Performance Terminology

 Stability:
The stability of a transducer is its ability to give the same output when used to
measure a constant input over a period of time.
The term drift is often used to describe the change in output that occurs over time.
The drift may be expressed as a percentage of the full range output.
The term zero drift is used for the changes that occur in output when there is zero
input.
 Dead band/ time:
The dead band or dead space of a transducer is the range of input values for which
there is no output.
For example, bearing friction in a flow meter using a rotor might mean that there is
no output until the input has reached a particular velocity threshold.
The dead time is the length of time from the application of an input until the output
begins to respond and change.

Performance Terminology

 Resolution :
When the input varies continuously over the range, the output signals for some
sensors may change in small steps.
A wire-wound potentiometer is an example of such a sensor, the output going up in
steps as the potentiometer slider moves from one wire turn to the next.
The resolution is the smallest change in the input value that will produce an
observable change in the output.
 Output impedance:
When a sensor giving an electrical output is interfaced with an electronic circuit it
is necessary to know the output impedance since this impedance is being connected
in either series or parallel with that circuit.

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 Static & Dynamic Characteristics
 The static characteristics are the values given when steady-state conditions
occur, i.e. the values given when the transducer has settled down after having
received some input.
 The dynamic characteristics refer to the behavior between the time that the input
value changes and the time that the value given by the transducer settles down to
the steady-state value.
 Dynamic characteristics are stated in terms of the response of the transducer to
inputs in particular forms.

Dynamic Characteristics
1. Response time:
This is the time which elapses after a constant input, a step input, is applied to
the transducer up to the point at which the transducer gives an output corresponding to some
specified percentage.
For example, if a mercury-in-glass thermometer is put into a hot liquid there
can be quite an appreciable time lapse, perhaps as much as 100 or more, before the
thermometer indicates 95% of the actual temperature of the liquid.

Figure 3: Response to a step input

2. Time constant:
The time constant is a measure of the inertia of the sensor and so how fast it will
react to changes in its input, the bigger the time constant the slower will be its reaction to a
changing input signal.

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 Dynamic Characteristics
3. Rise time:
This is the time taken for the output to rise to some specified
percentage of the steady-state output. Often the rise time refers to the time taken for
the output to rise from 10% of the steady-state value to 90 or 95% of the steady-
state value.
4. Settling time:
This is the time taken for the output to settle to within some
percentage.

DISPLACEMENT, POSITION & PROXIMITY

 Displacement sensors are concerned with the measurement of the amount by
which some object has been moved.
 Position sensors are concerned with the determination of the position of some
object with reference to some reference point.
 Proximity sensors are a form of position sensor and are used to determine when
an object has moved to within some particular critical distance of the sensor.
In selecting a displacement, position or proximity sensor, consideration has to be
given to:
1. The size of displacement.
2. Whether the displacement is linear or angular.
3. The resolution required.
4. The accuracy required.
5. What material the measured object is made of.
6. The cost.

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 DISPLACEMENT, POSITION & PROXIMITY
 Displacement and position sensors can be grouped into two basic types:
 Contact sensors in which the measured object comes into mechanical contact with the sensor.
 Non-contacting where there is no physical contact between the measured object and the sensor.

 For those linear displacement methods involving contact, there is usually a

sensing shaft which is in direct contact with the object being monitored.
 The displacement of this shaft is then monitored by a sensor.
 The movement of the shaft may be used to cause changes in electrical voltage,
resistance, capacitance, or mutual inductance.
 For angular displacement methods involving mechanical connection the rotation
of a shaft might directly drive, through gears, the rotation of the transducer
element
 Non-contacting sensors might involve the presence in the vicinity of the
measured object causing a change in the air pressure in the sensor, or perhaps a
change in inductance or capacitance.

DISPLACEMENT, POSITION & PROXIMITY

Potentiometer Sensor
 A potentiometer consists of a resistance element with a sliding contact which can be moved over the
length of the element.
 Such elements can be used for linear or rotary displacements, the displacement being converted into
a potential difference.
 The rotary potentiometer consists of a circular wire-wound track or a film of conductive plastic over
which a rotatable sliding contact can be rotated as shown in Figure 4(a).
 With a constant input voltage , between terminals 1 and 3.
 The output voltage between terminals 2 and 3 is a fraction of the input voltage.
 The fraction depending on the ratio of the resistance between terminals 2 and 3 compared with
the total resistance between terminals 1 and 3, i.e.

Figure 4: Rotary Potentiometer

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 DISPLACEMENT, POSITION & PROXIMITY
Strain-gauged element
 The electrical resistance strain gauge (Figure 5) is a metal wire, metal foil strip,
or a strip of semiconductor material which is wafer-like and can be stuck onto
surfaces like postage stamp.
 When subject to strain, its resistance R changes, the fractional change in
resistance ∆ ⁄ being proportional to the strain , i.e.
∆
=

where G, the constant of proportionality, is termed the gauge factor

Metal foil
Metal wire

semiconductor

Figure 5: Strain gauges

DISPLACEMENT, POSITION & PROXIMITY

Capacitive element
 The capacitance C of a parallel plate capacitor is given by:

=
where,
is the relative permitvity of the dielectric between the plates.
a constant called permitvity of free space.
the area of overlap between the two plates.
the plate separation.
 Capactive sensors for the monitoring of linear displacements take the forms shown in
Figure 6.

Figure 6: Capacitive sensing element