Chapter 1 Instrumentation

Electrical Measurement and
Instrumentation
By:Melkamu B.
mayebek@gmail.com
Gondar University
Institute of Technology
Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering
June 6, 2022
Introduction Instrument Classification Electrical Instrument Application of measurment Elements
Overview of Presentation
1 Introduction
2 Instrument Classification
3 Electrical Instrument
4 Application of measurement
5 Elements of measurement
6 Performance characteristics
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Introduction Introduction Instrument Classification Electrical Instrument Application of measurment Elements
Basics of measurement and Instrumentation

q The measurement of a given quantity is the result of
quantity comparison b/n a predefined standard and
an unknown quantity to be measured.
q The unknown quantity is measurand and the known
quantity is standard, the result is in terms of a
numerical value.

Basics of measurement cont..

q Instrument is a device that transforms a physical
variable of interest (the measurand ) into a form that
is suitable for recording (the measurement).
q An instrument is a device that measures a physical
quantity. An example is ruler: the measurand is the
length of the object. the measurement is the number
of units (meters, inches, etc.) that represent the
length.

Basics of measurment cont...
q Instrumentation is the use of measuring instruments

to monitor and control a process.
q It is the art and science of measurement and control
of process variables within a production, laboratory,
or manufacturing area.

Instrument Classification Introduction Instrument Classification Electrical Instrument Application of measurment Elements
Basics of measurment cont...

q The measuring instrument categorized into three
types;

Classification of Instruments cont...

Mechanical Instruments
q Very reliable under static and stable conditions only.
But unable to respond under dynamic and transient
conditions. Because these instruments have moving
parts which are rigid, heavy and bulky, and also
having large mass.
Disadvantages:-
a) large mass b) produce noise pollution
Ex:- all machines
• Impossible to measure a 50 Hz voltage by a mechanica
method.
Classification of Instruments cont...

Electrical Instruments
q More rapid than mechanical instruments. Take a
limited time to respond as these are having
mechanical meter movement.
• The respond time is slow i.e. 0.2 sec to 0.5 sec.
Ex:-all meters (Voltmeter,Ammeter,Ohmmeter etc.)

Classification of Instruments con’t...

Electronic Instruments
q Give fast response. Its monitoring time is mille
seconds to microseconds.
It is suitable for dynamic conditions.
These instruments use semiconductor devices.
Ex:-cathode ray oscilloscope(CRO)

Electrical Instrument Introduction Instrument Classification Electrical Instrument Application of measurment Elements
Classifications of Electrical Instruments
q Based on the method of representing the output

reading:
i. Absolute (primary) instruments
ii. Secondary instruments
Absolute instruments
• gives the magnitude of the quantity in terms of physical
constants of the instrument and their deflection only.
• no comparison with other instrument is necessary.
Examples:
Tangent galvanometer, Rayleigh current balance

Electrical Instrument con’t...

Secondary Instruments
q The quantity being measured can only be measured
by observing the output indicated by the instrument.
q Calibrated by comparison with absolute instrument

or another secondary instrument.
Examples:Ammeter, Voltmeter, Wattmeter, etc
q works in two mode of operation:
i. Digital mode
• Gives the output in the numeric form.
• no human error occurs in the reading.
Electrical Instrument con’t...

ii. Analog mode
q The instrument whose output varies continuously.
q it has a pointer which shows the magnitude of the
measurable quantities.
q Less accurate because of human error.
q The last digit of any digital number is rounded to
±0.5 of the last digit.
• For example, if we have ten steps, numbers lying be-
tween 2.5 to 3·5 i.e.,2·6, 2·7 2·8, 2·9, 3·0, 3·1, 3·2, 3·3,
3.4, would all be read as 3.
Application of measurment Introduction Instrument Classification Electrical Instrument Application of measurment Elements
Application of measurment
Monitoring of process and operation
q Indicate the value or condition of parameter under
study but don’t take any action.
• For example,an ammeter or a voltmeter indicates the
value of current or voltage being monitored (measured)
at a particular instant.
• Similarly, water and electric energy meters installed in
homes keep track of commodity used so that later on its
cost may be computed to be realized from the user.

Application of measurment con’t...

