PRESENTED BY

ABHAY SHARMA
MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT
 Sensors?
 Commonly Detectable
Phenomenon
 Physical Principles – How Sensors
Work?
 Need for Sensors
 Choosing a Sensor
 Examples
 American National Standards Institute
◦ A device which provides a usable output in response to a specified
measurand
Input Signal Output Signal

Sensor

 A sensor acquires a physical quantity and converts it into

a signal suitable for processing (e.g. optical, electrical,
mechanical)
 Nowadays common sensors convert measurement of
physical phenomena into an electrical signal
 Active element of a sensor is called a transducer
 Sensorsare pervasive. They are
embedded in our bodies, automobiles,
airplanes, cellular telephones, radios,
chemical plants, industrial plants and
countless other applications.

 Without
the use of sensors, there
would be no automation !!
◦ Imagine having to manually fill Poland
Spring bottles
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• Transducers convert one form of energy into
another
• Sensors/Actuators are input/output transducers
• Sensors can be passive (e.g. change in
resistance) or active (output is a voltage or
current level)
• Sensors can be analog (e.g. thermocouples) or
digital (e.g. digital tachometer)

Sensor Actuator
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Quantity
Input Device Output Device
being
(Sensor) (Actuator)
Measured
Light Dependant Resistor (LDR), Lights & Lamps, LED's
Light Level Photodiode, Phototransistor, & Displays, Fiber
Solar Cell Optics
Thermocouple, Thermistor,
Temperatur Heater, Fan, Peltier
Thermostat, Resistive
e Elements
temperature detectors (RTD)
Lifts & Jacks,
Force/Press Strain Gauge, Pressure Switch,
Electromagnetic,
ure Load Cells
Vibration
Potentiometer, Encoders,
Motor, Solenoid, Panel
Position Reflective/Slotted Opto-switch,
Meters
LVDT
Tacho-generator,
AC and DC Motors,
Speed Reflective/Slotted Opto-coupler,
Stepper Motor, Brake7
Applications of transducers vary widely. Some are used in medicine, such
as in sonograph machines, while others are used in music engineering
and recording. Still other transducers are used in complex mechanical
systems and even in safety systems like train brakes.
*Sensors are used in everyday objects such as touch-sensitive elevator
buttons and lamps which dim or brighten by touching the base. There
are also innumerable applications for sensors of which most people are
never aware. Applications include cars, machines, aerospace, medicine,
manufacturing and robotics. We can define two great kind of use. Either
the sensor is used to display a result so that it can be used directy by an
human (thermometer) or send it to a computer, so that the computer can
react on basis of the collected data's.