Sensor

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"Sensors" redirects here. For other uses, see Sensors (disambiguation).
"Detector" redirects here. For detector circuits in radio and other signal-related
electronics, see Detector (radio).
This article is about the type of device. It is not to be confused with Censor,
Censure, or Censer.

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Different types of light sensors

In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, or subsystem whose
purpose is to detect events or changes in its environment and send the information
to other electronics, frequently a computer processor. A sensor is always used with
other electronics.

Sensors are used in everyday objects such as touch-sensitive elevator buttons

(tactile sensor) and lamps which dim or brighten by touching the base, besides
innumerable applications of which most people are never aware. With advances in
micromachinery and easy-to-use microcontroller platforms, the uses of sensors have
expanded beyond the traditional fields of temperature, pressure or flow
measurement,[1] for example into MARG sensors. Moreover, analog sensors such as
potentiometers and force-sensing resistors are still widely used. Applications
include manufacturing and machinery, airplanes and aerospace, cars, medicine,
robotics and many other aspects of our day-to-day life.

A sensor's sensitivity indicates how much the sensor's output changes when the
input quantity being measured changes. For instance, if the mercury in a
thermometer moves 1 cm when the temperature changes by 1 �C, the sensitivity is 1
cm/�C (it is basically the slope Dy/Dx assuming a linear characteristic). Some
sensors can also affect what they measure; for instance, a room temperature
thermometer inserted into a hot cup of liquid cools the liquid while the liquid
heats the thermometer. Sensors are usually designed to have a small effect on what
is measured; making the sensor smaller often improves this and may introduce other
advantages.[2] Technological progress allows more and more sensors to be
manufactured on a microscopic scale as microsensors using MEMS technology. In most
cases, a microsensor reaches a significantly higher speed and sensitivity compared
with macroscopic approaches.[3][4]

Contents
1 Classification of measurement errors
1.1 Sensor deviations
1.2 Resolution
2 Sensors in nature
3 Chemical sensor
4 Biosensor
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
Classification of measurement errors

An infrared sensor
A good sensor obeys the following rules:[citation needed]:
it is sensitive to the measured property
it is insensitive to any other property likely to be encountered in its
application, and
it does not influence the measured property.
Most sensors have a linear transfer function. The sensitivity is then defined as
the ratio between the output signal and measured property. For example, if a sensor
measures temperature and has a voltage output, the sensitivity is a constant with
the units [V/K]. The sensitivity is the slope of the transfer function. Converting
the sensor's electrical output (for example V) to the measured units (for example
K) requires dividing the electrical output by the slope (or multiplying by its
reciprocal). In addition, an offset is frequently added or subtracted. For example,
-40 must be added to the output if 0 V output corresponds to -40 C input.

For an analog sensor signal to be processed, or used in digital equipment, it needs

to be converted to a digital signal, using an analog-to-digital converter.

Sensor deviations
Since sensors cannot replicate an ideal transfer function, several types of
deviations can occur which limit sensor accuracy:

Since the range of the output signal is always limited, the output signal will
eventually reach a minimum or maximum when the measured property exceeds the
limits. The full scale range defines the maximum and minimum values of the measured
property.[citation needed]
The sensitivity may in practice differ from the value specified. This is called a
sensitivity error. This is an error in the slope of a linear transfer function.
If the output signal differs from the correct value by a constant, the sensor has
an offset error or bias. This is an error in the y-intercept of a linear transfer
function.
Nonlinearity is deviation of a sensor's transfer function from a straight line
transfer function. Usually, this is defined by the amount the output differs from
ideal behavior over the full range of the sensor, often noted as a percentage of
the full range.
Deviation caused by rapid changes of the measured property over time is a dynamic
error. Often, this behavior is described with a bode plot showing sensitivity error
and phase shift as a function of the frequency of a periodic input signal.
If the output signal slowly changes independent of the measured property, this is
defined as drift. Long term drift over months or years is caused by physical
changes in the sensor.
Noise is a random deviation of the signal that varies in time.
A hysteresis error causes the output value to vary depending on the previous input
values. If a sensor's output is different depending on whether a specific input
value was reached by increasing vs. decreasing the input, then the sensor has a
hysteresis error.
If the sensor has a digital output, the output is essentially an approximation of
the measured property. This error is also called quantization error.
If the signal is monitored digitally, the sampling frequency can cause a dynamic
error, or if the input variable or added noise changes periodically at a frequency
near a multiple of the sampling rate, aliasing errors may occur.
The sensor may to some extent be sensitive to properties other than the property
being measured. For example, most sensors are influenced by the temperature of
their environment.
All these deviations can be classified as systematic errors or random errors.
Systematic errors can sometimes be compensated for by means of some kind of
calibration strategy. Noise is a random error that can be reduced by signal
processing, such as filtering, usually at the expense of the dynamic behavior of
the sensor.
Resolution
See also: Accuracy and precision
The resolution of a sensor is the smallest change it can detect in the quantity
that it is measuring. The resolution of a sensor with a digital output is usually
the resolution of the digital output. The resolution is related to the precision
with which the measurement is made, but they are not the same thing. A sensor's
accuracy may be considerably worse than its resolution.

The sensor may to some extent be sensitive to properties other than the property
being measured. For example, most sensors are influenced by the temperature of
their environment.
Sensors in nature
Further information: Sense, Ion channel, and Receptor (biochemistry)
All living organisms contain biological sensors with functions similar to those of
the mechanical devices described. Most of these are specialized cells that are
sensitive to:

Light, motion, temperature, magnetic fields, gravity, humidity, moisture,

vibration, pressure, electrical fields, sound, and other physical aspects of the
external environment
Physical aspects of the internal environment, such as stretch, motion of the
organism, and position of appendages (proprioception)
Environmental molecules, including toxins, nutrients, and pheromones
Estimation of biomolecules interaction and some kinetics parameters
Internal metabolic indicators, such as glucose level, oxygen level, or osmolality
Internal signal molecules, such as hormones, neurotransmitters, and cytokines
Chemical sensor
A chemical sensor is a self-contained analytical device that can provide
information about the chemical composition of its environment, that is, a liquid or
a gas phase.[5] The information is provided in the form of a measurable physical
signal that is correlated with the concentration of a certain chemical species
(termed as analyte). Two main steps are involved in the functioning of a chemical
sensor, namely, recognition and transduction. In the recognition step, analyte
molecules interact selectively with receptor molecules or sites included in the
structure of the recognition element of the sensor. Consequently, a characteristic
physical parameter varies and this variation is reported by means of an integrated
transducer that generates the output signal. A chemical sensor based on recognition
material of biological nature is a biosensor. However, as synthetic biomimetic
materials are going to substitute to some extent recognition biomaterials, a sharp
distinction between a biosensor and a standard chemical sensor is superfluous.
Typical biomimetic materials used in sensor development are molecularly imprinted
polymers and aptamers.

Biosensor
Main article: Biosensor
In biomedicine and biotechnology, sensors which detect analytes thanks to a
biological component, such as cells, protein, nucleic acid or biomimetic polymers,
are called biosensors. Whereas a non-biological sensor, even organic (=carbon
chemistry), for biological analytes is referred to as sensor or nanosensor. This
terminology applies for both in-vitro and in vivo applications. The encapsulation
of the biological component in biosensors, presents a slightly different problem
that ordinary sensors; this can either be done by means of a semipermeable barrier,
such as a dialysis membrane or a hydrogel, or a 3D polymer matrix, which either
physically constrains the sensing macromolecule or chemically constrains the
macromolecule by bounding it to the scaffold.