Lecture 2

A General Measurement System

Important Terminology

• ‘Measurand’ is the physical quantity to be measured.

• ‘Sensor’ is the physical element that uses some natural phenomena

to sense the quantity being measured.

• ‘Transducer’ converts the sensed information (from sensor) into a

detectable signal form. The objective is to convert the sensed
information into a form that can be easily quantified. (Sensors and
actuators are both transducers. But a sensor usually reads a value
where as an actuator performs a task (like opening a valve etc.)).
 Continued…

• ‘Signal’ is the physical information about a measured variable being

transmitted between a process and the measurement system, between the
stages of a measurement system, or the output from a measurement
system.

• ‘Transmission path’ is the means of transferring a signal from a transducer

to other components within the measurement system. The range of
frequencies that can be transmitted is known as ‘bandwidth’ of the
transmission path. (Insufficient bandwidth may lead to a loss in signal
quality.)

• ‘Noise’ is any unwanted signal. Any interference (from surroundings) on the

transmission path of a signal may cause noise generation within the
measurement system and lead to degradation of system performance.

Example: Thermal noise (Johnson noise) is caused by the random

temperature induced motion of electrons within the electrical
wiring.
 Continued…

• ‘Signal processing’ or signal conditioning is usually carried out to modify a

signal into a more desired form, through the following methods:

(a) ‘Amplification’ is an increase in the magnitude of a signal.

(b) ‘Attenuation’ is a decrease in power (amplitude) of a signal

without causing any change in its waveform. (This process can be
taken as a reverse of amplification.)

(c) ‘Filtering’ removes part of a signal usually interference.

(d) ‘Modulation’ is carried out for signal transmission over long

distances. In order to save the signal from noise corruption, it is
loaded onto an AC carrier before transmission and recovered
at the other end. (Most common examples are amplitude
modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM).)
 Continued…

(e) ‘Analog to digital conversion’ may be required to display the value

of the measurement.
 Parameter

• A parameter may be defined as a functional relationship between

variables.

• A parameter that has an effect on the behaviour of the measured

variable is called a control parameter.

• In household water heating system, position of the thermostat dial is

the control parameter as it directly affects the temperature reading
of the sensor (for any different dial position (set point), the
temperature sensor will have a different relative set point
temperature value to look for).
 Components of a General Measurement System

• A general measurement system includes three basic parts:

(1) A sensor (which may be part of a compact, all in one transducer

unit).
(2) A signal processing unit.
(3) An indication/display or data recording device.

Figure 1 Basic Elements of a Measurement System.

 Continued…

• Indicating elements of the above system may be instruments of

analog (scale and pointer type, moving coil meters, Bourdon gauge,
and oscilloscopes) and digital (digital multimeters, digital
temperature probes, and digital frequency meters) nature.

• Recording instruments include magnetic tape and flash memory

devices, chart recorders, and ultraviolet light recorders.

• A more detailed representation of a general measurement system is

included on the next slide.
Figure 2 Components of a General Measurement System.
 Continued…

• The above system has a fourth component that is used in feedback

control of processes/plants.

• This illustrates that measurement systems are closely related to

feedback control systems and a (general) measurement system is
at the core of a feedback control system.
 References/Further Reading

• C. V. Collet, A. D. Hope, Engineering Measurements, Pitman, London,

1983.
• Richard S. Figliola, Donald E. Beasley, Theory and Design for Mechanical
Measurements, John Wiley, Singapore, 2004.