Measurement & Sensors

Unit- 2
Motion and Position Sensors
 Motion Sensors
• A motion sensor is a device that notices movement within a specified range.
This range can be around the detector or just in front of it. Can detect objects
in and around 6.5 feet to 70 feet.
• Motion sensors are very useful when they operate in conjunction with other
devices like security alarms, Activate lights, doorbell, and security cameras.
There are three main types of motion detectors,
• Active,
• Passive infrared (PIR),
• and combined.

Active sensor has both a transmitter and a receiver.

Transmitter emits waves that reflect off objects and bounce back to the
original emission point, which triggers the sensor to produce output.
Passive sensor has receiver only to sense the waves emitted by the object.
 Motion Sensors

Microwave/ Radio Wave Motion Sensors

• Microwave or Radiofrequency, motion sensor generates microwave
signals and detect motion by sensing changes in the frequencies they
produce. When tripped, use to turn on the light, or security camera.

• These sensors are expensive, so normally used in warehouses, storage

units or other places that need a commercial level of security.

• Consumes more power, so these sensors are frequently designed to cycle

ON & OFF.
 Motion Sensors
Passive Infrared (PIR) Sensor
• Also known as "IR motion" or "Pyroelectric" sensors.

• All warm blooded animals produce IR radiation. Passive infrared

sensors include a thin Pyroelectric film material, that responds to IR
radiation by emitting electricity.

• These are less expensive than active sensors, easy to operate, and use
less power than active sensors.

• These are commonly built into gadgets and appliances in businesses or

homes, commonly used in indoor alarms.
 Motion Sensors
Ultrasonic Sensor

• Ultrasonic sensor can be active (or) passive.

• Passive are sensitive for particular sounds like metal on metal, glass
breaking. These sensors are very sensitive, but expensive and prone to fake
alarms.

• Active ones generate ultrasonic wave (sound wave) pulses and then
determine the reflection of these waves off a moving object.

• Used in shopping malls and other places to activate automatic doors.

 Motion Sensors

• Combined types of Motion Sensors

Also known as "Dual Technology" sensors, use multiple types of motion

sensing technology at once in order to reduce false alarms.
Dual sensors are activated when both kinds sense the motion.

For instance, a dual microwave or PIR sensor will start out on the passive
infrared sensor setting, because that consumes less energy. When the
passive infrared sensor is tripped, the microwave division will turn ON;
then, if the remaining sensor also tripped, the desired action takes place.

•
 Accelerometers

An accelerometer is an electronic sensor that measures the

acceleration forces acting on an object, in order to determine the
object’s position in space and monitor the object’s movement.
• Accelerometers measure linear acceleration along one or several
axis.

Two types of acceleration forces can act on an object:

• Static forces and
• Dynamic forces.

• Static forces are forces that are constantly being applied to the
object (such as friction or gravity). (DC response)

• Dynamic forces are “moving” forces applied to the object at various

rates (such as vibration/ Shock). (AC response)
 Accelerometers

• An accelerometer sensor reports the acceleration of the device along the

three sensor axes. The measured acceleration includes both the physical
acceleration (change of velocity) and the gravity.

• In phones and tablets, the accelerometer is responsible for “flipping” the

screen when the device is rotated. Accelerometers are also used by
zoologists to track the movement of animals in the wild, in automobiles
for detecting car crashes and for triggering airbags and factories to
monitor the vibration of machinery.

• Accelerometers can even be used to detect earthquakes, and may by used

in medical devices such as bionic limbs and other artificial body parts
 Accelerometers

There are three different types of accelerometers

• Piezoelectric,
• Piezoresistance
• Capacitive.

• A piezoelectric accelerometer utilizes the piezoelectric effect. Piezoelectric

materials produce electricity when put under physical stress to sense
change in acceleration. Piezoelectric accelerometers are most commonly
used in vibration and shock measurement.

• Piezoresistance accelerometer increases its resistance in proportion to the

amount of pressure applied to it. Piezoresistance accelerometers are
much less sensitive than piezoelectric accelerometers, and they are better
suited to vehicle crash testing.
 Accelerometers

• Capacitive accelerometers use change in electrical capacitance to

determine an object’s acceleration. When the sensor undergoes
acceleration, the distance between its capacitor plates changes.

