Design of inductive sensors for displacement

Inductive sensors usually consist of one or more coils with variable inductance. The figure to the right shows an example of a cylindrical coil and the formula for determining its inductance L, where l is the length of the coil, A is the surface area of the coil, N is the number of windings 0 is the field constant and r is the relative permeability of the medium inside the coil. The principle of the sensor involves the influence that the quantity to be measured (distance or displacement) has over the inductance of the coil(s). The change in inductance can be detected using a suitable measuring bridge.

ictured left! industrial displacement sensor for the range 0 ... " mm

Functioning of a differential inductor

The following animation shows how a so#called differential inductor for displacement measurement wor$s. Two identical coils % & und %" are located within a cylindrical housing. The core of the coil is a armature that moves along the axis and detects the displacement. 'hen the armature moves, the permeability of its material causes the inductance of one coil to increase while the inductance of the other decreases by the same amount.

The following graphic shows the measuring circuit used. The circuit is supplied with an () voltage *+. The resistors ,& and ," form a full bridge along with the two inductors. The measured voltage *- is then directly proportional to the displacement of the armature.

Inductive proximity sensors

Inductive proximity sensors detect the distance between the sensor and an approaching ob.ect and can be used for distance measurement or for metal detectors, for example (see right). The principle of this type of sensor involves the degree of damping by the detected ob.ect of a magnetic field produced by an oscillator. The ob.ect must therefore be made of conducting material. The operating range is usually no more than a few millimetres.

The animation alongside illustrates the principle of an inductive proximity sensor. The magnetic field produced by the oscillator spreads into the surrounding space due to the open shell core. If an ob.ect made of conducting material comes within the field, eddy currents are induced within it that result in damping of the field due to the law of induction and therefore to a reduction in the amplitude of the voltage. The voltage amplitude is therefore a measure of the distance between the ob.ect and the sensor.

Inductive proximity switch

The inductive proximity sensor described above can easily be used as a proximity switch (proximity initiator), where the voltage amplitude is processed via a /chmitt trigger. This is configured so that the switch goes 0on0 or 0off0 when the distance between the sensor and the ob.ect is below a certain threshold, which can be calibrated.

General
The *1I#T,(I1 Inductive displacement sensor card contains an inductive displacement sensor in the form of a differential inductor and the appropriate circuit. 2isplacement is detected by the motion of an iron core inside the inductor coils. The motion causes the two inductances %& and %" to change, which can be detected by means of an () powered measuring bridge. -ove your mouse over the info icons on the picture of the card to learn more details.

The following graphic shows the circuit for an inductive displacement sensor.

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The sensor consists of a differential inductor with movable iron core. ( voltage u 2 is generated via a measuring bridge (&) powered by relatively high frequency () voltage. The amplitude and phase of the voltage (either 0 oder &304) depends on the position of the iron core. The null point of the bridge can be calibrated by means of potentiometer ,". The bridge voltage is converted by a differential amplifier (") into ground# referenced voltage. The output of the differential amplifier is tapped via a "#mm soc$et. The () voltage measured is converted into 2) by means of a sample#and#hold circuit (5). The pulse is supplied to the sampling circuit via a pulse generator (6) that shapes a short square pulse from the supply voltage. The phase of the pulse can be ad.usted by a potentiometer to between 0 and 704 with respect to the input voltage. 8or the best results, the phase should be set to about 704. The output of the sample#and#hold circuit is then a 2) voltage u out proportional to the motion of the iron core.

Zero-point calibration of the measuring bridge

The following experiment starts by setting the 9ero point of the measuring bridge to be at the centre point of the coil core. The input voltage to the bridge is set using the Function generator virtual instrument and the output is measured on the Oscilloscope virtual instrument. The following diagram shows the appropriate measurement circuit.

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(ssemble the following experiment circuit. 8irst open the function generator and set the following parameters!
Function generator settings ower /ignal form (mplitude 8actor 8requency :n /ine &00 ; &!& < $=9

1ow open the oscilloscope and set the following parameters!

Oscilloscope settings :perating mode Time base )oupling channel ( >?T <0 @s 2)

/ensitivity channel (

&00 mA

)oupling channel B Trigger

:88 )hannel (

1ow move the core of the coil to its centre position (i.e. to scale division "0). /et the potentiometer for setting the 9ero point so that the amplitude of the bridge voltage reaches its minimum value. )opy the resulting oscilloscope trace into the placeholder below.