Control of process and operation:
q A very useful application of instruments is in
automatic control systems i.e strong association
between measurement and control.
• To attain the variable of interest set as desired
point.
• In order that process variables like temperature,
pressure, humidity, etc. may be controlled, the
prerequisite is that they can be measured at the
desired location in the individual plants.


• Consider simple control system shown in Fig below.
• The input is compared with the output with the help of a com-
parator. The output is a non-electrical quantity and is converted into
electrical form by a transducer.
q In case the input and output differ, there is a

resultant error signal. This error signal is amplified
and then fed to an actutator, which produces power
to drive the controlled circuitry.
q The corrective action goes on till the output is at the
same level as the input. At this stage, there is no
error signal and hence there is no input to the
actuator and the control action stops.
• A common one is the typical refrigeration system which employes
a thermostatic control.


Experimental engineering analysis:
q Solution of engineering problems uses two methods
i.e thieoretical and experimental methods.
q Many applications require application of both
methods.
• Advantage of experimental analysis
1. Testing the validity of theoretical predictions.
2.Formulations of generalized. empirical relationships
3. Determination of system parameters e.t.c.

Elements of measurment Introduction Instrument Classification Electrical Instrument Application of measurment Elements
Elements of Generalized measurement systems
q The measurement system consists of four elements

or functional blocks at most.

Elements of measurment con’t...

Sensing Element
q This is in contact with the process and gives an
output which depends in someway on the variable
to be measured.
q conversion of non electrical element to electrial.
Examples are:
Thermocouple – where millvolt emf. depends on temperature
Strain gauge – where resistance depend on mechanical strain.
• If there is more than one sensing element in a system, the element
in contact with the process is termed as the primary sensing element,
the others secondary sensing element.

Elements of measurment con’t...

Signal conditioning element
q This takes the output of the sensing element and
converts it into a form more suitable for further
processing, usually a d.c. voltage, d.c current or
frequency signal
Examples are:
• Deflection bridge: which converts an impedance change into a
voltage change
• Amplifier: which amplifies millivolt to volts
• Oscillator: which converts an impedance change into a variable
frequency voltage

Elements of measurment cont...

Signal processing element
q This takes the output of the conditioning element
and converts it into a form more suitable for
presentation.
Examples:
• Analog to digital converts (ADC) which converts a voltage into a
digital form for input to computer
• Computer which calculates the measured value of the variable
from the incoming digital data.

Elements of measurment Con’t...

Data presentation element
q This presents the measured value in a form which
can be easily recognized by the observer.
Examples are
• Simple pointer – scale indicator
•Chart recorder
• Alphanumeric display
• Visual display unit (VDU)

Performance characterstics Introduction Instrument Classification Electrical Instrument Application of measurment Elements
Performance charachterstics
q The performance characteristics of an instrument

are mainly divided in two categories:
i. Static characteristics
ii. Dynamic Characteristics
The set of criteria defined for the instruments, which are
used to measure the quantities which are slowly varying
with time or mostly constant , i.e do not vary with time, is
called static characteristics.
While, when the quantity under measurement changes
rapidly with time,expressed by dynamic differential
equation is called dynamic characterstics.

Performance characteristics Con’t...

Static Characteristics
q The various static characteristics are: accuracy,
precision, resolution, error, sensitivity, threshold,
reproductively, zero drift, stability and linearity
1. Accuracy:
It is the degree of closeness with which the instrument
reading approaches the true value of the quantity to be
measured.
It indicates the ability of instrument to indicate the true
value of the quantity

Static characterstics Con’t...

• The accuracy can be expressed in the following ways:
i. Accuracy as ‘Percentage of full scale reading’
ii. Accuracy as ‘Percentage of true value’
iii. Accuracy as ‘Percentage of scale span’
iv. Point accuracy
2. Precision:
q is the measure of repeatability of measurements
q It denotes the closeness with which individual
measurements are distributed about the average of
number of measured values.

Figure 1: accuracy & precision
• If your instrument is accurate , has a good accuracy, it is also

precise ( had a good precision).

q your instrument can be precise but the accuracy can

be low, because some systematic error could be
present
• Note: high degree of precision does not guarantee accuracy.


