MECHATRONICS

SENSORS AND TRANSDUCERS

Lecture 02

Dr. RAJ THIRUVENGADATHAN

rajagopalanthiruveng@suu.edu
435-865-8328
 Introduction

Sensors are basically elements which produce a signal relating to the quantity being
measured. Eg. Thermistor is one whose resistance is a strong function of
temperature.

Transducers are defined as ones that when subject to some physical change
experience a related change. Transducers are also defined as elements that convert
one form of energy into another form. Eg. Microphones, Headphones, Pressure
Transducers

In a sense, all sensors are transducers. Converse is not true.

Caution: In textbooks, transducer may be used in lieu of sensor, but you have to
understand the fine distinction between the two terminologies.
Examples of transducers that are not sensors

•Microphone: While microphones do sense sound waves and convert them into electrical signals, they are
not considered sensors in the traditional sense because they are primarily used for input rather than
measurement. They transduce acoustic energy into electrical energy.

•Loudspeaker: As mentioned earlier, a loudspeaker converts electrical signals into acoustic energy (sound
waves), but it does not measure or sense environmental conditions.

•Electric Motor: An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical motion. It’s a transducer
because it changes the form of energy but doesn’t sense or measure physical properties.

•Piezoelectric Actuator: This device converts electrical energy into mechanical movement using the
piezoelectric effect. It’s used for applications like precision positioning or vibration control but doesn’t sense
or measure environmental changes.

•Buzzer: A buzzer converts electrical energy into sound energy. It’s used for signaling or alerting purposes
but doesn’t measure or sense anything.
 What is a Smart Sensor?

A smart sensor is an integrated entity which houses the sensing element, signal
conditioning unit and data processing unit (such a microprocessor) in the same
package.

Smart sensor will have functions such as automatic compensation for random errors, to
adjust to environmental variations, provide automatic calculation accuracy, self
calibrate and give self-diagnosis of faults.

Smart sensors are therefore capable being employed in a plug and play manner.
PERFORMANCE TERMINOLOGY

Characteristics Definition Remarks/Examples

Range The limits between which the input can vary, Force Sensor has a range of 0 to 2 N.
up to what input the sensor can give us the
output.
Span Difference between the maximum value minus Span of 2 N in the above example.
the minimum value.

Error measured value - true value Let us say measured value of 1 N while the
true value is 1.2 N. The error is -0.2.

Accuracy It is the extent to which a measured value Note: Accuracy is related to errors in the
might be wrong. measurements. Errors could be caused by
several factors. Accuracy is impacted by all
such errors and hence accuracy is summation
of all possible errors. Let us say accuracy is 10
% for the force sensor with a range of 0 to 2N.
Measured value is 0.5 N. This means the true
value could be 0.5 ± 0.05 N.
PERFORMANCE TERMINOLOGY

Characteristics Definition Remarks/Examples

Sensitivity 𝑂𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 A thermistor may have a sensitivity of 200

𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
𝐼𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 m per deg C. Sensitivity of a
sensor/transducer could also be affected by
external factors such as ambient conditions
or fluctuations in power supply etc.
Hysteresis Error Whenever we observe different output Here the sensor shows a hysteresis error
for the same value of the input, we call defined as the maximum difference in o/p
the sensor/transducer exhibits for increasing and decreasing values.
hysteresis.
PERFORMANCE TERMINOLOGY

Characteristics Definition Remarks/Examples

Non-linearity Error We assume a linear The error is generally quoted as a percentage of the full range
relationship to exist between o/p. The error originates basically from the way we fit the
the measured o/p values to straight line.
the range of I/P values. But
actually, the measured o/p
values may vary non-linearly
as a function of I/P values.
PERFORMANCE TERMINOLOGY

Characteristics Definition Remarks/Examples

Repeatability Ability to give the same output for the same input value Let us say a force sensor
when the transducer/sensor is used several times. measures a maximum value of 5
N for a given I/P value. For the
𝑚𝑎𝑥. 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 𝑚𝑖𝑛. 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 same input value, a minimum
𝑅𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦 = × 100 value of 4.8 N is measured. Let
𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒
the full range of the transducer
be 10 N. Then, the repeatability
is 2 % of the full range at a
particular value of 5 N.
Stability Ability of the transducer to give the same output when In this case, the sensor is said to
used to measure a constant input over a period of time. be stable.
Drift It is used to define the change of output over the time. It is a related to stability. Zero
drift is used for the changes that
occur in output when there is
zero input.
PERFORMANCE TERMINOLOGY

Characteristics Definition Remarks/Examples

Dead Band Defined as the range of the input value for

which there is no output.

Dead Time Defined as the length of time from the

application of an input until the output begins
to respond the changes.

Resolution It is the smallest change in the input value that Consider a sensor producing digital o/p. The
will produce an observable change in the output smallest change in output signal is 1 bit. Let us
value. say that the input signal is varied from 0 to 3 V.
If the sensor gives an output with two bits only
3
then, the resolution is 22 = 0.75V. This means
that we can observe o/p change only for the
smallest change in the I/P value of 0.75V
Understanding Parameters with an Example

Let us consider a strain gauge pressure transducer.

✓ Range: 100 to 2000 kPa The transducer is capable of measuring pressure in the range of 100 to 2000 kPa only.
Minimum pressure that can be measured is 100 kPa and the maximum pressure that
can be measured is 2000 kPa
✓ Supply Voltage: 10V dc

✓ Full Range Output: 50 mV When measuring a pressure of 2000 kPa, the full-scale division is 50 mV.

✓ Non-linearity and hysteresis: ± 0.5% of full range output When measuring a maximum pressure of 2000 kPa, the
absolute error for non-linearity and hysteresis is 10 kPa.

✓ Operational Temperature Range: - 50oC to +120oC

✓ Thermal Zero Shift: 0.050 % of full range output per degC When the temperature changes by 1oC, the
o/p of the transducer for zero input will
change by 1 kPa.
 Static and Dynamic Characteristics

Static characteristics are the values given when steady-state conditions occur (i.e. the values seen are independent of
time).

Dynamic characteristics are those characteristics exhibited by the transducer/sensor between the time when the
input value changes and the time when the o/p values given by the transducer settles down to the steady state value.

The following characteristics become

important to be defined. They are:

(a) Response Time

(b) Time Constant
(c) Rise Time
(d) Settling Time
 Static and Dynamic Characteristics
Response time: It is defined as the time which elapse after a constant input
is applied up to the point at which the transducers give values
corresponding to some specified percentage of the value of the output, say
95 percent.

Time Constant: It is the time taken to reach 63.2% of the steady state
output. The time constant is a measure of inertia of a sensor or how fast
the sensor will produce its response to changes in the input.

Rise time: Time taken for the o/p to rise to some specified percentage of
the steady state output.
Often the rise time refers to the time taken for the o/p to rise from 10% of
the steady state value to 90 % of the steady state value.

Settling time: Time taken for the output to settle within some percentage
that is say the 2 percentage of the steady state value