MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

▪ Generalized Elements
▪ Static Characteristics
▪ Dynamic Characteristics
 Elements of a Generalized Measurement System

▪ Primary Sensing Element

▪ Variable Conversion Element

▪ Variable Manipulation Element

▪ Data Transmission Element

▪ Data Processing

▪ Data Presentation Element

 PRIMARY SENSING ELEMENT

Measurand is detected by a primary sensor and is converted to an analogous

signal by transducer

First stage of measurement system: Detector – Transducer stage

 VARIABLE CONVERSION ELEMENT

O/p of a primary sensing element could be in any form – Sometimes not

suited to the system

VCE – Converts this output to a more ‘suitable’ form while preserving

the information content of original signal.

e.g. ADC
 VARIABLE MANIPULATION ELEMENT/SIGNAL CONDITIONING ELEMENT

Manipulate (slightly change numerical value) the signal presented to it

while preserving the original nature of the signal.

May precede variable conversion stage too (Signal after being sensed
might need some signal conditioning)

e.g. Voltage amplifier : Amplifies voltage without changing its nature

 DATA TRANSMISSION ELEMENT

When elements of a system are spatially separated, this element helps in

transmitting data from one element to another.

It acts as a communication link between different elements of the

measurement system
 DATA PRESENTATION ELEMENT

Information about quantity under measurement is conveyed to the

personnel handling the instrument/system for monitoring, control or
analysis purposes

Display Devices: Analog/Digital instruments (Indicating instruments like

ammeter, voltmeter ; Recording Instruments like Magnetic tapes ; tv,
camera etc. . .
‘Terminating Stage’
EXAMPLE - Bourdon Tube Pressure Gauge
 EXAMPLE - Bourdon Tube Pressure Gauge
Tube senses pressure & displaces the closed end (P→D) ; Closed end is
connected to a gear arrangement → amplifies displacement & rotates pointer

Primary Sensing /Variable Conversion Element

Bourdon Tube
Variable Manipulation Element:
Gear Arrangement
Data Transmission Element:
Mechanical Linkage
Data Presentation Element:
Pointer & Dial
 CHARACTERISTICS THAT DESCRIBE SENSOR
PERFORMANCE AND MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS

STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristics that must be considered when system/instrument is used
to measure a condition that is ‘constant’ or ‘not varying with time’

DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristics that must be considered when system/instrument is used
to measure a condition/quantity that is ‘rapidly varying’ with time
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS

All static performance characteristics are obtained by a process called

‘Static Calibration’

CALIBRATION: Checking an instrument against a known standard to find

errors and accuracy
What is wrong with the graph?

Force vs force sensor output

Force
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS

• Accuracy & Precision

• Sensitivity
• Repeatability/Reproducibility
• Drift
• Hysteresis
• Linearity/Non-Linearity
• Dead Zone
TRUE VALUE: Found by taking average of an infinite number of measured
values where in the average deviation tends to 0
We usually get what is a ‘best measured value’

SCALE RANGE: Defines limits between which the inputs vary

SCALE SPAN: Max. Value of input – Min. Value of input

 ACCURACY AND PRECISION
ACCURACY: It is the closeness with which the instrument reading approaches
the true value (expressed in terms of error)
PRECISION: The ability of a measurement to be consistently reproduced and
the number of significant digits to which a value has been reliably measured

How is accuracy expressed?

𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒−𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 ∗100
▪ Percentage of scale range =
𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒

𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒−𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 ∗100

▪ Percentage of True Value =
𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒
A temperature measuring instrument measures between 0 to 500֯C.
i. Accuracy is defined as ±0.5% of full scale range.
ii. Accuracy is defined as ±0.5% of true value.
Calculate the accuracy in measurement for 500 ֯ C and 25 ֯C
 SENSITIVITY

How sensitive is a particular instrument?

SENSITIVITY: Ratio of change of output to the change of the input (quantity

being measured).
As an example, consider a pressure sensor that has a measurement range of
0–100PSI and an output range of 0–5V. Its sensitivity is 0.05 Volt/PSI.

(Units: µ𝐴Τ𝑚𝑚 ; µ𝑉Τ

𝑚𝑚)

Static Sensitivity is defined as:

𝑰𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒑𝒖𝒕 ∆𝒒𝑶
𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑺𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚 = =
𝑰𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑰𝒏𝒑𝒖𝒕 ∆𝒒𝒊

DEFLECTION FACTOR: Inverse of Sensitivity is called Deflection Factor

𝟏 ∆𝒒𝒊
𝑫𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑭𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 = =
𝑺𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚 ∆𝒒𝑶
If Calibration curve is linear: Sensitivity can be obtained with slope of the curve

If curve is not linear : Sensitivity varies with input

 REPEATABILITY/REPRODUCIBILITY
Ability of an instrument to give the same output for repeated applications of
the same input value’
REPEATIBILITY
It describes closeness of output readings when the same input is
applied repetitively over a short period of time. Following should be
kept same during repetitive test/measurement:
• measurement conditions
• instrument
• observer
• location
• conditions of use

REPRODUCIBILITY
It describes closeness of output readings for the same input when there
are changes in the method of measurement, observer, measuring
instrument, location, conditions of use and time of measurement.

