Introduction to Mechatronics (FMD401)

Week 4
Sensors and Transducers
DR/ MOHAMED EL TAHER MOHAMED 1
Lecture Outline

Sensors and
Transducers

Signal conditioning

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 The basic elements of a mechatronic system.

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Measurement systems

▪ Measurement systems made up of three basic elements

1. A sensor responds to the quantity being measured by giving as its output a
signal (thermocouple)
2. A signal conditioner takes the signal from the sensor and
manipulates it into a condition which is suitable either for display
or control system (signal amplifier)
3. A display system displays the output from the signal conditioner.

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Sensors and Transducers

▪ Temperature (sensors)
▪ Light sensors
▪ Introduction to Signal conditioning (Chapter 3)
▪ Signal conditioning
▪ The operational amplifier

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Sensors and Transducers

▪ Expansion or contraction of solids, liquids or gases, the

change in electrical resistance of conductors

1-Bimetallic strips
• Two different metal strips (different coefficients of
expansion) bonded together

• Temperature changes the composite strip bends

into a curved strip (higher coefficient metal on the
outside)

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Sensors and Transducers

2- Resistance temperature detectors (RTDs)

The resistance of most metals increases in a reasonably linear way with temperature

▪ Rt is the resistance at a temperature t

▪ R0 the resistance at 0°C
▪ α is a constant for the metal termed the temperature coefficient of resistance.

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 Sensors and Transducers

2- Resistance temperature detectors (RTDs)

RTDs are simple resistive elements in the for m
of coils of wire of such metals as platinum,
nickel or nickel–copper alloys

• platinum is the most widely used. A platinum

wire held by a high-temperature glass
adhesive inside a ceramic tube.

• Such detectors are highly stable over long

periods of time.

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 Sensors and Transducers

3- Thermocouples
▪ Two different metals are joined together, a potential difference
occurs across the junction.
▪ The potential difference depends on the metals used and the
temperature of the junction.

• If both junctions are at the same temperature,

there is no net e.m.f.
• The value of this e.m.f. E depends on the two
metals and the temperatures t of both junctions

• a and b are constants for the metals

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 Sensors and Transducers

▪ Photodiodes are semiconductor junction

diodes which are connected into a circuit in
reverse bias, so giving a very high
resistance
▪ With no incident light, the reverse current is
almost negligible and is termed the dark current.

▪ When light falls on the junction, extrahole–

electron pairs are produced and there is an
increase in the reverse current and the diode
resistance drops.

▪ The reverse current is very nearly proportional to

the intensity of the light.
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 Sensors and Transducers

▪ A photoresistor has a resistance which depends on the intensity of

the light falling on it, decreasing linearly as the intensity increases.

▪ Phototransistors: have a light-sensitive collector–base p–n junction.

▪ When there is no incident light there is a very small collector-to-emitter
current.
▪ When light is incident, a base current is produced that is directly
proportional to the light intensity.

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Sensors and Transducers

1- the nature of the measurement required, the variable to be measured,

▪ Its value, the range, the accuracy, measurement speed, the reliability required, the
environmental conditions

2- the nature of the output required from the sensor,

▪ Signal conditioning requirements

3- then possible sensors can be identified,

▪ Range, accuracy, linearity, speed of response, reliability, maintainability, life, power supply
requirements, ruggedness, availability, cost.

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Signal conditioning

▪ Too small and have to be amplified,

▪ Contain interference which has to be removed,
▪ Be non-linear and require linearization,
▪ Be analogue and have to be made digital,
▪ Be digital and have to be made analogue,
▪ Be a resistance change and have to be made into a current change,
▪ Be a voltage change and have to be made into a suitable size current
change,

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Signal conditioning
1- Protection to prevent damage to the next element, e.g., a
microprocessor, as a result of high current or voltage.
▪ Thus, there can be series current limiting resistors, fuses to break if the current is
too high, polarity protection and voltage limitation circuits
2- Getting the signal into the right type of signal.
▪ This can mean making the signal into a d.c. voltage or current. Thus, for example,
the resistance change of a strain gauge has to be converted into a voltage
change.
3- Getting the level of the signal right.
▪ The signal from a thermocouple might be just a few millivolts. If the signal is to
be fed into an analogueto-digital converter for inputting to a microprocessor
then it needs to be made much larger, volts rather than millivolts.
4- Eliminating or reducing noise.
▪ For example, filters might be used to eliminate main noise from a signal

5- Signal manipulation, e.g., making it a linear function of some

variable.
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 Signal conditioning

▪ The voltage gain of the amplifier being the ratio of the output and
input voltages when each is measured relative to the earth.
▪ The input impedance of an amplifier is defined as the input voltage
divided by the input current
▪ the output impedance being the output voltage divided by the
output current.
▪ The operational amplifier It has two inputs, known as the inverting
input (2) and the non-inverting input (1).

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Signal conditioning

Pin connections for a 741 operational amplifier

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Signal conditioning

1- Inverting amplifier
The input is taken to the inverting input through a resistor R1 with
the non-inverting input being connected to ground

The potential difference across R1 is (Vin-VX).

Hence, for an ideal operational amplifier with an
infinite gain, and hence VX = 0, the input
potential Vin can be considered to be across R1.

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Signal conditioning

▪ The potential difference across R2 is (VX - Vout ) and thus, since VX is

zero for the ideal amplifier, the potential difference across R2 is -Vout.
Thus

▪ The voltage gain of circuit

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Thank You!