MECHATRONIC SYSTEM

COMPONENTS
Key elements of mechatronic
systems
• Sensor
• Actuators
• Signal conditioner
• Display
Control system concepts
• Control some Variable to a particular value
• Control the sequence of events. Example :
Washing machine
• Control whether an event occurs or not.
Example : Safety lock on a machine
• Two types : open loop & Closed loop system.
• Closed loop system have feedback.
Basic elements of a closed-loop system

• Comparison element
• Control element
• Correction element
• Process element
• Measurement element
Basics of sensors
 What are Sensors?
• American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Definition
– A device which provides a usable output in response to a specified
measurand
Input Signal Output Signal

Sensor

• A sensor acquires a physical parameter and converts it into a signal

suitable for processing (e.g. optical, electrical, mechanical)

• A transducer
– Microphone, Loud Speaker, Biological Senses (e.g. touch, sight,…etc)
 Detectable Phenomenon
Stimulus Quantity
Acoustic Wave (amplitude, phase, polarization), Spectrum, Wave
Velocity
Biological & Chemical Fluid Concentrations (Gas or Liquid)

Electric Charge, Voltage, Current, Electric Field (amplitude,

phase,
polarization), Conductivity, Permittivity

Magnetic Magnetic Field (amplitude, phase, polarization), Flux,

Permeability

Optical Refractive Index, Reflectivity, Absorption

Thermal Temperature, Flux, Specific Heat, Thermal Conductivity

Mechanical Position, Velocity, Acceleration, Force, Strain, Stress,

Pressure, Torque
 Need for Sensors
• Sensors are omnipresent. They 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
Choosing a Sensor
 Static Performance Characteristics
• Hysteresis – when the
sensor output for a given
input depends upon
whether the input was
increasing or decreasing

• Threshold – special case

of hysteresis that occurs
when the output remains
zero while the input
slowly increases.
 Static characteristics
• Non-linearity error
• Stability
• Drift
• Deadband
• Resolution
• Repeatability/reproducability
 Dynamic characteristics
• Response Time
• Time constant
• Rise time
• Settling time
 Response Time
• 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 (95%)
 Time constant
• 63.2% of response time
• 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
 Rise time
• 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
 Settling time
• Time taken for the output to settle to within
some percentage e.g. 2% of the steady state
value.
 Displacement, Position and Proximity
• Potentiometer
• Strain gauged element
• Capacitive element
• Differential transformers (LVDT)
• Eddy current proximity sensor
• Inductive proximity switch
• Optical encoders
• Pneumatic sensors
• Proximity switches
• Hall effect sensors
 Potentiometer applications
• Potentiometers are used as sensors with the
electronic systems in cars for accelerator pedal
position and throttle position.
Potentiometer
 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 displacements 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 be rotated. The
track may be single turn or helical.
 Strain gauged element
• The electrical resistance strain gauge is a
metal wire , metal foil or a strip of
semiconductor material which is wafer-like
and can be stuck onto surfaces like a postage
stamp.
• When subject to strain , its resistance R
changes , the fractional change in resistance
being proportional to the strain
Strain gauge
 Strain gauge
• A problem with strain gauges is that their
resistance not only changes with strain but
also with temperature.
• Semiconductor strain gauges have a much
greater sensitivity to temperature than metal
strain gauges.
Strain gauge
 Problem
• What will be the change in resistance of an
electrical resistance strain gauge with a gauge
factor of 2.1 and resistance 50 ohms if it is
subject to a strain of 0.001?

