Sensors and Interfacing
Dr. Alisha Priya
Assistant Professor
School of Electrical and
Communication Sciences
Sensors
⦁ Measurement devices perform a complete
measuring function, from initial detection to final
⦁ indication. The important aspects of measurement
system are
i) Sensor – Primary sensing element
ii) Transducer – changes one form of energy to
another form energy
iii) Transmitter – Contains the transducer and
produces an amplified, standardized energy
signal.
⦁ A device which provides a usable output in response
to a specified measurand.
⦁ Sensor is a device that detects and responds to some
type of input from the physical environment
⦁ Input could be light, heat, motion, moisture, force,
pressure, displacement, etc.
⦁ It produces a proportional output signal (electrical,
mechanical, magnetic, etc.).
⦁ Amperes’s Law
A current carrying conductor in a magnetic field
experiences a force (e.g. Galvanometer)
⦁ Curie-Weiss Law
There is a transition temperature at which ferromagnetic
materials exhibit paramagnetic behaviour
⦁ Faraday’s Law of Induction
A coil resist a change in magnetic field by generating an
opposing voltage/current (e.g. transformer)
⦁ Photoconductive Effect
When light strikes certain semiconductor materials, the
resistance of the material decreases (e.g. photo
resistor)
⦁ Sensors are omnipresent. They embedded in our bodies, automobiles, airplanes,
cellular telephones, radios, chemical plants, industrial plants and countless other
applications.
⦁ Sensors in industrial applications being used for process control, monitoring, and
safety, and in medicine being used for diagnostics, There monitoring, critical care,
and public health.
⦁ Sensors can improve the world through diagnostics in medical applications;
⦁ improved performance of energy sources like fuel cells and batteries and solar
power;
⦁ improved health and safety and security for people; sensors for exploring space
and improved environmental monitoring.
⦁ Without the use of sensors, there would be no automation!
⦁ We live in the World of Sensors.
⦁ In our day-to-day life we frequently use different types of sensors in several
applications
⦁ We can find different types of Sensors in our homes, offices, cars etc.
⦁ Working to make our lives easier by turning on the lights by detecting our
presence,
⦁ adjusting the room temperature,
⦁ detect smoke or fire, make us delicious coffee.
⦁ open garage doors as soon as our car is near the door and many other
tasks.
⦁ of a sensor represent the time response of
the sensor system
⦁ Rise time is the time it takes a sensor to pass between 10% to
90% of the steady state response.
⦁ Delay time is the time it takes to reach 50% of the steady
state value for the first time.
⦁ Peak time is the time it takes to reach the maximum reading
for the first time for a given excitement.
⦁ Settling time is the time it takes the sensor to settle down to
within a certain percentage of the steady state value (say 1%).
⦁ The percentage overshoot is a measure of the peak minus the
steady state value, expressed as a percentage of the ssv.
⦁ Steady-state error is the deviation of the actual steady-state
value from the desired value. It can be corrected by
calibration.
