FUNDAMENTALS OF MEASUREMENT

REFERENCE BOOKS

• Measurement and Instrumentation: Theory and Application : Alan

S Moris, Reza Langari (Online)

• AGARD-AG-160 Vol1 (Advisory Group for Aerospace R&D)

(Online)

• Aircraft Instruments and Integrated Systems: EHJ Pallet

Generalised Measurement Systems
 INTRODUCTION
• Measurement techniques have
been of immense importance ever
since the start of human civilization

• The industrial revolution brought

about a rapid development of new
instruments and measurement
techniques
 INTRODUCTION
• There has been a large and rapid
growth in new industrial technology

• Due to developments in electronics

in general and computers in
particular

• In turn, this has required a parallel

growth in new instruments and
measurement techniques
 INTRODUCTION
• Massive growth in the application of
computers to industrial process control
and monitoring tasks

• Expanded the requirement for

instruments to measure, record, and
control process variables

• Modern production techniques dictate

working to ever tighter accuracy limits,
 INTRODUCTION
• Requirement for instruments to be
both accurate and inexpensive

• The inclusion of digital computing

power within instruments
themselves
 GENERALISED MEASUREMENT
SYSTEMS
• A measurement system usually consists of several separate
components

• A measuring system exists to provide information about the

physical value of some variable being measured

• The term measuring instrument is used commonly to describe a

measurement system, whether it contains only one or many
elements
GENERALISED MEASUREMENT
SYSTEMS
 GENERALISED MEASUREMENT
SYSTEMS
• The first element in any measuring system is the primary sensor
• e.g. liquid-in-glass thermometer, thermocouple, strain gauge

• Variable conversion elements are needed where the output

variable of a primary transducer is in an inconvenient form and
has to be converted to a more convenient form
• e.g. the strain gauge resistance change cannot be measured easily, it
is converted to a change in voltage by a bridge circuit

• In some cases primary sensor and variable conversion element

are combined; this combination is known as a transducer
 GENERALISED MEASUREMENT
SYSTEMS
• Signal processing elements exist to improve the quality of the
output of a measurement system in some way
• e.g. electronic amplifier

• Other types of signal processing elements are those that filter

out induced noise

• In some devices, signal processing is incorporated into a

transducer, which is then known as a transmitter
 GENERALISED MEASUREMENT
SYSTEMS
• Some measurement systems have one or two other
components
• First to transmit the signal to some remote point and
• Second to display or record the signal if it is not fed automatically into a
feedback control system

• The final optional element in a measurement system is the point

where the measured signal is utilized
• e.g. Automatic Control System, Signal presentation unit or a Signal-
Recording unit
 REVIEW OF INSTRUMENT TYPES
• Active and Passive Instruments:
Instruments are divided into active
or passive ones according to:

• Passive instrument output is

produced entirely by the quantity
being measured

• Active Instrument, the quantity

being measured simply modulates
the magnitude of some external
power source
 REVIEW OF INSTRUMENT TYPES
• Null-Type and Deflection-Type Instruments:
• A Deflection type of instrument, where the value
of the quantity being measured is displayed in
terms of the amount of movement of a pointer

• A deflection-type instrument is one that would

normally be used

• In Null Type instrument, Weights are added until

the piston reaches a datum level, known as the
null point.

• However, for calibration duties, a null-type

instrument is preferable
 REVIEW OF INSTRUMENT TYPES
• Analogue and Digital Instruments:
• An analogue instrument gives an output that varies continuously as
the quantity being measured changes

• A digital instrument has an output that varies in discrete steps and so

can only have a finite number of values

• Analogue instruments must be interfaced to the microcomputer by an

Analogue-to-Digital (A/D) converter
 REVIEW OF INSTRUMENT TYPES
• Indicating Instruments and Instruments with a Signal Output:
• Indicating Instruments that give an audio or visual indication of the
magnitude of the physical quantity measured

• Signal Output are those that give an output in the form of a

measurement signal whose magnitude is proportional to the
measured quantity.

• Smart and Non-smart Instruments:

• Instruments that incorporate a microprocessor are Smart
Instruments and those that don’t are Non-Smart Instruments
CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTRUMENTS
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
• Accuracy and Inaccuracy (Measurement Uncertainty): The
accuracy of an instrument is a measure of how close the output
reading of the instrument is to the correct value

• In practice, it is more usual to quote the inaccuracy or

measurement uncertainty value rather than the accuracy value for
an instrument

• Inaccuracy or measurement uncertainty is the extent to which a

reading might be wrong and is often quoted as a percentage of the
full-scale (F.S.) reading of an instrument
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
• Precision/Repeatability/Reproducibility
• Precision is a term that describes an instrument’s degree of freedom from
random errors
• If a large number of readings are taken of the same quantity by a high-
precision instrument, then the spread of readings will be very small
• Precision is often, although incorrectly, confused with accuracy

