MECHATRONICS

Unit 1

Classification of Sensors & Transducers

(Session-5)

Mechanical Engineering Department

K L University

Learning Objectives

In this lecture students will learn:

Classification of sensors
Classification of transducers
Displacement transducers
Resistance transducers
Capacitive transducers
Inductance based transducers
Optical encoders

Classification of Sensors
1. Active and Passive sensors

2. Contact and non-contact sensors

3. Absolute and relative sensors
4. Other schemes

1. Active and passive sensors

Passive Sensor: a sensor that requires external power to
operate.
Examples: the carbon microphone, thermistors, strain
gauges, capacitive and inductive sensors, etc.
Other name: parametric sensors (output is a function of a
parameter - like resistance)
Active Sensor: generates its own electric signal and does
not require a power source.
Examples: thermocouples, magnetic microphones,
piezoelectric sensors.
Other name: self-generating sensors
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2. Contact and noncontact sensors

Contact sensor: a sensor that requires physical
contact with the stimulus.
Examples: strain gauges, most temperature sensors
Non-contact sensor: requires no physical contact.
Examples: most optical and magnetic sensors,
infrared thermometers, etc.

3. Absolute and relative sensors

Absolute sensor: a sensor that reacts to a stimulus on
an absolute scale:
Examples: Thermistors, strain gauges, etc.,
(thermistor will always read the absolute temperature)
Relative sensor: The stimulus is sensed relative to a
fixed or variable reference.
Examples: Thermocouple measures the temperature
difference, pressure is often measured relative to
atmospheric pressure.
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4. Other schemes
Classification by broad area of detection
1.Electric sensors
2.Magnetic
3.Electromagnetic
4.Acoustic
5.Chemical
6.Optical
7.Heat, Temperature
8.Mechanical
9.Radiation
10.Biological
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4. Other schemes (cont.)

Classification by physical law
1.Photoelectric
2.Magneto electric
3.Thermoelectric
4.Photoconductive
5.Magnitostrictive
6.Electrostrictive
7.Photomagnetic
8.Thermoelastic
9.Thermomagnetic
10.Thermooptic
11.Electrochermical
12.Magnetoresistive
13.Photoelastic

4. Other schemes (cont.)

Classification by specifications
1.Accuracy
2.Sensitivity
3.Stability
4.Response time
5.Hysteresis
6.Frequency response
7.Input (stimulus) range
8.Resolution
9.Linearity
10.Hardness (to environmental conditions, etc.)
11.Cost
12.Size, weight,
13.Construction materials
14.Operating temperature

4. Other schemes (cont.)

Classification by area of application

1.Consumer products
12. Scientific
2.Military applications
3.Infrastructure
4.Energy
5.Heat
6.Manufacturing
7.Transportation
8.Automotive
9.Avionic
10.Marine
11.Space

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Classification of transducers
1. Based on principle of transduction
(a) Thermo electric
(b) Magneto resistive
(c) Electro kinetic
(d) Optical
2. Active & passive
3. Analog & digital
4. Inverse transducer
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Passive transducer
Device which derive power required for
transduction from auxiliary power source
- externally powered
Example : resistive, inductive, capacitive
Without power they will not work

Active transducer
No extra power required to produce I/p
Self generating
Draw power from input applied
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Analog transducer

convert I/p quantity into an analog o/p

Analog o/p- a continuous fn. Of time
Eg. Strain gauge, L VDT, thermocouple
Digital transducer
Converts I/p into an electrical O/p in the form of
pulses
Inverse transducer
Which converts electrical signal to physical quantity

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Inductive Transducers
There is a variety of transducers whose operation is
inductive.
For motion measurement applications, a change in the
quantity to be measured must be converted into a change in
inductance (and then to voltage using a circuit).
We first review ``inductance briefly.

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Inductance
A magnetic field can be visualized by lines of magnetic
force. The entire group of magnetic field lines is called
magnetic flux.
Magnetic field lines are practically unaffected by
nonmagnetic material such as air, vacuum, paper, glass,
wood and plastics. However, when a magnetic substance
like iron is placed in the field, the magnetic field lines
become concentrated.
This ability of a substance to concentrate magnetic flux is
called permeability. A magnetic field can be created by a
permanent magnet or an electromagnet, which is a looped
coil of conducting material wound on a core many times.
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Inductance
The (self) inductance L is an indication of the ability of a
coil to oppose any change in current flowing through the
coil. The inductance L of a cylindrical coil is given by

Where L is the inductance [Henry, H]

is the permeability of the core [H/m]
n is the number of turns of coil
A is the cross sectional area of core [m2]
l is the length of core [m]
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Inductive transducers
Inductive transducers are those in which SELF
INDUCTANCE of a coil or the MUTUAL INDUCTANCE
of a pair of coil is altered due to variation in the
measurand. Change in inductance L is measured.
The self inductance of a coil refers to the flux linkage
within the coil due to current in the same coil.
Mutual inductance refers to the flux linkages in a coil
due to current in adjacent coil.
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Inductive transducers
The self inductance of a coil refers to the flux linkage
within the coil due to current in the same coil.

