.com/dlp_technology/

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Digital Micromirror Device

• Mirror is moved by electrostatic actuation (24 V applied to bias electrode)

• Projection system consists of the DMD, electronics, light source and projection optics
• Switching time: 16 µs (about 1000 times faster than the response time of the eye)
=> Acheive grey scale by adjusting the duration of pulse
• Placing a filter wheel with the primary colors between light source and the micromirrors
=> Achieve full color by timing the reflected light to pass the wheel at the right color

From “An Introduction to Microelectromechanical Systems Engineering” by Nadim Maluf

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Connecting Sensors to Microcontrollers

 Analog
• many microcontrollers have a built-in A/D
 8-bit to 12-bit common
 many have multi-channel A/D inputs
 Digital
• serial I/O
 use serial I/O port, store in memory to analyze
 synchronous (with clock)
• must match byte format, stop/start bits, parity check, etc.
 asynchronous (no clock): more common for comm. than data
• must match baud rate and bit width, transmission
protocol, etc.
• frequency encoded
 use timing port, measure pulse width or pulse frequency
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Instrumentation Amplifier
 Robust differential
gain amplifier gain stage

 Input stage
• high input impedance input stage
 buffers gain stage
• no common mode gain
• can have differential gain

 Gain stage
• differential gain, low input impedance total differential gain
2 R2  R1  R4 
 Overall amplifier Gd   
R1  R3 
• amplifies only the differential component
 high common mode rejection ratio
• high input impedance suitable for biopotential electrodes with high output
impedance

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Instrumentation Amplifier w/ BP Filter

instrumentation amplifier HPF non-inverting amp

With 776 op amps, the circuit was found to have a CMRR of 86 dB at 100 Hz and a noise level of 40 mV peak to
peak at the output. The frequency response was 0.04 to 150 Hz for ±3 dB and was flat over 4 to 40 Hz. The total
gain is 25 (instrument amp) x 32 (non-inverting amp) = 800.

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Connecting Smart Sensors to PC/Network
 “Smart sensor” = sensor with built-in signal processing & communication
• e.g., combining a “dumb sensor” and a microcontroller
 Data Acquisition Cards (DAQ)
• PC card with analog and digital I/O
• interface through LabVIEW or user-generated code
 Communication Links Common for Sensors
• asynchronous serial comm.
 universal asynchronous receive and transmit (UART)
• 1 receive line + 1 transmit line. nodes must match baud rate & protocol
 RS232 Serial Port on PCs uses UART format (but at +/- 12V)
• can buy a chip to convert from UART to RS232

• synchronous serial comm.

 serial peripheral interface (SPI)
• 1 clock + 1 bidirectional data + 1 chip select/enable
• I2C = Inter Integrated Circuit bus
 designed by Philips for comm. inside TVs, used in several commercial sensor systems
• IEEE P1451: Sensor Comm. Standard
 several different sensor comm. protocols for different applications
88

Sensor Calibration
 Sensors can exhibit non-ideal effects
• offset: nominal output ≠ nominal parameter value
• nonlinearity: output not linear with parameter changes
• cross parameter sensitivity: secondary output variation with, e.g.,
temperature

 Calibration = adjusting output to match parameter

• analog signal conditioning
T1
• look-up table
• digital calibration
T2
 T = a + bV +cV2,
offset

• T= temperature; V=sensor voltage;

• a,b,c = calibration coefficients T3
 Compensation
• remove secondary sensitivities -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

• must have sensitivities characterized

• can remove with polynomial evaluation
 P = a + bV + cT + dVT + e V2, where P=pressure, T=temperature
89

The Role of Sensors in the IoT

 Sensors are important for tagging, tracking, locating, and monitoring things, and
for enabling things to be aware of the environment around them
 Sensors are a key enabler of the IoT and a foundational technology for many IoT
building blocks and related technologies (highlighted in red)

*From: “Vision and Challenges for Realising the Internet of Things”, March 2010
http://www.internet-of-things-research.eu/pdf/IoT_Clusterbook_March_2010.pdf 90

30
The Need for Sensor Standards

 Sensors are already prevalent today, but they will become

even more necessary and prevalent in IoT-enabled
devices and applications
• RFID readers, cameras, accelerometers, GPS,
thermometers, etc.
 Sensors are developed by a variety of manufacturers,
using many different protocols and formats, making the
interoperability and large scale sensor integration required
by the IoT difficult without standards
 Effective use of sensors to enable and drive the IoT
The decentralised and heterogeneous nature of things and the entities with which they
requires
interact standards
requires a scalable, for layered,
flexible, open, discovering
event-driven sensors, retrieving
architecture of standards that minimises
sensor
or eliminates any data, tasking
bias towards any singlesensors, and
programming language, subscribing
operating system, to and transport
information
mechanism or other technology and makes efficient use of available network connectivity and energy,
wherereceiving
required.* sensor alerts
*From: “Vision and Challenges for Realising the Internet of Things”, March 2010
http://www.internet-of-things-research.eu/pdf/IoT_Clusterbook_March_2010.pdf 91

Sensor Web Desires

 Quickly discover sensors and sensor data (secure or
public) that can meet my needs – location, observables,
quality, ability to task
 Obtain sensor information in a standard encoding that is
understandable by me and my software
 Readily access sensor observations in a common
manner, and in a form specific to my needs
 Task sensors, when possible, to meet my specific needs
 Subscribe to and receive alerts when a sensor measures
a particular phenomenon

92

Sensor Web Vision I

 Sensors will be web accessible
 Sensors and sensor data will be discoverable
 Sensors will be self-describing to humans and software
(using a standard encoding)
 Most sensor observations will be easily accessible in real
time over the web
 Standardized web services will exist for accessing sensor
information and sensor observations
 Sensor systems will be capable of real-time mining of
observations to find phenomena of immediate interest
 Sensor systems will be capable of issuing alerts based
on observations, as well as be able to respond to alerts
issued by other sensors
93

31
Sensor Web Vision III
 Software will be capable of on-demand geolocation and
processing of observations from a newly-discovered
sensor without a priori knowledge of that sensor system

 Sensors, simulations, and models will be capable of

being configured and tasked through standard, common
web interfaces

 Sensors and sensor networks will be able to act on their

own (i.e. be autonomous)

94

Existing IoT Applications are Silos

Silo A Silo B Silo C Silo D

Application Application Application Application

A B C D

IoT IoT IoT IoT

service A service B service C service D

95

Let’s say you want to develop the following application

When my body temperature is high and hours of sleep is low, the light cannot
be turned on and room temperature will be set to 15 degree Celsius.

Application

IoT IoT IoT IoT

service A service B service C service D

96

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 Opportunities for Standards

Xively
Evrythng
(Pachube)

SensorCloud
ThingSpeak

Others...
Others... Numerex
Device Cloud

97

OGC SW-IoT Goal

Many more
innovative
applications by
mashing-up the IoT
data infrastructure

IoT service A IoT service B IoT service C IoT service C

(Open Geospatial Consortium)

98

OGC SW-IoT Goal

Many more
innovative
applications by
mashing-up the IoT
data infrastructure

IoT service A IoT service B IoT service C IoT service C

OGC: (Open Geospatial

Consortium)

SW: Sensors Web

99

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The decentralised and heterogeneous nature of things and
the entities with which they interact requires a scalable,
 flexible,
 open,
 layered,
 event-driven
architecture of standards that minimises or eliminates any
bias towards any single programming language,
operating system, information transport mechanism or
other technology and makes efficient use of available
network connectivity and energy, where required.

100

34