• Both the terms repeatability and reproducibility describe the spread of

output readings for the same input.
• The spread is known as repeatability if the measurement conditions are
constant and known as reproducibility if the measurement conditions vary.
 DRIFT

Describes the change in output that occurs over time, independent of

measured quantity

Undesirable quality in industrial instruments and is not easily compensated

POSSIBLE CAUSES?
Stray magnetic fields, thermal EMFs, changes in temperature, mechanical
vibrations, high mechanical stresses etc . . .

SAFETY/PREVENTIVE MEASURES?
Proper Shielding keeps off stray magnetic fields, Heat sink to dissipate heat
etc. . .
▪ ZERO DRIFT: Whole Calibration gradually shifts (undue warming of
electronic circuits). ‘Zero Setting’ is usually done
▪ SPAN DRIFT/SENSITIVITY DRIFT: Proportional change in indication
all along upward scale
▪ ZONAL DRIFT: Drift occurs only over a certain portion of span of an
instrument
 Dead Time and Dead Zone
DEAD TIME: Time required by a system to begin to respond to a change in
the measurand.
Time before the instrument begins to respond after the measured
quantity has been changed

DEAD ZONE/DEAD SPACE: Largest change of input quantity for which there
is no output or the instrument does not respond.
 RESOLUTION
Smallest change in input (quantity being measured) that can be detected with
certainty by an instrument.
When the input is slowly increased from some arbitrary input value, which is non-
zero, the output does not change at all until certain increment is exceeded. This
increment is called resolution of the instrument. Thus, the resolution refers to
the smallest change of input for which there will be a change output.
A moving coil voltmeter has a uniform scale with 100 divisions, the full scale
reading is 200V and 1/10 of a scale division can be estimated with a fair
degree of certainty. Determine resolution of the instrument in volt.
 LINEARITY

LINEARITY: Output is linearly proportional and symmetrical to the input

NON-LINEARITY: Measure of maximum deviation of any of the calibration

points from an idealized line

Terms of % Instrument reading

𝑀𝑎𝑥 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑂𝑝.𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒
𝑁. 𝐿. = x 100
𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔

Terms of Full Scale Reading

𝑀𝑎𝑥 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑂𝑝.𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒
𝑁. 𝐿. = x 100
𝐹𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑆𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
 HYSTERESIS

Phenomenon that depicts different output effects when loading & unloading for
any type of system

If input measured quantity to

the instrument is steadily Curve B-
increased the output reading input
varies in the manner shown in decreasing
curve A. Curve A-
If the input is then steadily input
decreased the output varies in Increasing
the manner shown in curve B.
Non coincidence between the
loading and unloading curves is
known as hysteresis.

POSSIBLE CAUSES?
All energy put into the stressed part is not recoverable upon unloading

(Internal friction, hysteric damping, looseness in mechanism etc . . .)

 NOISE

Spurious Current/voltage extraneous to current/voltage of interest

SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO

𝑺 𝑺𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 (𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒔)𝟐

= =
𝑵 𝑵𝒐𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 (𝑼𝒏𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝑵𝒐𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒕𝒔)𝟐

NOISE FACTOR: Measure of noise added to signal by measurement system

𝑺
𝒂𝒕 𝑰𝒏𝒑𝒖𝒕
𝑭= 𝑵
𝑺
𝒂𝒕 𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒑𝒖𝒕
𝑵

NOISE FIGURE: Noise Factor expressed in decibels

𝒏𝒇 = 𝟏𝟎𝒍𝒐𝒈𝑭
 SOURCES OF NOISE
▪ Generated Noise
AMPLIFIER
Input signal Output signal
▪ Conducted Noise without noise with noise
▪ Radiated Noise
Power Supply

GENERATED NOISE: Input signal is clear of noise. Amplifier amplifies

the input signal (powered by a supply); Output signal: Amplified
input + Noise

Noise on account of internal components of amplifier(R,C,

transistor etc. . .)
 SOURCES OF NOISE
▪ Generated Noise
AMPLIFIER
Input signal Output signal
▪ Conducted Noise without noise with noise
▪ Radiated Noise
Power Supply
CONDUCTED NOISE: Power supply could be the source of noise (spikes or
ripples, random deviations)
 SOURCES OF NOISE
▪ Generated Noise
AMPLIFIER
Input signal Output signal
▪ Conducted Noise without noise with noise
▪ Radiated Noise
Power Supply

RADIATED NOISE: Environmental disturbances (stray fields-

electrostatic, electromagnetic, radio frequencies etc…) around the
amplifier that are radiated into the internals of the amplifier

Shielding to prevent radiated noise

 DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS

DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS: Used to measure a time varying process

variable

DYNAMIC RESPONSE: Behavior of the system when the inputs vary with
time and so do the outputs (e.g. Aerospace, industrial, applications)

