Linear approximation of nonlinear transfer function.

The response of a temperature sensor is given as

where R0 is the resistance of the sensor at temperature T0 and β is a constant that depends on the material
of the sensor. T0 = 20°C. Temperatures T and T_{0} are in K. Given: R(T ) = 1000 Ω at 25°C and 3000
Ω W at 0°C. The sensor is intended for use between -45°C and 120°C.

β( 1 − 1 )

R (T ) = R 0 e T T0

a.Evaluate β for this sensor and plot the sensor transfer function for the intended span.
b. Approximate the transfer function as a straight line connecting the end points and calculate the maximum
error expected as a percentage of full scale.
c. Approximate the transfer function as a linear least squares approximation and calculate the maximum
error expected as a percentage of full scale.

Solución

a. Evaluate β for this sensor and plot the sensor transfer function for the intended span. From the two
known points
, .
R1 = 3000 Ω T1 = 273.15 K
, .
R2 = 1000 Ω T2 = 298.15 K

From the general equation and the points,

R1
R0 = ,
β( 1 − 1 )
e T1 T0

we obtain
ln( R2 )
R1
β= .
( − )
1 1
T2 T1
 In [6]: import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
from math import log, exp
%matplotlib inline

# Evaluate beta for this sensor

T_0=273.15+20; N=(1/273.15-1/293.15)-
(1/298.15-1/293.15); beta= log(3000/1000)/N;
R_0=1000/exp(beta*((1/298.15)-(1/293.15)));

## Results
print ('Beta for this sensor = %2.2f and the resistance of the sensor at
tempe rature T0 is R_0 = = %2.2f' % (beta, R_0))

# Plot the sensor transfer function for the intended span.

# T= np.arange(start = -45, stop = 121, step = 1)+273.15
T = np.linspace(-45,120)+273.15
R_T= R_0*np.exp(beta*(1/T-1/T_0));

# Plot
# plt.plot(T,R_T,T[45],R_T[45],'ro',T[45+25],R_T[45+25],'ro')
plt.plot(T,R_T)
plt.ylabel('Resistance of the sensor[ohm]')
plt.xlabel('Temperature [K]')
plt.show()
Beta for this sensor = 3578.82 and the resistance of the sensor at
temperatur e T0 is R_0 = = 1227.20

The plot shows the nonlinear behaviour of the sensor and the two points used for estimating the curve. b.
Approximate the transfer function as a straight line connecting the end points and calculate the maximum
error expected as a percentage of full scale.
We approximate the transfer function as a straight line as R(T )linear = aT + b and compute the error.
In [8]: # Linear fit with just end points
a, b = np.polyfit(np.array([T[0],T[-1]]),np.array([R_T[0],R_T[-1]]),1)

print ('The coefficients are a = %2.4f and b = %2.4f' % (a, b))

# Linear approximation
R_T_linear = a*T+b

# Plot
plt.plot(T,R_T_linear,'b:',label='Linear approximation')
plt.plot(T,R_T,label='Transfer function')
plt.ylabel('Resistance of the sensor[ohm]')
plt.xlabel('Temperature [K]')
plt.legend(loc='upper right')
plt.show()
The coefficients are a = -240.6320 and b = 94659.4583
 In [9]: # Output Full scale
FS = np.abs(np.max(R_T)-np.min(R_T))

error=np.abs(R_T-R_T_linear)/FS*100;

# error_X=np.abs(error_Y/a2);
plt.ylabel('error [%]')
plt.plot(T,error)
plt.xlabel('Temperature [K]')
plt.show()
print ('The maximum error expected as a percentage of full scale is =
%2.2f %%' % (np.max(error)))

The maximum error expected as a percentage of full scale is = 66.49 %

Note how the error starts from zero reaches a maximum of 66.5 % and comes back down to zero at the other
end point as expected.

c. Approximate the transfer function as a linear least squares approximation and calculate the maximum
error expected as a percentage of full scale.
In [10]: # polyfit computes the coefficients a and b of degree=1
a,b = np.polyfit(T,R_T,1)

# Linear approximation
R_T_lsq = a*T+b

# Plot
plt.plot(T,R_T_lsq,'b:',label='Least Squares fit')
plt.plot(T,R_T,label='Transfer function')
plt.ylabel('Resistance of sensor [ohm]')
plt.xlabel('Temperature [K]')
plt.legend(loc='upper right')
plt.show()
In [11]: error=np.abs(R_T-R_T_lsq)/FS*100;

# error_X=np.abs(error_Y/a2);
plt.ylabel('error [%]')
plt.plot(T,error)
plt.xlabel('Temperature [K]')
plt.show()
print ('The maximum error expected as a percentage of full scale is =
%2.1f %%' % (np.max(error)))

The maximum error expected as a percentage of full scale is = 64.2 %