Instrumentation and Data

Acquisition Systems : ME-819

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Khurram Kamal

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 Part I : Measurement and
Instrumentation
• Introduction to instrumentation and
measurements by Robert B. Northrop (2nd
Edition)
• Fundamentals of industrial instrumentation and
process control by William C. Dunn (1st Edition)

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  Significance of measurements, planning of
  experiments, general measurement system
  calibration, static and dynamic measurement
  sensitivity, range, accuracy, precision, repeatability,
  uncertainty of instruments, measurement errors
 
Instrumentation and Measurements

Instruments for measurement of length, force,

torque, frequency, pressure, flow and temperature

Introduction to data acquisition through computers

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 Part II : Data Acquisition

Text: The Scientist and Engineer's Guide to Digital

Signal Processing (Second Edition, by Steven W.
Smith)

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   Basic Concepts: System, control system input, output,
  open-loop control systems, elements of a general
  control system, examples of control system.
 
 
 
  Introduction to digital signal processing: signal, transducers
  and sensors, different types of electrical signal, time domain and
frequency domain, analogue and digital data, what is DSP,
 
applications of DSP.
  Conversion of analogue to digital signal: Binary representation
  of a number, sampling, decibel unit, quantization error, aliasing and
Data Acquisition anti-aliasing, Niquist frequency criteria, analogue to digital
converter.
Correlation and Convolution: Linear systems, Correlation and its
application, convolution and its application, flipping.
Periodic functions and Fourier synthesis: periodic functions,
time domain and frequency domain, Fourier series (constructing a
waveform with sine waves, constructing a waveform with cosine
waves, constructing a waveform with both sine and cosine) Gibb’s
phenomenon, Fourier theory explained, Fourier transform.

Discrete Fourier transforms: Fourier transforms algorithms,

Windowing, necessity of DFT, Orthogonal signals, DFT explained,
calculating the DC value of a signal, Spectrum analysis, Fast Fourier
transforms, Scaling.
Windows: Introduction, frequency resolution and DFT, Spectral
leakage and correlation, Rectangular window, hanning window,
hamming window,. choice of a window.

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 Introduction to Measurement
Measurement techniques have been of immense importance ever
since the start of human civilization, when measurements were first
needed to regulate the transfer of goods in barter trade to ensure that
exchanges were fair. The industrial revolution during the nineteenth
century brought about a rapid development of new instruments and
measurement techniques to satisfy the needs of industrialized
production techniques. Since that time, there has been a large and
rapid growth in new industrial technology. This has been particularly
evident during the last part of the twentieth century, encouraged by
developments in electronics in general and computers in particular.
This, in turn, has required a parallel growth in new instruments and
measurement techniques

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 Introduction to Measurement …
The massive growth in the application of computers to industrial
process control and monitoring tasks has spawned a parallel growth in
the requirement for instruments to measure, record and control process
variables. As modern production techniques dictate working to tighter
and tighter accuracy limits, and as economic forces limiting production
costs become more severe, so the requirement for instruments to be
both accurate and cheap becomes ever harder to satisfy. This latter
problem is at the focal point of the research and development efforts of
all instrument manufacturers. In the past few years, the most cost-
effective means of improving instrument accuracy has been found in
many cases to be the inclusion of digital computing power within
instruments themselves. These intelligent instruments therefore feature
prominently in current instrument manufacturers’ catalogues.

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 What is Measurement?
 Measurement (also called metrology) is the science of
determining values of physical variables.
 Two quantities are compared the result is expressed in
numerical values.

 Instrumentation • Devices used in measurement system

 QUM –Quantity Under Measurement, Measurand

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 Why do we Measure?
 A measurement system is often made a part of the control system.
The old saying ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t control it’ is
certainly a valid axiom for both the control engineer as well as the
instrumentation engineer.

 Due to the rapid advances in technology, instruments in use today

may be obsolete tomorrow, as new and more efficient measurement
techniques are constantly being introduced. These changes are
being driven by the need for higher accuracy, quality, precision, and
performance.

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 1.1 Measurement Units
The very first measurement units were those used in barter trade
to quantify the amounts being exchanged and to establish clear rules
about the relative values of different commodities. Such early systems
of measurement were based on whatever was available as a
measuring unit. For purposes of measuring length, the human torso
was a convenient tool, and gave us units of the hand, the foot and the
cubit. Although generally adequate for barter trade systems, such
measurement units are of course imprecise, varying as they do from
one person to the next. Therefore, there has been a progressive
movement towards measurement units that are defined much more
accurately. The latest standards for defining the units used for
measuring a range of physical variables are given in Table 1.1.

