UNIT -2

Sensors and Transducers

Dr. Tilak Thakur
Professor, EED
PEC(Deemed to be University),
Chandigarh
 1.Sensors in Mechatronics System
• An intelligent system works sequentially in
closed loop system with measurement,
comparison and decision followed by action.
• Measurement being at the first stage; role of
sensor/transducer is very important as
sensor(s)/transducer(s) is responsible for
collecting information regarding physical
parameter(s) such as pressure,
temperature ,voltage ,humidity ,force,
distance, etc.
• If sensor is selected properly as per
requirement, data/information will be
more accurate and system is expected to
work properly if other stage components
are good.
• Choice of sensor depends on objective of
the system under development,
application, precision, working
environment cost, reliability, size, power
consumption.
Measurement System
 2.Difference between Sensors & Transducers

A sensor in response to a physical quantity

/phenomenon such as force, temperature,
speed, produces a corresponding proportional
change in physical phenomena, such as electrical,
mechanical and magnetic etc. in terms of
resistance, inductance, capacitance, voltage and
current.
• Transducer: It converts the change in one form of
energy into a change in another form ( electrical)
of energy. ie. converts the output signal of a sensor
into an electrical signal.

Transduction
 Sensing Mechanism
It includes sensors and transductor or transducer
which receives energy from environment /system
parameter or its change to produce an analog signal.
Mercury thermometer; the mercury
expands easily when the temperature
increases to send a reading format for
the user. There are no electrical signs
or changes. So, it is originally a sensor.
loudspeaker may contain a sensor that
identifies the sound vibrations and
converts them to electrical signals, but
it requires a transducer to complete
the procedure of importing that sound
in one part and generating intensified
sound in the loudspeaker in the other
section. Generally, a sensor detects,
and a transducer modifies.
General Classification of Transducers
• Active transducer – no additional
source for excitation signal is
required. Piezoelectric sensors,
photo diode, thermocouple,
dynamos
• Passive transducer - RTDs,
thermistors, photoconductive
devices, PN junction diode, hall
effector sensors opto-electronic
devices, strain gauge
 Performance characteristics of transducers
• Quality parameters of a sensor system
(Selection of sensors)
• Sensitivity: It is the ability of the measuring
instrument to respond to changes in measured
quantity. It is ratio of change of output to unit
change of input parameter. S = ΔO / Δ I
• I - Input, quantity to be sensed
• O - Output, signal which can be recorded
Range : Maximum and
minimum limits of
physical variables under
measurement. Pressure
sensor may have a range
of -400 to +400 mm Hg.
Span : This gives the difference
of a sensor parameter variable
measured from the maximum to
minimum input values of a
sensor. Pressure transmitter
maybe re-scaled to read 4mA at
0.8 bar and 20 mA at 1.2 bar,
span ranging from 0 to 0.4 bar
Resolution: It is defined
as the smallest
increment in the
measured value that can
be detected.
Error: It is the difference
between measured values
of a physical parameter
and the true value of the
same parameter.
Systematic error, Random
error and Gross error
Systematic error - instrument error
cause due to misuse, loading,
instrumental defect, environmental
error, dust, temperature

Random error – noise (unaware factors)

Gross error - loose connections, human

while reading, recording and estimating
 Accuracy: Closeness of the
measured value of a variable to its
true value.
Error in absolute term= Measured
parameter value – true parameter
value
Absolute error
Error in relative term =
True value
• Precision: Precision is the ability
of an instrument to reproduce a
certain set of readings within a
given deviation.
• Repeatability: It is the ability to
reproduce the output signal
exactly when the same measured
quantity is applied repeatedly
under the same environmental
conditions.
Precision & Accuracy
• Stability (Drift):It is the ability to
give same output when a constant
input is measured over a period of
time.
• Dead band: It is the range of input
values for which there is no output.
• Backlash: The maximum distance
or angle through which any part of a
mechanical system can be moved in
one direction without causing any
motion of the attached part.
Hysteresis: The difference between
two output values that correspond
to the same input depending on the
trajectory followed by the sensor
(i.e., magnetization in
ferromagnetic materials)
Backlash: Hysteresis caused by
looseness in a mechanical joint
]
 Static and Dynamic Characteristics of a Sensor System

• Static characteristics are the values

given when steady state conditions
occur. Input is not varying and
output is constant. Output changes
only due to drift.
• Dynamic characteristics refer to
time varying signal with
corresponding time varying output.
Dynamic Characteristics of a
Sensor System
Response time: This is the time which
elapses after a step input, when the
transducer gives the output
corresponding to 95 percentage of
steady state value.
Time constant: Time taken between
application of input and 63.2 % of steady
state value.
• Rise time: Time taken for the
output to rise to some specified
percentage of the steady state
output. From 10% to 90%.
• Settling time: This is the
time taken for the output to
settle within some percentage
e.g. 2% of steady state value.
Transducer for displacement
Resistive Transducers: Change in
force/displacement causes change in
resistance.
Potentiometric Transducers types
(i) Linear (ii)Rotary (iii)Helix
Displacement and Position measurement
 Strain Gauge
Change in force causes change in resistance.
Strain Gauge Types:(i)Felt (ii)Helical (iii)Foil types