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Inductive transducers
Mutual inductance refers to the flux linkages in a coil
due to current in adjacent coil.

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Inductive transducers
Consider a set of two coils sharing the same core; i.e., a
transformer basically. Note that one of the coil (primary
coil) is driven by a power source, while the other
(secondary coil) produces a voltage induced from the
primary coil.
The voltage on the secondary coil depends on mutual
inductance between the two coils. If the core is made
movable in response to the displacement of a target object,
the mutual inductance will change, resulting in a voltage
change in the secondary coil.
Using this principle the LVDT and RVDT works.
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Inductive transducers
In the magnetic circuits, reluctance is equivalent to resistance
and depends on :
Number of turns
Area of cross section of wire
Permeability of the medium
Air has much lower permeability than a ferromagnetic
material.
Introducing air gap is like introducing high resistance.
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Inductive transducers
In the magnetic circuits, reluctance is equivalent to resistance
and depends on :
Number of turns
Area of cross section of wire
Permeability of the medium
Air has much lower permeability than a ferromagnetic
material.
Introducing air gap is like introducing high resistance.
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Inductive transducers
Air Cored Coils
Can be operated at higher
frequencies because there
are no eddy current losses
in air core.

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Inductive transducers
Iron cored coils
Inductance depends on
the value of current.
At high frequencies
eddy current losses are
high.
Size much smaller than
air cored.
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Linear Variable-Differential Transformer(LVDT)

The two secondary coils are connected in the opposite
phase.
When the core is in the middle there is no output voltage.
Moving the core from the central position unbalances the
secondary's, developing an output.

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Linear Variable-Differential Transformer(LVDT)

Applications: To measure linear displacement, e.g. for

measuring tube lengths in a steel plant, applied in linear
servomechanisms, etc.
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Linear Variable-Differential
Transformer (LVDT)
Vo=V1-V2
V1

V2
-x

LVDTs are devices to measure

displacement by modifying spatial
distribution of an alternating
magnetic field.
Vi

V1 > V2

Vi
Oscillating excitation voltage-50 Hz to 25 kHz

Vo

Linear Variable-Differential Transformer

(LVDT)
Vo=V1-V2
V1

V2
X=0

V2 = V1
Vi

Vi

Vo

Linear Variable-Differential Transformer

(LVDT)
Vo=V1-V2
V1

V2
+x

V2 > V1
Vi
Vi
Vo
So, the direction of displacement can be determined from the relative phase of the
signal.

Linear Variable Differential

Transformer (LVDT)

Linear Variable-Differential Transformer

(LVDT)
The span ranges from 0.13mm to 760mm
Characteristic - Linearity
Measurement Range- 1/1000th of an inch
several inches
Limit on max. displacement 3 x Length
Limit on freq. ~ 1/10th excitation frequency

A rotary variable differential transformer

(RVDT)
A rotary variable differential transformer (RVDT) is
for measuring angular displacements, and
operates in the same manner as a LVDT.

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CAPACITIVE TRANSDUCERS
A capacitor is an electrical component which
essentially consists of two plates separated
by an insulator.
The property of a capacitor to store an
electric charge when its plates are at different
potential is referred to as capacitance.
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If the capacitance is large, more charge is

needed to establish a given voltage difference.
The capacitance between two parallel metallic
plates of area

0 r A
C
d
.

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0 8.85 10

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Incremental Optical Encoders

1. Circular motion measurement
Available in various sizes and resolutions
Used in computer mouse rollers

2. Components
Circular disk with slots
Diode and photo sensor
Digital circuitry to process pulses

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Working principle

Light source, diode

1 full pinch is equivalent to one full cycle

made by the transparent and opaque
windows
photo sensor

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contd.
diode

diode
Logical 0

Logical 1

Photo sensor

Photo sensor

Rotating disk
blocking light

Rotating disk
allowing light through

Photo sensor has a

low logic output

Photo sensor has a

high logic output

Continuous train of pulses formed as the photo sensor traverses

between logic high and logic low in response to the rotation of the disk
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1. Optical incremental encoder is used to measure

1. Position
2. Velocity
3. Direction of rotation
2. No need for other A/D circuits
1. Outputs can be directly fed to
microprocessor/microcontroller

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Absolute Optical Encoder working

A disc or a plate containing
opaque and transparent segments
passes between a light source
(such an LED) and detector to
interrupt a light beam.
The electronic signals that are
generated are then fed into the
controller where position and
velocity information is
calculated based upon the signals
received
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Absolute Optical Encoder

In the fig word size of data is 4bits.

Outermost Element is LSB.
Innermost Element is MSB.
The Angular position is given as=360/24.
The direct binary representation of the disk sector
shown in the table

Linear Encoder Codes

Recap
Topics dealt with in this class

Classification of transducers
Displacement transducers
resistance based transducers: potentiometer
Inductive transducers: LVDT
Capacitive transducers
Non contact position sensors: Optical Encoders

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