• ∆R/R = G Ɛ
• G – Gauge factor
• Ɛ - strain
 Answer
• ∆R/R = G Ɛ

• 2.1 * 50 * 0.001 = 0.105 ohms

 Capacitive element

• Capacitance C = Ɛr Ɛ0 A / d
Ɛr – Relative permittivity of dielectric between
the plates
Ɛ0 – a constant called permittivity of free
space
A – Area of overlap between two plates
d – the plate separation
 Differential transformers
• LVDT
• RVDT
• Primary transducer for monitoring
displacement
• Secondary transducer in the measurement of
force, weight and pressure
 Eddy current proximity sensors
• If a coil is supplied with an alternating current, an
alternating magnetic field is produced
• If there is a metal object in close proximity to this
magnetic field then eddy currents are induced in it.
• Used for detection of non-magnetic but conductive
materials
• Relatively inexpensive, small in size, with high
reliability and have high sensitivity to small
displacements
 Inductive proximity switch
• Consists of a coil wound round a core.
• When the end of the coil is close to a metal
object its inductance changes
• Used for the detection of metal objects and is
best with ferrous metals.
 Optical encoders
• A encoder is a device that provides a digital
output as a result of a linear or angular
displacement.
• Incremental and absolute encoders
• A beam of light passes through slots in a disc
and is detected by a suitable light sensor
• Number of pulses is proportional to the angle
through which the disc rotates.
 Optical encoders
• Normal form of binary code not used ,
because changing from one binary number to
the next can result in more than one bit
change
• To overcome this gray code is generally used.
 Optical Encoder
Binary Code Gray Code
0 0000 0 0000
1 0001 1 0001
2 0010 2 0011
3 0011 3 0011
4 0100 4 0010
5 0101 5 0110
6 0110 6 0111
7 0111 7 0100
8 1000 8 1100
9 1001 9 1101
10 1010 10 1111
 Pneumatic sensors
• Pneumatic sensor involve the use of
compressed air, displacement or the proximity
of an object being transformed into a change
in air pressure
 Proximity switches
• Lever operated, roller operated, cam-operated
switches
• Also used with tachometer which involve the
rotation of a toothed wheel past the reed switch.
• Photosensitive devices used to detect the
presence of an opaque object by breaking a
beam of light or infrared radiation
• Reed switches are used for checking the closure
of doors
 Problem 1
• A shaft encoder is used with a 50 mm radius
tracking wheel to monitor linear
displacement. If the encoder produces 256
pulses per revolution, What will be the
number of pulses produced by a linear
displacement of 200 mm?
 Solution
•  Circumference = 2 r
= 2 * * 50
= 314.16 mm
• Number of pulses produced = Linear
displacement * No. Of pulses per
revolution /Circumference
= 200 * 256 / 314.16
= 162 pulses
REED SWITCH
 Hall effect sensors
• When a beam of charged particles passes
through a magnetic field, forces act on the
particles and the beam is deflected from its
straight line path.
• A current flowing in a conductor is like a beam
of moving charges and thus can be deflected
by a magnetic field. This is called the hall
effect
Hall effect sensor
 Hall effect
• To determine the level of fuel in an
automobile fuel tank
• Also used in brushless dc motors, to maintain
the rotor rotation, to detect whether the
alignment is right.
 Accelerometer
• Accelerometers are used to
measure along one axis and is
insensitive to orthogonal directions

• Applications
– Vibrations, blasts, impacts, shock
waves
– Air bags, washing machines, heart
monitors, car alarms
m Position Sensor

• Mathematical Description is beyond

the scope of this presentation. See b
k
me during lunch if interested
Vibrating Base
 Light Sensor
• Light sensors are used in
cameras, infrared detectors,
and ambient lighting
applications

• Sensor is composed of
photoconductor such as a
photoresistor, photodiode,
or phototransistor p n
I

+ V -
 Magnetic Field Sensor
• Magnetic Field sensors
are used for power
steering, security, and
current measurements
on transmission lines

