Introduction

A tachometer is an instrument which measures the

rotation
speed of any rotating object like shaft or
disk, as
in a motor or other machine. The
device
usually displays the revolutions per
minute (RPM) on a calibrated
analogue dial, but digital
displays are increasingly
common.

The

word comes from Greek word

tachos which means speed" and metron that stands for measure".

History
The first mechanical tachometers were based on
measuring the centrifugal force, similar to the operation
of a centrifugal governor.
The inventor is assumed to be the German engineer

Dietrich Uhlhorn; he used it for measuring the

speed of machines in 1817.

Since 1840, it has been used to measure the speed of

locomotives.

Need of tachometer
In devices and Machinery ,Speed of a rotating shaft or motor needs to
be measured. E.g At a ship , a navigating officer at the bridge or an
engineer in the ECR needs to know that at what speed and direction
the engine is rotating.
The tachometer in a vehicle enables the driver to select suitable
throttle and gear settings for the driving conditions .Therefore enables
the driver to prevent exceeding the speed capability of sub-parts like
spring retracted valves of the engine.

Classification
Tachometers can be classified based on the following parameters :

1. On the basis of data acquisition

Contact
Non-Contact
2. On the basis of data type

Analog
Digital
3. Measurement technique

Time Measurement
Frequency Measurement
4. On the basis of power

Mechanical
Electrical
1. Data acquisition
Data acquisition (DAQ) is the process of measuring an electrical or physical
phenomenon such as voltage, current, temperature, pressure, or sound. On
the basis of data acquisition, tachometer is classified into:

1. Contact type:
The tachometers that remain in contact with the rotating shaft are
of
contact type. It is generally preferred where it needs to
be fixed with the machine .An
optical encoder or magnetic
sensor is used in this type of
Tachometer.

2. Non-Contact type:

These Tachometers do not need

to be in physical contact with the rotating shaft .The
main application non-contact
type is in mobiles, a laser or
optical disk.

2.

Data Type

On the basis of the display type of the results in a tachometer, it has

been classified into:

1. Digital:
These consist of LCD or LED readout .They also have a
memory for storage. (Major advantage over Analog type)
These are used to perform statistical operations and gives
precision measurement.

Digital
tachometers
are getting more preference these days as they provide
accurate reading in numerical form instead of using dials and
needles. E.g. Nowadays tachometer used in cars are
numerical in nature.

Optical sensing: An optical sensor

consists of an optical disk

placed near the
motor which generate pulses
proportional to the rotating shaft. A slotted disk and IR emitter are used to generate these
pulses.

Magnetic sensing: In this type of sensing, there is a possibility to use either Hall
Effect sensors or magnetic sensors. Hall Effect principle generates the pulses
proportional to the speed of the shaft and magnetic sensors are used to generate pulses
by making use of variable reluctance.

Signal Conditioning: The output signals from the sensors are noisy, and therefore,
are filtered, amplified and digitized so that the microcontroller recognizes these signals
for further action.

Microcontroller: A microcontroller is used to analyze and process the readings from

the sensors. It sends that information to a display device, and when the speed is reduced
or increased to a predefined level, it alerts the user by taking appropriate action.

Memory: The memory unit stores the data from the microcontroller.

Display Unit: The function of the display unit is to view the stored values transmitted
from the microcontroller.

2. Analog:
These Tachometers are very simple and it is easy to determine speed
from these Tachometers .
These comprise of needle giving the current reading and have marking
that show safe and dangerous level.
They cannot store the readings and compute details like deviation and
average. For e.g. Tachometers of
bikes and 2 wheeler vehicles are
analog in nature that show output in
numerical form i.e. Car speed.

3. Measurement technique

Based on measurement technique,

tachometers are classified into two types:
1.

Time Measurement

The time measurement device calculates speed by

measuring the time interval between the incoming pulses. It
is ideal for low speed measurements and the time to take a
reading is dependent on the speed and increases with
decrease in speed.

2.

Frequency measurement

The frequency measurement device calculates speed by

measuring the frequency of the incoming pulses. It is ideal
for high speed measurements. The time to take a reading
is independent of speed of rotation of the shaft.

4. Power
On the basis of the mode of power used by the tachometer, it
can be classified into:

Mechanical:

 Mechanical tachometers utilize the fact that the

centrifugal force on a rotating mass depends on
the speed of rotation and can be used to stretch
or compress a mechanical spring.
These employ only mechanical parts and
mechanical movement.
1. Revolution Counters.
2. Centrifugal Force Tachometer.
1. Revolution counter
Revolution counter is used to measure an average of rational
speed instead of instantaneous
rotational speed. It consists of a worm
gear that is usually attached to a
spindle. It has two dials, an inner one
and an outer one. The inner dials
represent one revolution of the outer
dials and the outer dials represent on
revolution of the spindle. The
tachometer has a stopwatch attached to the revolution counter
and is used to indicated time.

Advantages
1. Simple to operate.
2. No attachment require to shaft.
Disadvantages
1. Limited to low speed.
2. Chances of operational error.

2. Centrifugal Force
Tachometer
A sliding collar is mounted on a
shaft. The coupling has hinged arms
carrying mass that spread apart
when the shaft rotates,
moving the sliding coupling along
the shaft against a counterbalancing
spring.
The position of the coupling on the shaft depends on the speed of
rotation and is transmitted by an arm mechanism to an indicator
pointer; the indicator dial is calibrated in revolutions per
minute. The tachometer shaft may be driven directly, by the
controlled mechanism, or indirectly, by a flexible shaft.