• When the upper-frequency range, high-temperature range, and low

packaged weight are required, piezoelectric accelerometers are
preferred.
 Gyroscope

• Gyroscope sensor is a device that can measure and maintain the

orientation and angular velocity of an object. These can measure the tilt
and lateral orientation of the object
• Angular velocity Change in rotational angle per unit of time. expressed in
deg/s (degrees per second).
• These are more advanced than accelerometers.
• Accelerometers and Gyroscopes compliment each other so, they are
usually used together.
• An accelerometer measures the linear acceleration or directional
movement of an object, whereas Gyroscope Sensor measures the angular
velocity or tilt or lateral orientation of the object.
• Nowadays sensors based on Micro electro mechanical (MEMS)
technology Hence packaged similar to the IC’s.
• Gyroscope sensors for multiple axes are also available.
 Gyroscope

• Depending on the direction there are three types of angular rate

measurements.
• Yaw- the horizontal rotation on a flat surface when seen the object from
above,
• Pitch- Vertical rotation as seen the object from front,
• Roll- the horizontal rotation when seen the object from front.

• Gyroscopes are available that measure angular rotation in one, two, or

three axes. Multi-axis sensing gyros have multiple single-axis gyros
oriented orthogonal to one another.

• Types of Gyroscopes
• Rotary
• Vibrating
• Optical
• MEMS
 Rotary

The gyroscope exploits the law of conservation of angular momentum

which says that the total angular momentum of a system is constant in
both magnitude and direction if the resultant external torque acting upon
the system is zero.
These gyroscopes typically consist of a spinning disk or mass on an axle,
which is mounted on a series of gimbals. Each gimbal offers the spinning
disk an additional degree of rotational freedom. The gimbals allow the
rotor to spin without applying any net external torque on the gyroscope.
Thus as long as the gyroscope is spinning, it will maintain a constant
orientation.
When external torques or rotations about a given axis are present in these
devices, orientation can be maintained and measurement of angular
velocity can be measured due to the phenomenon of precession.
 Rotary
• Precession occurs when an object spinning about some axis (the spin axis)
has an external torque applied in a direction perpendicular to the spin axis
(the input axis). In a rotational system when net external torques are
present, the angular momentum vector (which is along the spin axis) will
move in the direction of the applied torque vector. As a result of the
torque, the spin axis rotates about an axis that is perpendicular to both
the input axis and spin axis (called the output axis).
 Rotary
• This rotation about the output axis is then sensed and fed back to the
input axis where a motor or similar device applies torque in the opposite
direction, cancelling the precession of the gyroscope and maintaining its
orientation.
• To measure rotation rate, counteracting torque is pulsed at regular time
intervals. Each pulse represents a fixed angular rotation δθ, and the pulse
count in a fixed time interval t will be proportional to the net angle change
θ over that time period – thus, the applied counteracting torque is
proportional to the rotation rate to be measured
• Rotary gyroscopes are mostly used today in harsh military and naval
environments which are subject to shock and intense vibration, and where
physical size is not critical.
 Vibrating Structure Gyroscope
• Vibrating structure gyroscopes are MEMS (Micro-machined Electro-
Mechanical Systems) devices that are easily available commercially,
affordable, and very small in size.
• It works on the principle of Coriolis force. In a rotating system, every point
rotates with the same rotational velocity. As one approaches the axis of
rotation of the system, the rotational velocity remains the same, but the
speed in the direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation decreases.
Thus, in order to travel in a straight line towards or away from the axis of
rotation while on a rotating system, lateral speed must be either increased
or decreased in order to maintain the same relative angular position
(longitude) on the body.
• The act of slowing down or speeding up is acceleration, and the Coriolis
force is this acceleration times the mass of the object whose longitude is
to be maintained.
• The Coriolis force is proportional to both the angular velocity of the
rotating object and the velocity of the object moving towards or away
from the axis of rotation.
 Optical Gyroscope
• Optical gyroscopes (Laser) contain no moving parts, and hence are not susceptible to
mechanical wear or drifting. Optical gyroscopes differ from other types in that they do not
rely on conservation of angular momentum in order to operate. Instead, their functionality
depends only on the constancy of the speed of light.
• Optical gyroscopes operate under the principle of the Sagnac effect.
• To understand this principle, Say a light source is positioned on a circle, emitting two beams
of light in either direction. If the source stays stationary, then both beams of light require an
equal amount of time to traverse the circle and arrive back at the source. However, if the
source is rotating along the circle, then it takes more time for the beam in front of the source
to complete its path.
 Optical Gyroscope

• This difference in path length (or Doppler shift) is detected as a phase shift
by interferometry.
• This phase shift is proportional to the angular velocity of the system.
• Often optical gyroscope units consist of 3 mutually orthogonal gyroscopes
for rotation sensing about all three orthogonal rotation axes. They are also
typically implemented with 3-axis accelerometers thus providing full
motion sensing in 6 directions.
• Optical gyroscopes are bigger in size, due to the extensive amount of fibre-
optic cable and presence of optical equipment. Hence, these gyroscopes
are often used in naval and aviation applications, and where physical size
is not an issue.