Transducers

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