Two primary drawbacks with the mechanical tachometer

are:
The weights that are mechanical have inertia and therefore
not quite precise .
It doesn't give an indicator of the way of turning.

Electrical:
Electrical tachometers mainly depend upon an electrical signal
generated in proportion to the rotational speed of the shaft.
Depending upon the type of transducer used there is a variety of
different designs.

Elect

rical tachometers are of several types.

The eddy-current or drag type is widely used in

automobile speedometers; a magnet rotated with the
shaft being measured produces eddy currents that are
proportional to angular speed.
Electric-generator tachometers work by generating
either an alternating or a direct current.

Eddy Current tachometer

It consists of a permanent magnet as stator and a low

resistance solid metallic cylinder as rotor, which drives the
pointer and scale arrangement. The rotor is also connected to
shaft which has a provision to get contact with the rotating

machines, whose rpm has to be measured. when it get contact

to a rotating machine the shaft rotates which eventually rotates
the metallic cylinder in strong magnetic field , its known that
when a low resistant metal rotated in a strong magnetic field
eddy current gets induced in the low resistance metal
opposing the cause of action which held the pointer in
equilibrium position showing some reading which will be
calibrated for the corresponding speeds hence it shows the
correct rpm in which the machine rotates.
An eddy-current tachometer uses the interaction of the
magnetic fields generated by a permanent magnet and a
rotor, whose speed of rotation is proportional to the eddy

currents generated. The currents tend to deflect a disk, which

is mounted on the shaft and restrained by a spring, through a
certain angle. The deflection of the disk, which is rigidly
connected to a pointer, is indicated on a dial.

(1) permanent magnet, (2) rotor, (3) shaft with pointer, (4) spring

D.C. Tachometer
D.C means Direct Current .This tachometer is basically a permanent magnet
generator .The output of this types of instrument is 2 to 10 volts per 1,000 rev per min
(RPM) .For the purpose of Speed indication , a voltmeter with a high resistant value is
built with calibration in RPM .

In a D.C. generator the e.m.f

generated depends upon the
following two factors:
(i) Field excitation
(ii) Speed
If for the field system permanent
magnet pole pieces are used, then the generated voltage depends only on
the speed. Hence the speed can be computed by measuring the
generated e.m.f.

The shaft whose speed is to be measured is coupled to the armature.

A moving coil voltmeter is connected across the brushes to measure
the generated voltage. The variable resistance R is incorporated to limit
the current through the voltmeter.
Since voltage is proportional to speed, the voltmeter may be calibrated in
terms of speed (r.p.m.).

A.C. Tachometer

AC is for alternating current. This device consists of revolving permanent-magnetic

field with a stationary winding. The voltage output and frequency that is generated
remains in proportion rotation speed.
In order to overcome some of the difficulties in d.c. tachometer, the a.c. tachometer
generators are used. These tachometer generators have rotating magnet which may
be either a permanent magnet or an electromagnet. The coil is wound on the stated
and therefore, the problems associated with commutator (as in d.c tachometer) are
absent.
The rotation of the magnet causes an e.m.f. to be induced in the stator coil. The
amplitude and frequency of this e.m.f. are both proportional to the speed of rotation.
Thus, either amplitude or frequency of induced voltage may be used as measure of
rotational speed.

Applications
1. Uses in Automobiles
In their most familiar form, tachometers measure the speed at which mechanical devices
rotate, which typically is indicated in RPMs. They are used to monitor the RPMs in
automobiles because running the engine at excessively high RPM rates can drastically
shorten the life of the engine. In some cases, a small generator is attached to the engine
drive shaft, and the RPM measurement is based on the electric current generated by the
device. This instrument might also simply measure the rate at which the ignition system
sends sparks to the engine.

Automobile tachometers
minute an

2. Use in Airplanes

display how many revolutons per

engine is putting out.

Airplanes typically have one tachometer for each engine, and in those that
use propellers, one is also needed for each. A plane's engines usually
operate at higher RPMs than its propellers. By using separate instruments
for the different parts, the plane's pilot or crew can know whether there is a
problem with any particular part.

A separate tachometer is
used for each engine in
a multi-engine piston
powered aircraft.

3. Laser Instruments
Traditional tachometers require physical contact between the instruments
and the objects being measured. In applications where this is not feasible for
technical or safety reasons, it might be possible for a laser to take
measurements from a distance. Laser devices work by pulsing a tight beam
of light against the rotating element. The rotating element will have one
reflective spot, and the instrument measures the rate at which the light beam

is reflected back. They can be permanent parts of the system, or they can
be handheld for occasional spot measurements.

4. Medical Applications
A tachometer can even find uses in medicine. By placing a small, turbine-like
device called a haematachometer in an artery or vein, a medical
professional can use this instrument to estimate the rate of blood flow from
the speed at which the turbine spins. This can be used to diagnose
circulatory problems such as clogged arteries.

5. Marine Ships
Marine fleet, for measuring the rotating speed of the marine diesel machines on
the board ships. This device shows the direction towards which the ship
rotates.

Thus
we can see that
the
tachometer
forms an important part of the machine used in our daily life.
Moreover it also has indispensable use in the medical field.
The instrument plays a vital role in making human life easy.
The tachometer in vehicles enables the driver to know
whether he is exceeding the speed limit or not and provides
safety while driving.

Reference

 www.wisegeek.org
www.ooshutup.com
www.wikipedia.org
www.electricaltopics.blogspot.in
www.slideshare.net
www.marshbellofram.com
www.electrical-engineeringassignment.com
www.encyclopedia.com