Instrumentation & Measurements

Basic Course Outline:

• Introduction to Basic Instrumentation Concepts
• Calibration of Instruments (Types of Errors, Error Compensation)
• Analog and Digital Recording Instruments (DMM, Oscilloscope, etc.)
• Signal Conditioning Circuits (Bridges, Op-Amps, Filters, etc.)
• Sensors and Transducers (Temperature, Pressure, Strain, Flow, etc.)
• Statistical Methods Used for Measurements

Dr. Memoon Sajid

Assistant Professor
G-07, Faculty of Electrical Engineering
GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology
Phone # +923468710421
Email : memoonsajid@gmail.com
Office Hours: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm (Mon-Fri)
 Sensor Technologies
Alan S. Morris, Chapter 13.
Alan. S. Morris (Chapter 13)
Sensor is a device that when exposed to a physical phenomenon (temperature,
displacement, force, etc.) produces a proportional output signal (electrical, mechanical,
magnetic, etc.).

A transducer is a device that converts one form of energy into another form of energy.

Sensors are transducers that sense one form of energy input and output in a different
form of energy.

For example, a thermocouple responds to a temperature change (thermal energy) and

outputs a proportional change in electromotive force (electrical energy).

A wide range of different physical principles are involved in the operation of sensors.

Physical principles on which they operate is often an important factor in choosing a

sensor for a given application because of the operating conditions compatibility.

Sensors can be classified based on many different parameters like their working
principle, measurement objective, analog or digital, and as passive or active.
Mechatronic Systems (Chapter 17)
Classification based on measurement objective:

Mechatronic Systems (Chapter 17)

Mechatronic Systems (Chapter 17)
Mechatronic Systems (Chapter 17)
Mechatronic Systems (Chapter 17)
Mechatronic Systems (Chapter 17)
 Mechatronic Systems (Chapter 17)
Selection Criteria
A number of static and dynamic factors must be considered in selecting a suitable
sensor to measure the desired physical parameter. Following is a list of typical factors:

Choosing a sensor that satisfies all the above to the desired specification is difficult.
Take a system-level approach when selecting a sensor, and avoid choosing it in
isolation.
Mechatronic Systems (Chapter 17)
Classification based on working principle: Alan. S. Morris (Chapter 13)

Capacitive Sensors

Resistive Sensors

Magnetic Sensors

Inductive sensors, variable reluctance with magnetic core, eddy current, hall effect sensors.
Piezoelectric Transducers
Piezoelectric transducers produce an output voltage when a force is applied to them.
They can also operate in the reverse mode where an applied voltage produces an
output force.
These have an asymmetrical lattice of molecules that distorts when a mechanical force
is applied to it. This distortion causes a reorientation of electric charges within the
material, resulting in a relative displacement of positive and negative charges.

Piezoresistive Sensors
A piezoresistive sensor is made from semiconductor material in which a p-type region
has been diffused into an n-type base.
The resistance of this varies greatly when the sensor is compressed or stretched.
This is used frequently as a strain gauge

Strain Gauges
Strain gauges are devices that experience a change in resistance when they are
stretched or strained.
The traditional type of strain gauge consists of a length of metal resistance wire
formed into a zigzag pattern and mounted onto a flexible backing sheet. Others
include piezo resistive.
Alan. S. Morris (Chapter 13)
Optical Sensors
Alan. S. Morris (Chapter 13)

Optical sensors are based on the change in the properties of transmitted light between

a light source and a light detector.

Optical fiber based, photoconductive devices, photovoltaic devices (solar cells),

photodiodes, phototransistors, etc.

Light parameters affected: intensity, phase, polarization, wavelength, transit time, etc.

Ultrasonic Transducers

Ultrasound is a band of frequencies above 20 kHz range that humans can hear.

Changes in the measured variable are determined either by measuring the change in

time taken for the ultrasound wave to travel between the transmitter and receiver

Or by measuring the change in phase or frequency of the transmitted wave.

The Hall effect is the production of a voltage difference (the Hall voltage) across
an electrical conductor, transverse to an electric current in the conductor and to an
applied magnetic field perpendicular to the current. It was discovered by Edwin Hall.

Hall effect measurement setup for electrons. Initially, the electrons follow the curved
arrow, due to the magnetic force. At some distance from the current-introducing
contacts, electrons pile up on the left side and deplete from the right side, which
creates an electric field ξy in the direction of the assigned VH. VH is negative for some
semiconductors where "holes" appear to flow. In steady-state, ξy will be strong enough
to exactly cancel out the magnetic force, thus the electrons follow the straight arrow
(dashed).
Temperature Measurement
Alan S. Morris, Chapter 14.
Temperature is often cited as the most widely monitored parameter in science and
industry, yet the exact definition of temperature is elusive.
The simplest definition would relate temperature to the average kinetic energy of the
individual molecules that comprise the system.
As the temperature increases, the molecular activity also increases, and thus the
average kinetic energy increases. Mechatronic Systems (Chapter 20)

The zeroth law of thermodynamics, formulated in 1931, more than half a century after
the first and second laws, lays the foundation for all temperature measurement.
It states that if two bodies are in thermal equilibrium with a third body, they are also in
thermal equilibrium with each other.
By replacing the third body with a thermometer, we can state that two bodies are in
thermal equilibrium if both have the same temperature reading.