3. Error:
q The algebraic between the indicated value/measured
value and the true value of the quantity to be
measured is called an error.
• Mathematically it can be expressed as:
e = At − Am (1)
where e=Error
Am =measured value of the quantity
At =true value of the quantity

Absoluteerror At − Am
er = = (2)
Truevalue At
• The percentage relative error is expressed as:
At − Am
%e = x100 (3)
At
• From the relative percentage error, the accuracy can be mathemat-
ically expressed as:
At − Am
A = 1 − er = 1 − (4)
At
• The percentage accuracy is:
a = Ax100% (5)
Static characterstics Con’t

• Error as a percentage of full scale reading:
At − Am
= x100 (6)
f .s.d
Example:
A voltage has a true value of l.50V. An analog indicating instrument
with a scale range of 0-2·50 V shows a voltage of 1.46V. What are
the values of absolute error and correction. Express the error as a
fraction of the true value and the full scale deflection.


4. Sensitivity:
q Denotes the smallest change in the measured
variable to which the instrument responds
q The ratio of the changes in the output of an
instrument to a change in the value of the quantity
to be measured.

changeinoutput
sensitivity = (7)
changeininput
q The sensitivity is always expresses by the

manufacturer as the ratio of the magnitude of being
measured to the magnitude of the response.
q It is the reciprocal of sensitivity called deflection
factor
1 changeininput
Deflectionfactor = = (8)
Sensitivity changeinoutput


• When a calibration curve is linear the sensitivity of the instrument
is slope of the calibration curve.
• For this case the sensitivity is constant over the entire range of the
instrument
• However, if the curve is not a straight line the sensitivity varies
with the input as in fig b.


• Example:
A-Wheatstone bridge requires a change of 7 Ohm in the unknown
arm of the bridge to produce a change in deflection of 3mm of the
galvanometer. Determine the sensitivity. Also determine the deflec-
tion factor.
Solution


5. Resolution:
q If the input is slowly increased from some arbitrary
(non-zero) input value, it will be found that output
does not change at all until a certain increment is
exceeded. This increment is resolution.
q The smallest measurable input change
q The minimum change which causes the change in
the output is called resolution


• Example: A moving coil voltmeter has a uniform scale with 100
divisions.The full scale reading is 200 V and 1/10 of a scale divi-
sion can be estimated with a fair degree of certainty. Determine the
resolution of the instrument in volt.
• Note:Scale division is not equal to Resolution.


6. Threshold:
q If the input quantity is slowly varied from zero
onwards, the output does not change until some
minimum value of the input is exceeded. This
minimum value of the input is called threshold
q Resolution is the smallest measurable input change
while the threshold is the smallest measurable input


7. Linearity:
q It is the ability to reproduce the input characteristics
symmetrically and linearly
q The linearity property indicates the straight line
nature of the calibration curve
q The maximum deviation of the actual calibration
curve (output) from the idealized straight line,
expressed as a percentage of full scale reading or a
percentage of he actual reading

Figure 2: potentiometer:displacement is directly proportional to the sliding

contact voltage.
• the output is linearly proportional to the input.


8. Zero Drift:
q The deviation in the instrument output with time,
from its zero value, when the variable to be
measured is constant.
q No drift means that with a given input the measured
values do not vary with time.
Environmental factors which affects the drif:
• Stray electric field, stray magnetic field
•Temperature changes
• Mechanical vibration, wear and tear, corrosion, etc


9. Reproducibility or Repeatability:
q It is the degree of closeness with a given value may
be repeatedly measured.
q A perfect reproducibility indicates no drift in the
instrument
10. Stability:
q The ability of an instrument to retain its
performance throughout its specified operating life
and the storage life is defined as its stability


11. Tolerance:
q The maximum allowable error in the measurement
is specified interms of some value which is called
tolerance
q Indicates the maximum allowable deviation of a
manufactured component from a specified value
12. Range of span:
q The Scale Range of an instrument is defined as the
difference between the largest and the smallest
reading of the instrument.
q Suppose the highest point of calibration is Xmax

units while the lowest is Xmin units and that the
calibration is continuous between the two points.
Then we can say that the instrument range is
between Xmin and Xmax (or we say that ,the
instrument range is Xmax).
q The instrument span is given by:
Span=Xmax-Xmin
• For a thermometer calibrated between 200◦ C to 500◦ C, the range
is 200◦ C to 500◦ C (or 500◦ C) but the span is 500-200=300◦ C

Dynamic characteristics
q Occur when the instrument is subjected to rapid
varying input.
As the input varies from instant to instant, output also
varies from instant to instant. The behavior of system
under such conditions is called dynamic response of the
system
q All systems include one or more energy storing
elements like electrical inductance, capacitance,
inertia, thermal capacitance, etc. are under dynamic
characterstics.