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
Table 1.1 Definition of Standard Units. …

Physical Standard Definition

quantity Unit
Length metre The length of path travelled by light
in an interval of 1/299 792 458
seconds
Mass kilogram The mass of a platinum–iridium
cylinder kept in the International
Bureau of Weights and Measures,
S`evres, Paris

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
Table 1.1 Definition of Standard Units. …

Physical Standard Definition

quantity Unit
Time second 9.192631770 x 109 cycles of radiation
from vaporized caesium-133 (an
accuracy of 1 in 1012 or 1 second in
36 000 years)
Temperature kelvin The temperature difference between
absolute zero and the triple point of
water is defined as 273.16 kelvin

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
Table 1.1 Definition of Standard Units. …

Physical Standard Definition

quantity Unit
Current ampere One ampere is the current flowing
through two infinitely long parallel
conductors of negligible cross-section
placed 1 metre apart in a vacuum
and producing a force of 2 x 10 -7
newtons per metre length of
conductor

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
Table 1.1 Definition of Standard Units. …
Physical Standard Definition
quantity Unit
Luminous Candela One candela is the luminous intensity in a
Intensity given direction from a source emitting
monochromatic radiation at a frequency of
540 terahertz (Hz x 1012) and with a radiant
density in that direction of 1.4641
mW/steradian. (1 steradian is the solid angle
which, having its vertex at the centre of a
sphere, cuts off an area of the sphere surface
equal to that of a square with sides of length
equal to the sphere radius)

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
Table 1.1 Definition of Standard Units. …
Physical Standard Definition
quantity Unit
Matter mole The number of atoms in a 0.012 kg mass of
carbon-12

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
The early establishment of standards for the measurement of
physical quantities proceeded in several countries at broadly parallel
times, and in consequence, several sets of units emerged for
measuring the same physical variable.
For instance, length can be measured in yards, metres, or several
other units. Apart from the major units of length, subdivisions of
standard units exist such as feet, inches, centimetres and millimetres,
with a fixed relationship between each fundamental unit and its
subdivisions.

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
As a result of this, an internationally agreed set of standard units
(SI units or Syst`emes Internationales d’Unit´es) has been defined, and
strong efforts are being made to encourage the adoption of this system
throughout the world. In support of this effort, the SI system of units
will be used exclusively. However, it should be noted that the Imperial
system is still widely used, particularly in America and Britain. The
European Union has just deferred planned legislation to ban the use of
Imperial units in Europe in the near future, and the latest proposal was
to introduce such legislation to take effect from the year 2010 or so.
The full range of fundamental SI measuring units and the further
set of units derived from them are given in Table 1.2. Conversion tables
relating common Imperial and metric units to their equivalent SI units
can also be found in Appendix 1.

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
Table 1.2 (a) Fundamental Units.
Quantity Standard unit Symbol

Length metre m

Mass kilogram kg

Time second s

Electric current ampere A

Temperature kelvin K

Luminous intensity candela cd

Matter mole mol

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
Table 1.2 (b) Supplementary Fundamental Units.

Quantity Standard unit Symbol

Plane Angle radian rad

Solid Angle steradian sr

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
Table 1.2 (c) Derived Units.
Quantity Standard Unit Symbol Derivation
formula
Area square metre m2

Volume cubic metre m3

Velocity metre per second m/s

Acceleration metre per second squared m/s2

Angular velocity radian per second rad/s

Angular acceleration radian per second squared rad/s2

Density kilogram per cubic metre kg/m3

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
Table 1.2 (c) Derived Units. ...
Quantity Standard Unit Symbol Derivation
formula
Specific volume cubic metre per kilogram m3/kg

Mass flow rate kilogram per second kg/s

Volume flow rate cubic metre per second m3/s

Force newton N kg m/s2

Pressure newton per square metre N/m2

Torque newton metre Nm

Momentum kilogram metre per second kgm/s

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
Table 1.2 (c) Derived Units. ...
Quantity Standard Unit Symbol Derivation
formula
Moment of inertia kilogram metre squared kgm2

Kinematic viscosity square metre per second m2/s

Dynamic viscosity newton second per square Ns/m2

metre
Work, energy, heat joule J Nm
Specific energy joule per cubic metre J/m3

Power watt W J/s

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
Table 1.2 (c) Derived Units. ...

Quantity Standard Unit Symbol Derivation

formula
Thermal conductivity watt per metre kelvin W/mK

Electric charge coulomb C As

Voltage, e.m.f., pot. diff. volt V W/A
Electric field strength volt per metre V/m
Electric resistance ohm Ω V/A
Electric capacitance farad F As/V

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
Table 1.2 (c) Derived Units. ...
Quantity Standard Unit Symbol Derivation
formula
Electric inductance henry H Vs/A
Electric conductance siemen S A/V
Resistivity ohm metre Ωm

Permittivity farad per metre F/m

Permeability henry per metre H/m

Current density ampere per square metre A/m2

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
Table 1.2 (c) Derived Units. ...

Quantity Standard Unit Symbol Derivation

formula
Magnetic flux weber Wb Vs
Magnetic flux density tesla T Wb/m2
Magnetic field strength ampere per metre A/m

Frequency hertz Hz s-1

Luminous flux lumen lm cd sr

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 1.1 Measurement Units …
Table 1.2 (c) Derived Units. ...

Quantity Standard Unit Symbol Derivation

formula
Luminance candela per square metre cd/m2

Illumination lux lx lm/m2

Molar volume cubic metre per mole m3/mol

Molarity mole per kilogram mol/kg

Molar energy joule per mole J/mol

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