Heavy Mechanic

Car Sensors

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 Objective: To identify different types of engine sensors.

Content:
• Temperature Sensors
• Pressure Sensors
• Flow Sensors
• Position and Speed Sensors
• Gas Sensors
• Radar Sensors

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 Did you know that…

In the 1960s, there were only

oil pressure sensors, oil
quantity sensors, and water
temperature sensors in cars,
which were connected to
instruments or indicator lights.

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 Sensors for engine control systems

Are the core of the entire car sensors,

which could provide precise control of
engine working conditions for the
electronic control unit (ECU) to
improve the dynamic property, reduce
fuel consumption and exhaust
emissions, and perform fault detection.

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 Types of Sensors in Cars
1. Temperature Sensors
Are mainly used to detect the engine
temperature, intake gas temperature,
cooling water temperature, fuel
temperature, and catalytic temperature.
There are 3 main types:
• Wire-wound resistor temperature
• Thermistor temperature
• Thermocouple resistor temperature

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 2. Pressure Sensors
Mainly used to detect the negative pressure of
the cylinder, atmospheric pressure, the step-up
ratio of the turbine engine, the internal pressure
of the cylinder, and the oil pressure.
Some of which are used in automobiles are:
• Capacitive
• Piezoresistive
• Linear variable differential transformer(LVDT)
• Surface elastic wave type (SAW)

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 3. Flow Sensors
Used for the measurement of engine airflow
and fuel flow. The measurement of airflow
is used by the engine control system to
determine the burning conditions, control
the air-fuel ratio, start-up, ignition, etc.
There are 4 types of airflow sensors:
• Rotary vane (blade type)
• Karman vortex
• Hot wire
• Hot-film

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 4. Position and Speed Sensors
Used to detect crank angle, engine
speed, throttle percentage or vehicle
speed. The ones used in automobiles
are mainly generator type, magneto-
resistive type, hall effect type, reed
switch type, optical type and
semiconductor magnetic transistor type.

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 5. Gas Sensors
Used to detect gas and exhaust
emissions in the vehicle body.
The most important one is the
car oxygen sensor. Practical
ones include zirconia sensors,
zirconia concentration battery
gas sensors, solid electrolyte
zirconia gas sensors, and
titanium dioxide car O2 sensors.

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 6. Radar Sensors
The 24GHz radar sensor for
cars is used in the anti-collision
installation system, which emits
radar waves to judge the size,
distance, and moving speed of
objects in front to prevent
collision with the use of the
display and the braking system.

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 7. Vehicle Body Control Sensors
Are mainly used to improve the
safety, reliability, and comfort of
automobiles and include anti-
collision acceleration sensor,
ultrasonic short-range sensor,
millimeter-wave radar, ambient gas
electrochemical sensor, car reverse
sensor, side road deflection alarms,
and infrared thermal imaging night
vision sensor.

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 Development Trend of Car Sensors
The development trend of automobile
sensor technology is miniaturization,
multifunction, integration, and intelligence.
Using Mems (Microelectronic Mechanical
System) technology, we can pack the
micron-level sensitive components, signal
processors, and data processing device
into one chip, which is small in size, low in
price, high in reliability, and significantly
improves the accuracy of the system test.
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 Quiz
1. ECU stands for:
a. Electronic control unity b. Electronic control unit c. Electronic controller unit
2. In the ____ there were only oil pressure sensors, oil quantity sensors, and water
temperature sensors in cars.
a. 1950s b. 1960s c. 1980s
3. It is used to detect the step-up ratio of the turbine engine.
a. Flow sensors b. Radar sensors c. Pressure sensors
4. They include zirconia, solid electrolyte zirconia, and titanium dioxide car O2 sensors.
a. Gas sensors b. Radar sensors c. Pressure sensors
5. Rotary vane, Karman vortex, Hot wire, Hot-film are…
a. Gas sensors b. Flow sensors c. Pressure sensors

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 Quiz
1. ECU stands for:
a. Electronic control unity b. Electronic control unit c. Electronic controller unit
2. In the ____ there were only oil pressure sensors, oil quantity sensors, and water
temperature sensors in cars.
a. 1950s b. 1960s c. 1980s
3. It is used to detect the step-up ratio of the turbine engine.
a. Flow sensors b. Radar sensors c. Pressure sensors
4. They include zirconia, solid electrolyte zirconia, and titanium dioxide car O2 sensors.
a. Gas sensors b. Radar sensors c. Pressure sensors
5. Rotary vane, Karman vortex, Hot wire, Hot-film are…
a. Gas sensors b. Flow sensors c. Pressure sensors

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 Conclusions
Multifunctional means that one sensor can detect two or more
characters or chemical parameters, thereby reducing the number of
vehicle sensors and improving car sensor system reliability.
The car sensor is the input device of the automotive computer-
controlled system. After entering the 1970s, in order to control
emissions, catalytic converters, electronic ignition, and fuel injection
devices are required to maintain a certain air-fuel ratio. And in the
1980s, anti-lock braking systems and airbags improved vehicle safety.
Mems auto sensors have low cost, good reliability, small size, can be
integrated into new systems, and work for millions of hours.
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