• Hall voltage is
proportional to + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
I (protons) x x x x x x +
magnetic field x x x B x x x VH
x x x x x x -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I B
VH 
n q t
 Ultrasonic Sensor
• Ultrasonic sensors are used
for position measurements
• Sound waves emitted are in
the range of 2-13 MHz
• Sound Navigation And
Ranging (SONAR)
• Radio Dection And Ranging
(RADAR) – 15° - 20°
ELECTROMAGNETIC
WAVES !!
 Velocity and motion
• Incremental encoder
• Tachogenerator
• Pyroelectric sensor
Encoder
 Tachogenerator
• The tachogenerator is used to measure angular velocity.
• The variable reluctance tachogenerator, consists of a
toothed wheel of ferromagnetic material which is
attached to the rotating shaft.
• A pick-up coil is wound on a permanent magnet.
• As the wheel rotates, so the teeth move past the coil
and the air gap between the coil and the ferromagnetic
material changes.
• We have a magnetic circuit with an air gap which
periodically changes.
TACHOGENERATOR
 Tachogenerator
• A pulse shaping signal conditioner can be used
to transform the output into a sequence of
pulses which can be counted by a counter, the
number counted in a particular time interval
being a measure of the angular velocity.
• Another form of tachogenerator is essentially
an a.c. generator
 Pyroelectric sensors
• Pyroelectric materials e.g lithium tantalate, are
crystalline materials which generate charge in
response to heat flow.
• When such a material is heated to a temperature
just below the curie temperature(610 deg C) for
lithium tantalate , in an electric field and the
material cooled while remaining in the field,
electric dipoles within the material line up and it
becomes polarised.
 Pyroelectric sensor
• When the pyroelectric material is exposed to infrared
radiation, its temperature rises and this reduces the
amount of polarisation in the material, the dipoles being
shaken up more and losing their alignment.
• The polarisation in the crystal is reduced and consequently
there is a reduction in charge at the surfaces of the crystal.
• The pyroelectric sensor behaves as a charge generator
which generates charge when there is a change in its
temperature as a result of the incidence of infrared
radiation.
 Pyroelectric sensor
• Equivalent circuit of a pyroelectric sensor is a
capacitor charged by the excess charge with a
resistance R to represent either internal leakage
resistance or that combined with the input
resistance of an external circuit.
• To detect the motion of a human or other heat
source, the sensing element has to distinguish
between general background heat radiation and
that given by a moving heat source. Pyroelectric
sensors are used in Burglar Alarms.
Pyroelectric sensor
 Fluid pressure
• Diaphragms
• Capsules
• Bellows
• Tube pressure sensors
• Piezoelectric sensors
• Tactile sensor
 Types of pressure measurement
• Absolute pressure
• Relative pressure
 Diaphragm
• When there is a difference in pressure
between the two sides then the centre of the
diaphragm becomes displaced.
• Corrugations in the diaphragm result in a
greater sensitivity.
• The movement is monitored by a strain gauge.
 Applications
• The absolute pressure sensors are used for
applications such as altimeters and
barometers.
• Differential pressure sensors for air flow
measurements.
• Gauge pressure sensors are used for
measurement of engine pressure and tyre
pressure
 Capsules and bellows
• Capsules are just two corrugated diaphragms and
give greater sensitivity.
• A stack of capsules is just a bellows and even
more sensitive.
• LVDT with bellows.
• Diaphragm, capsules and bellows are made from
materials such as stainless steel, phosphor
bronze, and nickel with rubber and nylon are also
used for some diaphragms.
 Bourdon tube
• Elliptical, c , helical sections
 Piezoelectric materials
• Piezoelectric materials when stretched or
compressed generate electric charges with
one face of the material becoming positively
charges and the opposite face negatively
charged.
• As a result a voltage is produced
• The voltage is proportional to the applied
pressure
 Applications
• Measurement of pressure, force and
acceleration.
• Mainly used for transient rather than steady
pressures.
 Tactile sensor
• Used in the finger tips of robotic hands.
• Touch display screens.
• Two layers of PVDF are used and are
separated by a film which transmits vibrations
• Reverse piezoelectric effect used.
Tactile sensor
 Temperature sensors
• Bimetallic strips
• Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTDs)
• Thermistors
• Thermodiodes and transistors
• Thermocouples
 Bimetallic strips
• This device consists of two different metal strips
bonded together.
• The metals have different coefficients of
expansion and when the temperature changes
the composite strip bends into a curved strip,
with the higher coefficient metal on the outside
of the curve.
• This deformation may be used as a
temperature-controlled switch.
Bimetallic strip
 RTDs
• The resistance of most metals increases, over
a limited temperature range, in a reasonably
linear way with temperature.
• Resistance temperature detectors are simple
resistive elements in the form of coils of wire
of such metals as platinum, nickel or nickel-
copper alloys.
• Platinum is most widely used.
 Temperature Sensor
• Resistance temperature
device.

R  R 0[1   (T - T0)]

1 1 
  
 T T0 
R  R0 e
RTD
 Thermistors

• Thermistors are small pieces of material made from

mixtures of metal oxides, such as those of chromium,
cobalt, iron, manganese and nickel. (semiconductors)
• The materials is formed into various forms of element,
such as beads, discs and rods.
• The resistance of conventional metal-oxide
thermistors decreases in a very non-linear manner
with an increase in temperature.
• Such thermistors are having negative temperature
coefficients. (NTC)
 Thermistors

• Positive temperature coefficient(PTC) thermistors are

also available.
• The change in resistance per degree change in
temperature is considerably larger than that which
occurs with metals.
• Thermistors are rugged and can be very small, so
enabling temperatures to be monitored at virtually a
point.
• Because of their small size they respond very rapidly
to changes in temperature.
 Thermistors
• The give very large changes in resistance per
degree change in temperature.
• Their main disadvantage is their non-linearity.
Thermistors
 Thermodiodes and transistors
• A junction semiconductor diode is widely used as
temperature sensor.
• When the temperature of doped semiconductor
changes and this affects the rate at which
electrons and holes can diffuse across a p-n
junction.
• For a constant current voltage is proportional to
the temperature on the Kelvin scale.
• Linear function of temperature.
 Thermocouples
• If 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.
• Thermopile- Number of thermocouples
connected in series
 Applications
• Washing machine – bimetal, thermistor
• Engine temperature measurement-
thermocouples
• Water temperature - Thermistor
• Iron box - thermostat
• Hot wire anemometer – RTDs
• Thermowell – bimetallic strip
• Process, automatic - RTDs
 Operating range
• Bimetallic strip - -70 to 550˚C
• RTD - - 200 to 850˚C
• Thermistors - -40 to 300˚C
• Thermodiodes - -40 to 150˚ C
• Thermocouple - -50˚ c to 2000˚C
Basics of actuators
 Actuators
• Mechanical types
– Gears, links, etc

