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Tobeuseful,systemsmustinteractwiththeir
Tobeuseful systemsmustinteractwiththeir
environment.Todothistheyusesensorsand
actuators
Sensorsandactuatorsareexamplesof
transducers
Atransducerisadevicethatconverts
onephysicalquantityintoanother
examplesinclude:
amercuryinglassthermometer(convertstemperature
y g
(
p
intodisplacementofacolumnofmercury)
amicrophone(convertssoundintoanelectricalsignal).
Sensors
Almostanyphysicalpropertyofamaterial
Al
h i l
f
i l
thatchangesinresponsetosomeexcitation
canbeusedtoproduceasensor
b dt d
widelyusedsensorsincludethosethatare:
resistive
inductive
capacitive
iti
piezoelectric
photoresistive
elastic
thermal
DescribingSensorPerformance
Range
R
maximumandminimumvaluesthatcanbemeasured
Resolutionordiscrimination
smallestdiscerniblechangeinthemeasuredvalue
Error
differencebetweenthemeasuredandactualvalues
randomerrors
y
systematicerrors
Accuracy,inaccuracy,uncertainty
accuracyisameasureofthemaximumexpectederror
Precision
ameasureofthelackofrandomerrors(scatter)
Linearity
maximumdeviationfroma
maximumdeviationfromastraight
straightline
lineresponse
response
normallyexpressedasapercentageofthefull
scalevalue
Sensitivity
ameasureofthechangeproducedattheoutput
foragivenchangeinthequantitybeingmeasured
Temperaturesensors
Resistivethermometers
typicaldevicesuseplatinumwire(suchadeviceis
calledaplatinumresistancethermometers or
PRT)
linear buthaspoorsensitivity
AtypicalPRTelement
AsheathedPRT
Thermistors
usematerialswithahighthermalcoefficientof
resistance
sensitive buthighlynonlinear
buthighlynon linear
Atypicaldiscthermistor
Athreadedthermistor
pn junctions
asemiconductordevicewiththe
propertiesofadiode
inexpensive,linear
inexpensive linear andeasytouse
limitedtemperaturerange (perhaps
50Cto150C)duetonatureof
50Cto150C)duetonatureof
semiconductormaterial
pn-junction sensor
LightSensors
Photovoltaic
lightfallingonapnjunction
lightfallingonapn junction
canbeusedtogenerate
electricityfromlightenergy
(asinasolarcell)
smalldevicesusedassensors
arecalledphotodiodes
fastacting,butthevoltage
fastacting butthevoltage
producedisnot linearlyrelated
tolightintensity
g
y
A typical photodiode
Photoconductive
suchdevicesdonotproduce
p
electricity,butsimplychange
theirresistance
photodiode(asdescribed
earlier)canbeusedinthisway
toproducealineardevice
p
phototransistorsactlike
photodiodesbutwithgreater
sensitivity
lightdependentresistors
A light-dependent
g
p
resistor ((LDR))
((LDRs)areslow,butrespond
)
,
p
likethehumaneye
ForceSensors
Straingauge
St i
stretchinginonedirectionincreasesthe
resistanceofthedevice,whilestretchinginthe
i t
fth d i hil t t hi i th
otherdirectionhaslittleeffect
canbebondedtoasurfacetomeasurestrain
usedwithinloadcellsandpressuresensors
Direction of sensitivity
A strain
t i gauge
DisplacementSensors
Potentiometers
resistivepotentiometersareoneofthemost
widelyusedformsofpositionsensor
canbeangularorlinear
consistsofalengthofresistivematerialwitha
slidingcontactontotheresistivetrack
whenusedasapositiontransducerapotentialis
placedacrossthetwoendterminals thevoltage
placedacrossthetwoendterminals,thevoltage
ontheslidingcontactisthenproportionaltoits
position
aninexpensiveandeasytousesensor
Inductiveproximitysensors
coil inductance is greatly
affected by the presence
of ferromagnetic
g
materials
here the proximity of a
ferromagnetic plate is
determined by measuring
the inductance of a coil
Inductive proximity sensors
Switches
simplestformofdigital displacementsensor
manyforms:leverorpushrodoperated
f
l
h d
d
microswitches;floatswitches;pressureswitches;etc.
A limit switch
A float switch
Optoswitches
consistofalightsourceandalightsensorwithina
singleunit
2commonformsarethereflectiveandslottedtypes
A reflective opto-switch
A slotted opto-switch
Absolutepositionencoders
apatternoflightanddarkstripsisprintedontoastrip
andisdetectedbyasensorthatmovesalongit
thepatterntakestheformofaseriesoflinesasshown
below
itisarrangedsothatthecombinationisuniqueateach
p
point
sensorisanarrayofphotodiodes
Incrementalpositionencoder
usesasinglelinethatalternatesblack/white
twoslightlyoffsetsensorsproduceoutputsasshown
below
detectsmotionineitherdirection,pulsesarecountedto
detectsmotionineitherdirection pulsesarecountedto
determineabsoluteposition(whichmustbeinitiallyreset)
Othercountingtechniques
severalmethodsusecountingtodetermine
position
twoexamplesaregivenbelow
Inductive sensor
Opto-switch
Opto
switch sensor
MotionSensors
Motionsensorsmeasurequantitiessuchas
velocityandacceleration
canbeobtainedbydifferentiatingdisplacement
b b
d b d ff
d l
differentiationtendstoamplifyhighfrequencynoise
Alternativelycanbemeasureddirectly
somesensorsgivevelocitydirectly
e.g.measuringfrequency ofpulsesinthecounting
q
g
p
techniquesdescribedearliergivesspeedratherthan
position
somesensorsgiveaccelerationdirectly
g
y
e.g.accelerometersusuallymeasuretheforceonamass
SoundSensors
Microphones
Mi
h
anumberofformsareavailable
e.g.carbon(resistive),capacitive,piezoelectricand
movingcoilmicrophones
movingcoildevicesuseamagnetandacoil
attachedtoadiaphragm
SensorInterfacing
Resistivedevices
canbeverysimple
e.g.inapotentiometer,withafixedvoltageacrossthe
g
p
,
g
outerterminals,thevoltageonthethirdisdirectly
relatedtoposition
where the resistance of the device
changes with the quantity being
measured this change can be
measured,
converted into a voltage signal
using a potential divider as shown
the output of this arrangement is not
linearly related to the change in
resistance
Switches
sswitchinterfacingisalsosimple
tc te ac g s a so s p e
canuseasingleresistorasbelowtoproducea
voltageoutput
g
p
allmechanicalswitchessufferfromswitchbounce
Capacitiveandinductivesensors
sensorsthatchangetheircapacitanceor
inductanceinresponsetoexternalinfluences
normallyrequiretheuseofalternatingcurrent
(AC)circuitry
suchcircuitsneednotbecomplicated
KeyPoints
Awiderangeofsensorsisavailable
Somesensorsproduceanoutputvoltagerelatedtothe
So e se so s p oduce a output o tage e ated to t e
measuredquantityandthereforesupplypower
Otherdevicessimplychangetheirphysicalproperties
py
g
p y
p p
Somesensorsproduceanoutputthatislinearlyrelated
tothequantitybeingmeasured,othersdonot
Interfacingmayberequiredtoproducesignalsinthe
correctform