Bonded resistance type

Measurement using Strain Gauge
It requires a Wheatstone bridge arrangement to
convert change in resistance into voltage .
Optical Encoder :
Optical Encoder – Converts
linear/angular position/
displacement into digital output.
Incremental Encoder are used to detect
changes in rotation with respect to a reference
position – measurement of Angular Velocity
Absolute Encoder are used to detect actual
changes position, displacement or angular
position.
Contd...
Digital Absolute Encoder
How many bit resolution encoder is required for
measuring 0.03 degree in an absolute encoder?
Inductive Transducers:
Linear Variable Differential Transducer (LVDT) /
Transformer:
Change in force /displacement causes change
in voltage.
Main Parts: (i)Primary coil
(ii) S1&S2 secondary coils
(iii) movable iron core (magnetic material with
high permeability).
Frequency range (1-10kHz)
𝑉𝑠 𝑁𝑠
=
𝑉 𝑝 𝑁𝑝

D=K
 𝑑𝑖
𝑉 𝑠 =𝑀
𝑑𝑡
𝑉 𝑠 1 = 𝐾 1 sin ⁡(𝑤𝑡 − ∅ )
𝑉 𝑠 2 = 𝐾 2 sin ⁡(𝑤𝑡 − ∅ )
𝑉 𝑠 =𝑉 𝑠 1 −𝑉 𝑠 2 =( 𝐾 ¿ ¿ 1− 𝐾 ¿¿ 2) sin ( 𝑤𝑡 − ∅ ) ¿ ¿
LVDT Characteristics
 Hall Effect Transducer
It consists of
(i) a current carrying metallic plate
(ii)a magnetic field perpendicular to the
plate (iii) transverse voltage output.
𝐵. 𝐼 𝐵.𝐼
𝑉 h= =𝑅 h
𝑑 . 𝑛 .𝑒 𝑑
B -> Magnetic flux density
n -> charge carrier density
e ->electron charge -> Hall coefficient
velocity
Transducer for Velocity Measurement
Tachogenerator
Transducer for Force Measurement
load cell
Transducer for Pressure Measurement
 Piezoelectric Crystal
Force that stretches or compresses
act on it, an electrical charge is
produced on one of its surface and an
opposite charge is also induced on it.
Piezoelectric
materials
Quartz, Barium
Titanate, Rochelle
salt
 Advantages
• Self generating no external
power required
• High variable impedance 10kΩ
for 100 kHz
• High frequency Measurement
• Output voltage α force applied
 Application
Measure Force, Acceleration
and mechanical deformation
 Capacitive Tactile Sensor
A piezoelectric material Quartz
or Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)
is used.
Capacitive Transducers:
(i) Parallel separated metallic plates
(ii) Dielectric filling

Where,
ε0 represents the permittivity of free
space
εr represents the relative
permittivity or dielectric constant
d represents the distance the
parallel plates and A represents the
area of the plates.
Capacitive Touch Sensor
Transducer for liquid level Measurement
Floats and differential pressure
Transducer for Temperature Measurement
 Change in temperature causes
shape change in Bimetallic strip
type transducer and change in
potential difference in the
thermocouple type .

Bimetallic Strip – Thermal expansion

Thermocouple – Seebeck effect
Bimetallic Strip Sensor
(1+ T), is linear thermal expansion coefficient

Bimetallic Strip Sensor

 Thermocouples
• Temperature Measurement
• Seebeck effect
Change in temperature α induced
emf linearly

)
Where,
constant V/K
are junction temperature
 1 2 1 3
𝑒𝑚𝑓 = 𝐴𝑇 + 𝐵𝑇 + 𝐶 𝑇
2 2
=
RTDs, Thermistors
Light Sensor / Optical Transducers
A photovoltaic transducer
converts light energy into
electricity directly at the atomic
level. Materials that exhibit this
property are known as
photoelectric materials, and the
effect is called photoelectric effect.
 Photo Resistive Transducer
The resistance of the photo
resistive material decreases
with increase in light intensity
like potentiometric transducer.

Light Dependent Resistors

 Application
• Control of Street Light,
camera light, security alarm,
heater, outdoor clocks,
picture scanning, etc.
• ORP12
 Photodiode
The incident light energy excites
hole –electron pair of the photo
diode allows to flow current in
reverse biased mode .
𝐼 𝐿= 𝐼 𝑠
[ ( ) ]
exp
𝑞𝑒 𝑣 𝑑
𝑘𝑏 𝑇
−1 −
𝑛 𝑞𝑒 𝑃
h𝑓

=Load current output photocurrent

= reverse saturation current produced by
electron-hole pair,
= Diode applied voltage
=Boltzman constant
T=Absolute temperature
h=Planks constant
 Photo Transistor
It consists of a light-sensitive CB
junction, when base is exposed to
light energy , base current flows
proportional to light intensity.
=P
• Linearity – i/p – o/p linear
• Sensitivity – high change in o/p
• Wide Range – o/p is linear over
wide range Selection of Sensors
• Accuracy – no change with age
• Physical Size – small size
• Cost - low cost
• Reliability – without failure
THANKS