Dynamic characterstics cont...

Dynamic characteristics:
1. Speed of response
q It is the rapidity with which the system responds to
the changes in the quantity to be measured
q It gives the information about how fast the system
reacts to the changes in the input
q The system should respond very quickly to the
changes in the input


2.0 Fidelity
q It indicates how faithfully the system reproduces the
changes in the input
q It is the ability of an instrument to produce a wave
shape identical to wave shape of input with respect
to time
3.0 Lag
• Every system takes some time, whatever small it may
be, to respond to the change in the measured variable
• This retardation or delay in the response of a system is
called lag
q The lags are two types:

i.Retardation lag: -
• The response of the system begins immediately after a change in
the variable has occurred.
ii. Time delay:-
• response begins after some time called dead time, after the appli-
cation of input.
- such a delay shifts the response along time axis and hence causes
the dynamic error


4.0 Dynamic error
q The difference between true value of the variable to
be measured, changing with time and the value
indicated by the measurement system, assuming
zero static error

Types of Error
q Errors may arise from different sources and are

usually classified as under:
1) Gross errors
2) Systematic errors
3) Random errors
1. Gross Error
q These errors are generally human errors using
instruments such as :
misreading instrument
incorrect adjustment of instruments
Improper application of instruments
Computation errors.
Errors in measurement cont...
q These errors are also called personal errors.

q We Can’t eliminate completely but minimize them
i. Taking great care
ii. Taking more than one reading and by different
persons.
2. Systematic error
q divided into three categories :
• I. Instrumental II. Environmental and III. Observational


i. Instrumental error
q These errors arise due to three main reasons :
(i) Due to inherent shortcomings in the instrument
(ii) Due to misuse of the instruments,
and (iii) Due to loading effects of instruments.
ii. Environmental errors
• due to conditions external to the measuring device,
conditions in the area surrounding the instrument.
• Effects of temperature, pressure, humidity, dust, vibra-
tions or of external magnetic or electrostatic fields.


iii. Observational Errors
q There are many sources of observational errors.
• Example: The pointer of a voltmeter rests slightly
above the surface of the scale.


3.0 Random (Residual) Errors
q The unpredictable (unknown) errors also called
Accidental errors.
q These errors are generally due to the accumulation
of large number of the small effects
q These errors are generally small. Hence, these
errors are of real concern only when the high degree
of accuracy is required


Reading Assignment
• Statistical analysis of measurements
i. Mean and median values
ii. Standard deviation and variance


Chapter 1 Instrumentation

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Electrical Measurement and

(UOG) Electrical Measurement and Instrumentation June 6, 2022 1/54

Basics of measurement and Instrumentation

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Basics of measurement cont..

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Basics of measurment cont...

q Instrumentation is the use of measuring instruments

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Basics of measurment cont...

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Classification of Instruments cont...

Classification of Instruments cont...

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Classification of Instruments con’t...

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Classifications of Electrical Instruments

q Based on the method of representing the output

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Electrical Instrument con’t...

q Calibrated by comparison with absolute instrument

Electrical Instrument con’t...

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Application of measurment con’t...

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Application of measurment con’t...

Application of measurment con’t...

q In case the input and output differ, there is a

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Application of measurment con’t...

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Elements of Generalized measurement systems

q The measurement system consists of four elements

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Elements of measurment con’t...

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Elements of measurment con’t...

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Elements of measurment cont...

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Elements of measurment Con’t...

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q The performance characteristics of an instrument

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Performance characteristics Con’t...

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Static characterstics Con’t...

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Static characterstics Con’t...

Figure 1: accuracy & precision

• If your instrument is accurate , has a good accuracy, it is also

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Static characterstics Con’t...

q your instrument can be precise but the accuracy can

• Note: high degree of precision does not guarantee accuracy.

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Static characterstics Con’t...

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Static characterstics Con’t

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Static characterstics Con’t

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Static characterstics Con’t