Instrumentation and Controls

Definition and Examples of Systems

Introduction
} Measurement

and control involve a system in which there are several physical variables.

Introduction
} } } }

In a control system or measuring system, there exist some energy converting processes. In each process, there is one or more than one physical variables to be measured. Measuring process is to determine quantity of such physical variables. For a process control system, it is very important to know the quantity of a physical variable to be controlled at every time, and compare the measured value to the desirable value.

Introduction
there is a difference between the measured value and the desirable one, the operator will determine to adjust the controlled variable as desired. } However, no measuring system is perfect. The operator should know the limits of the measured variablesand characteristics of the measuring equipment.
} If

Systems (SISO, MIMO)

A system in general is referred to as a composition of elements in which there exists a relationship between the input signal(s) and output signal(s). } A system with a single input signal and a single output signal is called single input single output (SISO) system. A system with input signals and output signals is called multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system.
} System:

Process
Process is the manipulation of the signals within a system. Process involves in an energy conversion. } The physical system to be controlled may be electrical, thermal, hydraulic, pneumatic, gaseous, mechanical, or any other physical type.
} Process:

Process
are several types of processes. } (a) electrical, (b) hydraulic, (c) pneumatic and (d) thermal.
} There

Open and Closed-loop Control Systems

}

Open-loop Control Systems (Non-feedback Systems): Those systems in which the output has no effect on the control action are called open-loop control systems. In other words, in an open-loop control system the output is neither measured nor fed back for comparison with the input. One practical example is a washing machine. Soaking, washing, and rinsing in the washer operate on a time basis. The machine does not measure the output signal, that is, the cleanliness of the clothes. In any open-loop control system the output is not compared with the reference input.

Open and Closed-loop Control Systems

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} }

Closed-loop Control Systems (Feedback Systems): A system that maintains a prescribed relationship between the output and the reference input by comparing them and using the difference as a means of control is called a feedback control system. An example would be a room-temperature control system. By measuring the actual room temperature and comparing it with the reference temperature (desired temperature), the thermostat turns the heating or cooling equipment on or off in such a way as to ensure that the room temperature remains at acomfortable level regardless of outside conditions.

Definition and Needs for Instrumentation

} Instrumentation

is the application of instruments for monitoring, sensing, and measurement. Its purpose may be: } product testing and quality control; } monitoring in the interest of health, safety, or costing; } part of a control system; } maintenance and repair; or } research and development.

General Structure of a Measuring System

is an energy converter which receives the physical quantity being measured (referred to as the measurand) and converts it into some other physical variable; e.g. flow to pressure, speed to voltage, strain to resistance. } Signal Conditioner: rearranges the transduced signal into a form which can be readily recorded or monitored.
} Transducer:

General Structure of a Measuring System

} Recorder

or Display: is the recorder, display or indicating device.

Static Performance
} Sensitivity:

have a wide variety of units, depending on the instrument or measuring system being considered. } The platinum resistance thermometer, for example, gives a change of resistance with increase of temperature and therefore its sensitivity would have units of ohms/oC.

Static Performance
} Linearity:

is a term associated from a linear input/output relationship, usually expressed as a percentage of full scale. } In other word, it is the ratio of the maximum deviation from a linear relationship between the input and output to the full scale.

Static Performance
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Scale Factor: is derived by taking the span of the variable being measured and dividing it into (or by) the span of the converted value, each expressed in its own appropriate engineering units. Range: The range of a variable is simply a numerical statement of the minimum and maximum values that the variable may assume. Span: is simply the numerical difference between two range values. For example, if the range of temperature for a given period were 18 to 23oC, the span would be 5 Celsius degrees.

Static Performance
} Accuracy:

No measuring system is perfect and therefore no measurement is exactly correct. } Accuracy therefore is an indication of the nearness with which the true value is measured. } Accuracy is normally stated in terms of the errors that are the difference between the indicated value and the true value.

Static Performance
} Precision:

The term precision, while associated with accuracy, does not mean the same thing. } Where, for the same input, applied on a number of occasions, an instrument provides reading which are very close in value, it is said to have high precision.

Static Performance
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Reproducibility: is a general term used with regard to precision and provides a measure of the closeness of readings given for a constant input. Repeatability: refers to reproducibility when a constant input is repeatedly applied for short time intervals under fixed conditions. Stability: concerns repeatability when the constant input is applied for a long time compared with the time required to take a reading under fixed conditions.

Static Performance
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Constancy: refers to reproducibility when the constant input is provided continuously but the conditions during the measurement are permitted to vary within specified limits. Tolerance: is the term used for maximum possible error, in particular with regard to measurements of length. Resolution: The smallest change of input to an instrument which can be detected with certainty, expressed as a percentage of full scale.

Static Performance
} Dead-band:

The largest change of input to which the system does not respond due to friction or backlash effects, expressed as percentage of full scale. } Hysteresis: The maximum difference between readings for the same input when approached from opposite directions i.e. when increasing and decreasing the input expressed as a percentage of full scale.

Summary