The zeroth law does not enable the assignment of a numerical value for temperature.
For that we must refer to a standard scale of temperature. Two absolute temperature
scales are defined such that the temperature at zero corresponds to the theoretical
state of no molecular movement of the substance.
Cryogenic Temperature Sensors
Introduction to Low Temperature Measurements & Superconductivity
 Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this chapter stresses the understanding required for application of
measurement and instrumentation sensors. After this chapter, you should be able to:
■ Define thermal energy, the relation of temperature scales to thermal energy, and
temperature scale calibrations.
■ Transform a temperature reading among the Kelvin, Rankine, Celsius, and
Fahrenheit temperature scales.
■ Design the application of an RTD temperature sensor to specific problems in
temperature measurement.
■ Design the application of thermistor to specific temperature measurement problems.
■ Design the application of thermocouple to temperature measurement problems.
■ Explain the operation of a bimetal strip for temperature measurement.
■ Explain the operation of a gas thermometer and a vapor pressure thermometer.
■ Develop the design of a system to measure temperature using a solid-state
temperature sensor.
Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
10 classes of instrument based on the following working principles:

• Resistance change (Any materials: RTDs)

• Thermoelectric effect (Junction of 2 metals) Alan. S. Morris (Chapter 14)

• Sensitivity of semiconductor device (Thermistor- Resistance decrease with
increase in Temperature: Negative temperature coefficient)

• Radiative heat emission (Infrared thermometers)

• Thermography (Thermal Cameras)

• Thermal expansion (Liquid Mercury Thermometer)

• Resonant frequency change (Surface Acoustic Waves, Quartz Oscillators)

• Sensitivity of fiber-optic devices (Light intensity, dilation, angle, etc.)

• Color change (Food industry and Medicine)

• Change of state of material (Switches and Indicators like color change)

Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
Dissipation Constant Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
Because the RTD is a resistance, there is a power I2R dissipated by the device itself
that causes a slight heating effect, a self-heating.
This may also cause an erroneous reading or even upset the environment in delicate
measurement conditions.
Thus, the current through the RTD must be kept sufficiently low and constant to avoid
self-heating.
Typically, a dissipation constant is provided in RTD specifications.

The self-heating temperature rise can be found from the power dissipated by the
RTD, and the dissipation constant from
14.2 Thermoelectric Effect Sensors (Thermocouples)
Thermoelectric effect sensors rely on the physical principle that, when any two different
metals are connected together, an e.m.f., which is a function of the temperature, is
generated at the junction between the metals.
Wires of such pairs of materials are connected together at one end, and in this form
are known as thermocouples.
Thermocouples are a very important class of device as they provide the most
commonly used method of measuring temperatures in industry.

Alan. S. Morris (Chapter 13)

 Alan. S. Morris (Chapter 13)

It is usual to choose materials for the extension lead wires such that the magnitudes
of E2 and E3 are approximately zero, irrespective of the junction temperature.
In case of E4 and E5, the net emf can be considered as reference emf and that
junction has to be at zero temperature to avoid errors.
When a temperature differential is maintained across a given metal, the vibration of
atoms and motion of electrons is affected so that a difference in potential exists across
the material.
This potential difference is related to the fact that electrons in the hotter end of the
material have more thermal energy than those in the cooler end, and thus tend to drift
toward the cooler end.
This drift varies for different metals at the same temperature because of differences in
their thermal conductivities.
If a circuit is closed by connecting the ends through another conductor, a current is
found to flow in the closed loop.
In Seebeck effect, two different metals, A and B, are used to close the loop with the
connecting junctions at temperatures T1 and T2.
We could not close the loop with the same metal because the potential differences
across each leg would be the same, and thus no net emf would be present.

Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)

Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
 Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)

A junction is formed with the measurement system, but to wires of the same type as the
thermocouple. These wires may be stranded and of different gauges, but they must be of the
same type of metal as the thermocouple. The extension wires now can be run a significant
distance to the actual reference junctions.
Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
Change of reference: Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
 Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)

The advantage to grounding the measurement junction is that the noise voltage will
be distributed equally on each wire of the TC. Then the differential amplifier will, at least
partially, cancel this noise because the voltage on these lines is subtracted.
Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
6.5 Solid-State Temperature Sensors Curtis Johnson (Chapter 4)
Many integrated circuit manufacturers now market solid-state temperature sensors for consumer
and industrial applications. These devices offer voltages that vary linearly with temperature over a
specified range. They function by exploiting the temperature sensitivity of doped semiconductor
devices such as diodes and transistors. One common version is essentially a zener diode in
which the zener voltage increases linearly with temperature.

Self-heating must be considered, because they

do dissipate power as given by the zener voltage
times the operating current. For example, in
Figure 16 you can see that the zener current is:
7 DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

1. Identify the nature of the measurement This includes the nominal value and
range of the temperature measurement, the physical conditions of the environment
where the measurement is to be made, required speed of measurement, and any other
features that must be considered.

2. Identify the required output signal In most applications, the output will be either a
standard 4- to 20-mA current or a voltage that is scaled to represent the range of
temperature in the measurement. There may be further requirements related to
isolation, output impedance, or other factors.

3. Select an appropriate sensor Based primarily on the results of the first step, a
sensor that matches the specifications of range, environment, and so forth is selected.
To some extent, factors such as cost and availability will be important in the selection
of a sensor. Output signal requirements also considered, but with lower significance
because signal conditioning generally provides required signal transformations.

4. Design the required signal conditioning Using the signal-conditioning techniques

treated previously, the direct transduction of temperature is converted into the required
output signal. The specific type of signal conditioning depends, of course, on the type
of sensor employed, as well as on the nature of the specified output signal.
EXAMPLE 18

This is a mistake, it is -5%/ºC

EXAMPLE 19