 Fluid Power
 Cylinders and motor

 Electrical Drives
 AC Motor
 DC Motor – Stepper motor, servo motor
Basics of signal converters
 Signal conditioning
• The signal may be too small and have to be
amplified
• Contain interference which has to be removed
• Be nonlinear 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
 Signal conditioning
• Be a voltage change and have to be made into
a suitable size current change
 Signal conditioning process
• Protection
• Right type of signal
• Level of the signal right
• Eliminating or reducing noise
• Signal manipulation
 Filters
Background:

. Filters may be classified as either digital or analog.

. Digital filters are implemented using a digital computer

or special purpose digital hardware.

. Analog filters may be classified as either passive or

active and are usually implemented with R, L, and C
components and operational amplifiers.
 Filters
Background:

. An active filter is one that, along with R, L, and C

components, also contains an energy source, such
as that derived from an operational amplifier.

. A passive filter is one that contains only R, L, and

C components. It is not necessary that all three be
present. L is often omitted (on purpose) from
passive filter design because of the size and cost
of inductors – and they also carry along an R that
must be included in the design.
 Passive Analog Filters
Background: Four types of filters - “Ideal”

lowpass highpass

bandpass bandstop
 Passive Analog Filters
Background: Realistic Filters:

lowpass highpass

bandpass bandstop
Basics of driver circuits
• In electronics, a driver is a circuit or component used to control
another circuit or component, such as a high-power transistor, 
liquid crystal display (LCD), and numerous others.
• They are usually used to regulate current flowing through a circuit or
to control other factors such as other components, some devices in
the circuit. The term is often used, for example, for a specialized 
integrated circuit that controls high-power switches in switched-
mode power converters. An amplifier can also be considered a driver
for loudspeakers, or a voltage regulator that keeps an attached
component operating within a broad range of input voltages.
Basics of control electronics
• An electronic circuit is composed of individual electronic components, such as 
resistors, transistors, capacitors, inductors and diodes, connected by conductive 
wires or traces through which electric current can flow. To be referred to
as electronic, rather than electrical, generally at least one active component must be
present. The combination of components and wires allows various simple and
complex operations to be performed: signals can be amplified, computations can be
performed, and data can be moved from one place to another. [1]
• Circuits can be constructed of discrete components connected by individual pieces of
wire, but today it is much more common to create interconnections by
photolithographic techniques on a laminated substrate (a printed circuit board or
PCB) and solder the components to these interconnections to create a finished
circuit. In an integrated circuit or IC, the components and interconnections are
formed on the same substrate, typically a semiconductor such as doped silicon or
(less commonly) gallium arsenide.[2]
• An electronic circuit can usually be categorized as an 
analog circuit, a digital circuit, or a mixed-signal
circuit (a combination of analog circuits and digital
circuits). The most widely used semiconductor device
 in electronic circuits is the MOSFET (metal-oxide-
semiconductor field-effect transistor).[3]
• Breadboards, perfboards, and stripboards are
common for testing new designs. They allow the
designer to make quick changes to the circuit during
development.
 PCB
• A printed circuit board (PCB) mechanically supports and electrically connects 
electrical or electronic components using conductive tracks, pads and other features 
etched from one or more sheet layers of copper laminated onto and/or between
sheet layers of a non-conductive substrate. Components are generally soldered onto
the PCB to both electrically connect and mechanically fasten them to it.
• PCBs can be single-sided (one copper layer), double-sided (two copper layers on both
sides of one substrate layer), or multi-layer (outer and inner layers of copper,
alternating with layers of substrate). Multi-layer PCBs allow for much higher
component density, because circuit traces on the inner layers would otherwise take
up surface space between components. The rise in popularity of multilayer PCBs with
more than two, and especially with more than four, copper planes was concurrent
with the adoption of surface mount technology. However, multilayer PCBs make
repair, analysis, and field modification of circuits much more difficult and usually
impractical.