~ 1 ~

Overview:
The purpose of this report is to take analyze a noisy signal from a position sensor
from the 797-FLYNBURITO. The signal was measured from the positioning control
system that controls the position of the landing gear. The positioning system requires a
feedback signal from the position sensor. Noise on the sensor signal has been producing
inaccurate position readings that degrade the performance of the positioning system.
It has been observed from the sensor data sheet that the position measurement
information is contained within an AC voltage waveform in the 1.8 kHz-2.0 kHz
frequency range. It is also known that the positioning system shares a ground connection
with a switching amplifier and that significant noise can be expected around 50 kHz. It
has been noted that unwanted low frequency vibrations from the buildings ventilation
system are perturbing the sensor measurements. Provided in figure 1 below is an
oscilloscope capture of the sensor signal voltage provided by the boss.


Figure 1: Noisy Input Signal

Using this signal information, the task presented was to analyze the signal and
identify the noise magnitudes and corresponding frequencies due to the low frequency
vibration and switching amplifier. The magnitudes and corresponding frequencies of the
position measurement information was to be identified as well.
~ 2 ~

Overview (contd.):
Once the signal is analyzed, a filter needs to be designed to filter out the noise and
only pass the position measurement information. The filter must meet the following
specifications:
a. Maximum attenuation of the position measurement information must
be -0.3dB as this information must be kept as pristine as possible.
b. The low frequency vibration noise must be degraded by at least -30dB.
c. The switching amplifier noise must be degraded by at least -21dB.
d. All noise that exists at frequencies greater than 100 kHz must be
completely attenuated.
e. The design cannot use any inductors.

Analyzing the Signal:
The first step in analyzing the noisy signal was to create an amplitude versus
frequency spectrum. The graph obtained can be found in figure 2 below. This graph tells
us the frequencies that make up the noisy signal. Since we know that the position
measurement information is contained between 1.8 kHz and 2.0 kHz, we can assume all
of the signals occurring at other frequencies are noise.


Figure 2: Right Sided Amplitude Spectrum of Noisy Signal

~ 3 ~

Analyzing the Signal (contd.):
As you can see from figure 2, there is noise around 17.5 kHz, 42.5 kHz, 50 kHz
and near 80 kHz. The noise around 17.5 kHz produces a magnitude of about 0.25V. The
noises around 42.5 kHz and 80 kHz both have a magnitude around 0.2V. The noise near
50 kHz has a much larger magnitude at approximately 0.75V. The largest spike can be
noticed at around 2 kHz. This spike is the signal from the position sensor. The sensor
information was zoomed isolated to view its magnitude. This frequency versus magnitude
graph can be found below in figure 3.



Figure 3: Close up of Sensor Signal Range

It can be observed from figure 3 that the sensor signal takes place from within
1775 Hz to 2025 Hz. This is very close to the range given. It ranges in magnitude from
less than 0.5V up to about 1.25V.
Now that the sensor signal and the main sources of noise are known, it is time to
design a filter to remove any unwanted noise from the input signal.






~ 4 ~

Filter Design:
The filter design needs to have a center frequency in the center of the sensor input
signal and needs to have a bandwidth that spans just past each end of the sensor signal so
it does not filter out the upper and lower frequencies of the signal.
To ensure that the sensor signal was to be kept as pristine as possible, I chose a
narrowband band-pass filter using an operational amplifier circuit. This circuit allows the
center frequency and bandwidth to be easily determined and has a very steep drop-off
after the cutoff frequencies. This will help remove as much of the noise as possible. This
circuit also uses only resistors, capacitors and an operational amplifier. This takes into
account the fact that inductors are not to be used. To design the filter to fit the needs of
this project, the following equations were used.
(1)

(2)

(3)

(4) ()

To begin my filter design, I first noted what I wanted my center frequency (
o
) and
bandwidth () to be. I decided that 1900 Hz would set the center frequency right in the
middle of the sensor signal. This equates to 3800 rad/s. Next, I played around with the
bandwidth of my filter by calculating its transfer function using equation (4) and creating
a bode plot of its response. I found that a bandwidth of 5340 rad/s attenuated the sensor
signal by less than -0.3dB so this was the value I went with for the bandwidth. Once I had
the bandwidth, I used equation (1) to calculate a value for R
3
. I used C = 0.1F as this is a
readily available component value. I then used equation (2) to find a value for R
1
. In this
equation, K refers to the passband gain. In this case, we want the sensor signal untouched
so the passband gain will be 1. Once I knew the values of R
1
and R
3
I needed, I used
equation (3) to find R
2
. R
eq
in equation (3) refers to R
1
in parallel with R
2
.

~ 5 ~

Filter Design (contd.):
The values needed to design the filter for this input signal can be found below along
with the transfer function. The schematic can be found in figure 4 below.

Component Values:
R
1
= 1850 R
3
= 3750
R
2
= 210 C
1
= C
2
= 0.1F

Filter Transfer Function:
()

()

Figure 4: Narrowband Bandpass Filter Schematic

Now that the filter design is complete, it needs to be tested to show that it will
perform as it should. To test that it performs properly, created a bode plot for the filter.
Figure 5 on the next page shows the gain in dB of the filter with respect to frequency. As
you can see, the gain drops off very quickly past outside of the bandwidth of the filter. In
figure 6, I have isolated the frequency range of the sensor signal to make sure that the
signal is not attenuated past -0.3dB in this range. As you can see in figure 6, this
condition has been satisfied. You can see from figure 5 that the low frequency noise is
degraded by more than -30dB and the switching noise that appears around 50 kHz is
degraded by more than -21dB.
~ 6 ~


Filter Design (contd.):



Figure 5: Bode Plot of Filter Transfer Function from 0-100 kHz




Figure 6: Bode Plot of Filter Transfer Function from 1.8-2.0 kHz
~ 7 ~

Filtering the Signal:
Now that the filter has been properly designed and tested, it is time to analyze the
result of filtering the noisy input signal. I used matlab to run the noisy input signal
through the filter and plotted the fourier transform of the filtered signal to determine the
filtered amplitude spectrum. The filtered amplitude spectrum can be found in figure 7
below. It is clear that all significant noise sources have been filtered out of the signal.
Below it in figure 8, you can see that the amplitudes of the sensor signals look nearly
identical to those in the original noisy signal.


Figure 7: Right Sided Amplitude Spectrum of Filtered Signal


Figure 8: Close Up of Filtered Sensor Signal Range
~ 8 ~

Filtering the Signal (contd.):
Once the signal was properly filtered, I plotted the clean output signal versus
time. Figures 9 and 10 below show the original noisy signal and the new filtered signal
respectively.


Figure 9: Original Noisy Input Signal



Figure 10: Filtered Signal
~ 9 ~

Conclusion:
The purpose of this project was to analyze a given signal and design a filter to get
rid of the noise that is causing inaccurate readings. In this lab report, I have outlined the
frequencies and magnitudes of the various sources of noise within the signal. I have also
shown the magnitudes and frequencies of the sensor signal we were looking for. I then
designed a filter to remove the noise components that were shown and showed that the
filter worked properly and met all of the design requirements included in the lab
instructions.
Although this project was a little intimidating at first, I feel that it was a great
learning experience and really helped bring together what we have learned about signal
processing and using Matlab. I will remember this lab in the future if I ever need to deal
with a noisy signal.