• Repeatability describes the closeness of output readings when the same input
is applied repetitively over a short period of time, with the same measurement
conditions, same instrument and observer, same location, and same
conditions of use maintained throughout

• Reproducibility describes the 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.
STATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
• Tolerance: Tolerance is a term that is closely related to accuracy
and defines the maximum error that is to be expected in some
value.
• Tolerance describes the maximum deviation of a manufactured component
from some specified value

• Range or Span: The range or span of an instrument defines the

minimum and maximum values of a quantity that the instrument is
designed to measure
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
• Linearity: The output reading of an
instrument is linearly proportional
to the quantity being measured

• Nonlinearity The maximum

deviation of any of the output
readings (marked X) from this
straight line.

• Nonlinearity is usually expressed

as a percentage of full-scale
reading
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
• Sensitivity of measurement is a
measure of the change in
instrument output that occurs
when the quantity being
measured changes by a given
amount.
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
• Threshold: If the input to an instrument is increased gradually from
zero, the input will have to reach a certain minimum level before the
change in the instrument output reading is of a large enough
magnitude to be detectable. This minimum level of input is known as
the threshold of the instrument

• Resolution: When an instrument is showing a particular output

reading, there is a lower limit on the magnitude of the change in the
input measured quantity that produces an observable change in the
instrument output
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
• Sensitivity to Disturbance: Many components
within an instrument are affected by environmental
fluctuations

• Hysteresis Effects: If the input measured quantity

to the instrument is increased steadily from a
negative value, the output reading varies in the
manner shown in curve A.

• If the input variable is then decreased steadily, the

output varies in the manner shown in curve B.

• The non-coincidence between these loading and

unloading curves is known as hysteresis
 STATIC CHARACTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
• Dead Space Dead space is defined as the
range of different input values over which there
is no change in output value
 DYNAMIC CHARECTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
• The Dynamic characteristics of a measuring instrument describe
its behavior between the time a measured quantity changes
value and the time when the instrument output attains a steady
value in response

• Zero-Order Instrument

• First-Order Instrument

• Second-Order Instrument
DYNAMIC CHARECTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
DYNAMIC CHARECTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
DYNAMIC CHARECTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
DYNAMIC CHARECTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
DYNAMIC CHARECTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
DYNAMIC CHARECTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
DYNAMIC CHARECTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
DYNAMIC CHARECTERISTICS OF
INSTRUMENTS
Dimensions and Units of Measurement
UNITS OF MEASUREMENT
 Standard Units
• An internationally agreed set of standard
units (SI units or Syste`mes Internationales
d’Unite´s)

• Strong efforts are being made to encourage

the adoption of this system throughout the
world

• However, it should be noted that the

Imperial system is still widely used in the
aviation.
CAUSES AND TYPES OF ERRORS
AND UNCERTAINITY ANALYSIS
 ERROR TYPES AND UNCERTAINITY
ANALYSIS
• Measurement errors are impossible to avoid,

• We can minimize their magnitude by good measurement system

design appropriate analysis and processing of measurement data

• We can divide errors in measurement systems into

• Those that arise during the measurement process
• Those that arise due to later corruption of the measurement signal by induced
noise

• Errors arising during the measurement process can be divided into

two groups, known as Systematic errors and Random errors.
 ERROR TYPES AND UNCERTAINITY
ANALYSIS
• Systematic errors: Errors in the output readings of a
measurement system that are consistently on one side of the
correct reading, that is, either all errors are positive or are all
negative

• Two major sources of systematic errors are system disturbance

during measurement and the effect of environmental changes

• Other sources of systematic error include bent meter needles,

use of uncalibrated instruments, drift in instrument
characteristics, and poor cabling practices
 ERROR TYPES AND UNCERTAINITY
ANALYSIS
• Random errors: Are also called precision errors. Are
perturbations of the measurement either side of the true value
caused by random and unpredictable effects

• Random errors often arise when measurements are taken by

human observation of an analogue meter, especially where this
involves interpolation between scale points

• Electrical noise can also be a source of random errors

 ERROR TYPES AND UNCERTAINITY
ANALYSIS
• Error sources in the measurement system must be examined
carefully to determine what type of error is present, systematic
or random, and to apply the appropriate treatment
 SOURCES OF SYSTEMATIC ERROR
• The main sources of systematic error in the output of
measuring instruments can be summarized as:-

• Effect of environmental disturbances

• Disturbance of the measured system by the act of measurement

• Changes in characteristics due to wear in instrument components

over a period of time

• Resistance of connecting leads

 SOURCES OF SYSTEMATIC ERROR
• Reduction of Systematic Errors
• Careful Instrument Design
• Calibration
• Method of Opposing Inputs
• High-Gain Feedback
• Signal Filtering
• Manual Correction of Output Reading
• Intelligent Instruments
QUESTIONS