'hat are the amplitude and frequency of the bridge voltage after the calibration has been successfully completedC Dnter your answer into the text box below.

Parameters for for the differential amplifier

The following experiment investigates how the differential amplifier functions.

Dxpand the set#up for the previous experiment so that channel B of the oscilloscope shows the output from the differential amplifier (see following graphic).

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)hange the settings for the oscilloscope as follows!
Oscilloscope settings :perating mode Time base )oupling channel ( /ensitivity channel ( >?T <0 @s 2) <A

)oupling channel B /ensitivity channel B Trigger

2) "A )hannel (

1ow move the core of the coil to its lower limit (i.e. to scale division 0) and perform the experiment again. )opy the resulting oscilloscope trace into the placeholder below.

1ow move the core to its upper limit (i.e. to scale division 50) and repeat the

experiment again. )opy the resulting oscilloscope trace into the placeholder below.

'hat is the phase difference between the bridge voltage and the output of the differential amplifierC 'hat is the gain of the differential amplifierC Dnter your answers into the text box below.

alibrating the pulse generator

In order to convert the () bridge voltage into a 2) voltage proportional to the displacement, a pulse#controlled sample#and#hold circuit is used as previously mentioned. To utilise the available amplitude as fully as possible, the sampling of the () voltage should occur at each amplitude maximum. 8or this purpose the first thing to do in the next experiment is to set the phase of the pulse generator. The input voltage to the bridge is set using the Function generator virtual instrument and the output is measured on the Oscilloscope virtual instrument. The following diagram shows the appropriate measurement circuit.

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(ssemble the following experiment circuit. 8irst open the function generator and set the following parameters!
Function generator settings ower /ignal form (mplitude 8actor 8requency :n /ine &00 ; &!& < $=9

1ow open the oscilloscope and set the following parameters!

Oscilloscope settings :perating mode >?T

Time base )oupling channel ( /ensitivity channel (

<0 @s 2) <A

)oupling channel B /ensitivity channel B Trigger

2) <A )hannel (

/et the potentiometer for the phase of the pulse generator so that the pulses occur precisely at the maximum amplitude of the supply voltage. The core of the coil should be at its upper limit. )opy the resulting oscilloscope trace into the placeholder below.

1ow move the core of the coil to its lower limit (i.e. to scale division 0). -odify the experiment set#up so that the bridge voltage is recorded on the oscilloscope instead of the supply voltage. Eeeping the settings for the function generator and oscilloscope the same, perform the experiment again. )opy the resulting oscilloscope trace into the placeholder below.

1ow move the core to its upper limit (i.e. to scale division 50) and repeat the experiment again. )opy the resulting oscilloscope trace into the placeholder below.

'hat is the phase difference between sampling pulse and bridge voltage when the core is at its upper and lower limitsC Dnter your answer into the text box below.

Determining the sensor characteristic

The following experiment will determine the static characteristic of the sensor. The coil core should begin at its lower limit and moved in steps towads its upper limit with the output voltage u:ut being measured via the measuring circuit for each position x. The input voltage to the bridge is set using the Function generator virtual instrument and the output is measured on the virtual instrument Voltmeter A. The following diagram shows the appropriate measurement circuit.

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(ssemble the following experiment circuit. 8irst open the function generator and set the following parameters!
Function generator settings ower /ignal form (mplitude 8actor 8requency :n /ine &00 ; &!& < $=9

1ow open Aoltmeter ( and set the following parameters!

!ettings for "oltmeter # :perating mode 2isplay -easuring range <A 2)

-ove the core of the coil to its lower limit and measure the corresponding output voltage u:ut. -ove the core upwards in steps of ".< scale divisions and measure the output in each case. Dnter the pairs of values you obtain into the table below then switch it to Chart mode to see the characteristic of the sensor.

'hat is the gain of the measurement amplifier in volts per scale division for a displacement in the middle of the rangeC Dnter your answer into the text box below.

$ffect of phase on the pulse generator

The following experiment investigates the phase ( hase angle ) of the pulse generator using the sensor characteristic.

(d.ust the potentiometer for calibrating the phase so that the phase is 5<4 or #5<4 instead of 704 or #704. 2o the above experiment again and enter the new results into the table below.

'hat is the gain of the measurement amplifier in volts per scale division for a displacement in the middle of the rangeC =ow do you explain the resultC Dnter your answers into the following text box.