▪ STEADY STATE RESPONSE: Response when time reaches infinity

▪ TRANSIENT RESPONSE: Response of the measurement system during the

transient state is known as transient response.
▪ The transient response will be zero for large values of ‘t’
 DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS

1. SPEED OF RESPONSE: Rapidity with which a measurement system

responds to changes in measured quantity

2. MEASURING LAG: Retardation/Delay in response of a measurement

system to changes in measured quantity (Causes: capacitance, inertia,
resistance etc…)

3. FIDELITY: Degree to which a measurement system indicates changes in

measured quantity without any dynamic error

4. DYNAMIC ERROR: (Measurement Error): Difference between true value

of quantity changing with time and value indicated by measurement
system (assuming no static error)
An example…
Another example…
Another example…
A capacitive sensor for soil moisture detection

Source: DOI: 10.11591/ijeecs.v10.i2.pp456-468

 LOADING EFFECT
The loading effects are due to impedances of various elements
connected in a system, and hence, it’s important to analyze their
effects.

Two types of impedances :

INPUT IMPEDANCE & OUTPUT IMPEDANCE

1 (a). INPUT IMPEDANCE The magnitude of the impedance of

element connected across the signal
source - Input Impedance.

The magnitude of input impedance:

𝑒
Zi = 𝑖
𝑖𝑖
Voltage source and Input device The instantaneous power extracted by the
input device from the signal source :

𝑒𝑖2
p = ei ii =
𝑍𝑖
Thus, a low input impedance device connected across a voltage signal source loads the
source more heavily than a High Input Impedance Device.
 LOADING EFFECT

1 (a). INPUT IMPEDANCE

Thus, a voltmeter is connected across the system for measurement of voltage, it

should have high input impedance. A low impedance voltmeter loads the system
heavily, and results in wrong measurement.
 LOADING EFFECT
1 (b). INPUT ADMITTANCE
When the signal is in the form of current the
series input devices are used.

The magnitude of input admittance:

𝑖𝑖
Yi =
𝑒𝑖
Current source and Input device
The instantaneous power extracted from the
signal source :

𝑖𝑖2
p = ei ii = = 𝑖𝑖2 Zi
𝑌𝑖
Thus, the amount power drawn by series elements from the current signal source is small
when the input admittance of the device is high (i.e. input impedance is low). For series
devices, the loading effects are small when their input admittance is large.
An Ammeter – should have low input impedance so that the current is measured correctly.
Ideally, an ammeter should have infinite input admittance.
 LOADING EFFECT
2 (a). OUTPUT IMPEDANCE
The output impedance is defined as its
equivalent impedance as seen by the load.
Let,
eo= voltage appearing across the output
terminals of the device when the load is not
connected.
eL= voltage appearing across the output
terminals of the device when the load is
connected.

The output impedance:

𝑒𝑜 −𝑒𝐿
A device and its Thevenin’s ZO=
𝑖𝐿
equivalent ckt
Thus, the drop in the output voltage (eo-eL =
iL Zo) is determined directly by the output
impedance as the system is loaded.
Thus, for voltage sources- low
The powerloss in voltage source:
output impedance →low voltage 2
drop → lower power consumption.
(eo -eL ) iL = 𝑖 𝐿 Zo
 LOADING EFFECT
2 (b). OUTPUT ADMITTANCE
- While dealing with current sources
→Output Admittance
𝑖𝑜−𝑖𝐿
The output admittance of current source → YO=
𝑒𝐿

io=current delivered by the constant current source.

iL=current flowing through the load when it is connected to the source.
1
 YO= 𝑍
𝑂
𝑒𝐿2
Powerloss in the current source→ p=(io-iL)eL= 𝑒𝐿2 Yo =
𝑍𝑂

Thus, power drained from the current source is small if its output
admittance is small. Ideally, for no power loss in a current source, its output
admittance should be zero.
A voltmeter is used to measure the voltage across a 100V voltage source. The
internal resistances of the source and the voltmeter are 1 kohm and 1000
kohms respectively. Calculate the reading shown by the voltmeter.
A 50 V range voltmeter is connected across the terminals A and B of the
circuit as shown.
1. Find the reading of the voltmeter under open circuit and loaded
conditions.
2. Also, find the loading error.
A 50 V range voltmeter is connected across the terminals A and B of the
circuit as shown.
1. Find the reading of the voltmeter under open circuit and loaded
conditions.
2. Also, find the loading error.
 LOADING EFFECT Concept of Generalized Impedance

➢ Loading effect occur due to extraction of power from the measurement system.
➢ The transfer of power requires two variables- product has the dimensions of
power.
p = qi1 x qi2
➢ Across variable (qi1) & Through variable (qi2)

a) Through variables: Those variables which can be specified and measured at one
point in space.
b) Across variables: Those variables which can be specified and measured by two
points in space.