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Sensors:
Sensors form the interface between the process that is being controlled and the controlling
elements. The fundamental purpose of any sensor is to report the state of some variable which
characterizes the process. Any measuring device necessarily contains at least one sensing
device. Most measuring devices also contain another element, the transducer. The overall
structure is shown in figure

Figure2.1. The structure of a sensor

A transducer converts information from one form to another. The output or response of the
sensor may be in a form that can not easily be processed by the controlling element. The most
common output signals form measuring devices are electrical (either voltage or current) or
pneumatic ( air pressure).\
Sensors may also be categorized by their response as a function of time. Thus a sensor may
be analog (if its response is a continuous function of time), or digital (if the response is in the
form of a pulse train, or a function which switches instantaneously between two fixed
amplitude states). A special case of digital sensors is a binary sensor, which is basically a
switch.

General characteristics of sensors are two, namely

1. Static characteristics
2. Dynamic Characteristics
Static Characteristics of Sensors

Static characteristics of sensors describe the performance of a transducer with very slow
changes in the measurand. Static characteristics include accuracy, linearity, precision,
sensitivity…etc
Error
Accuracy of a sensor is usually specified by error. it tells you how closely the measured value
matches the true value.
Error is given by

Where t stands for true value, m for measured value and x stands for the measurand.
For multi error systems, the overall error can be assessed either through finding the linear
sum of all errors (E1 + E2 +…+En) or through the root mean square approach where total
performance error can be assessed as,

Precision
Precision describes how close a measured value is to the true value and how far it is
reproducible.
Repeatability is the defined as the capability of a sensor to provide the same output
repeatedly when used each time to measure the same input.
Resolution
Resolution is the smallest change in the input that is needed to produce a detectable change in
output. For a detectable output Δy, if the minimum change in x is Δxmin, then the maximum
resolution is

Minimum detectable change

It is the minimum signal level that produces a detectable output in the sensor. If the input
signal doesn’t contain any noise, the minimum detectable output from the sensor is
determined by its noise characteristics. For this, the equivalent noise source is connected to
the input of the sensor to produce an output which is the actual output level of the sensor. The
RMS equivalent input noise is then taken as the minimum detectable change.
Threshold
The threshold is the smallest input change that is needed to produce a detectable output at the
zero value condition of the measure and.
Sensitivity
It is the ratio of incremental output to incremental input, that is,

If the sensitivity of a sensor varies with ambient conditions like time, temperature,
humidity..etc without any change in input level, drift is said to occur in the system.
Selectivity and Specificity
The output of a sensor may change with environmental parameters or other variables.
Selectivity is the ability of a sensor to discriminate the response to input changes from other
interfering quantities.
Nonlinearity
Non-linearity is the deviation of a sensor output value (real value) from its ideal output value.
The maximum nonlinearity is shown in the figure.
Nonlinearity can be specified either by finding deviation from best fit straight line obtained or
by finding the deviation from a straight line joining the endpoints of the scale.
Hysteresis
Hysteresis is the difference in the output of the sensor for a given input x when x reaches this
value in upscale direction and downscale direction.

It is caused by the normal hesitance of a material to come back to its original state after
having a physical change. It depends on the hysteresis property of the sensor.
Output Impedance
Impedance is a measure of the overall opposition of a circuit to the current. The output
impedance of a transducer specifies the impedance across its output terminals.
Isolation and grounding
Isolation eliminates or at least reduces the undesirable coupling in the system. Grounding
establishes a common node among different parts of the system with respect to which
potential of any point in the system remains constant.
Dynamic Characteristics of Sensors
Dynamic characteristics of a sensor tell us how fast a transducer responds to the changes in
input.
Transfer function
The transfer function is a measure of the magnitude of the input signal and the magnitude of
the output signal.
Frequency response
It is the relationship between the frequency of the input signal and the magnitude of the
output signal.
Impulse response
The output of a sensor for a brief input signal, called an impulse, is called impulse response.