Measurements and Measurement Systems

In order that process variables like temperature, (z'n) Determination of system parameters,
pressure, humidity, etc. may be controlled, the variables and performance indices.
prerequisite is that they can be measured at the (zu) For development in important spheres of
desired location in the individual plants. Same is true study where there is ample scope of study.
of servo-systems, i.e., systems connected with (u) Solutions of mathematical relationships with
measurement of position, velocity and acceleration. the help of analogies.
A block diagram of a simple control system is L
shown in Fig. 1.4. Let us assume that the output ; TYPES 0F INSTRUMENTATION systems
variable to be controlled is non-electrical and the The advent of microprocessors has completely
control action is through electrical means. The input is revolutionized the field of instrumentation and control.
reference which corresponds to the desired value of Microprocessor based systems are increasingly being
the output. The input is compared with the output used for dedicated applications in process instru­
with the help of a comparator. The output is a non­ mentation. The introduction of microprocessors
electrical quantity and is converted into a corres­ results a new classification of instrumentation systems
ponding electrical form by a transducer connected in and these are :
the feedback loop. In case the input and output differ,
A Intelligent Instrumentation systems, and
there is a resultant error signal. This error signal is
amplified and then fed to an actuator, which produces A Dumb Instrumentation systems.
power to drive the controlled circuitry. 1. Intelligent instrumentation. This term has to
come mean the use of an instrumentation system to
evaluate a physical variable employing a digital
computer to perform all or nearly all signal and
information processing. In this system after a
measurement has been made of the variable, further
processing whether in digital or analog form is carried
out to refine the data, for the purpose of presentation
to an observer or to other computers.
Fig. 1.4 Block diagram of a simple control system.
2. Dumb instrumentation. In this system once the
The corrective action goes on till the output is at measurement is made, the data must be processed by
the same level as the input which corresponds to the the observer.
desired output. At this stage, there is no error signal
and hence there is no input to the actuator and the ! 1-12 INFORMATION AND SIGNAL PROCESSING
control action stops. . / The two terms "Information" and "Signals" are
Examples of this type of application are usually considered as synonymous. However, they
numerous. A common one is the typical refrigeration have precisely different definitions.
system which employs a thermostatic control. A \ A Information. It is the data or details relating
temperature measuring device (often a bimetallic to an object or event.
element) senses the room temperature, thus providing
A Signals. They carry the information about
the information necessary for proper functioning of
magnitude or time relating to an object or
the control system.
event i.e., a physical quantity.
3. Experimental engineering analysis. For solution
of engineering problems, theoretical and experimental 1.13 ELEMENTS OF A GENERALIZED
methods are available. Many applications require MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
application of both the methods. The relative affability It is important to have a systematic organization
of the method depends upon the nature of the and analysis of measurement systems. An instrument
problem. Experimental engineering analysis has many may be defined as a device or a system which is
uses and some are listed below : designed to maintain a functional relationship between
(i) Testing the validity of theoretical predictions. prescribed properties of physical variables and must
(ii) Formulations of generalized empirical include ways and means of communication to a
relationships in cases where no proper human observer. The functional relationship remains
theoretical backing exists. valid only as long as the static calibration of system
 8 Electrical and Electronic

. On the other hand, the performance 1.13.2 Variable Conversion Element

of a measurement system can be described in terms of The output of the primary sensing element may
static and dynamic characteristics. be electrical signal of any form. It may be a voltage, a
It is possible and desirable to describe the frequency or some other electrical parameter.
operation of a measuring instrument or a system in a Sometimes this output is not suited to the system. For
generalized manner without resorting to intricate the instrument to perform the desired function, it may
details of the physical aspects of a specific instrument be necessary to convert this output to some other
or a system. The whole operation can be described in suitable form while preserving the information
terms of functional elements. content of the original signal. We may cite an example.
Suppose output is.in analog form and the next stage of
Most of the measurement systems contain three
the system accepts input signals only in digital form
main functional elements. They are :
and therefore, an A/D converter will have to be used
1. Primary sensing element, for converting signals from analog to digital form for
2. Variable conversion element, and them to be acceptable for the next stage of the system.
3. Data presentation element. Many instruments do not need any variable ■■
conversion element, while others need more than one
Each functional element is made up of a distinct
variable conversion element.
component or groups of components which perform
the required and definite steps in the measurement. 1.13.3 Variable Manipulation Element
These may be taken as basic elements, whose scope is The function of this element is to manipulate the
determined by their functioning rather than their signal presented to it preserving the original nature of
construction. the signal. Manipulation here means only a change in
numerical value of the signal. For example, an
1.13.1 Primary Sensing Element
electronic amplifier accepts a small voltage signal as
The quantity under measurement makes its first input and produces an output signal which is also
contact with the primary sensing element of a mea­ voltage but of greater magnitude. Thus voltage
surement system. In other words, the measurand is amplifier acts as a variable manipulation element. It is
first detected by primary sensor. This act is then not necessary that a variable manipulation element
immediately followed by the conversion of measurand should follow the variable conversion element as
into an analogous electrical signal. This is done by a shown in Fig. 1.5. It may precede the variable
transducer. A transducer in general, is defined as a conversion element in many cases. In case, the voltage
device which converts energy from one form to is too high, attenuators are used which lower the
another. But in Electrical measurement systems, this voltage or power for the subsequent stages of the
definition is limited in scope. A transducer is defined as a system. Further the impedance of the attenuator to be
device which converts a physical quantity into an electrical matched to the input and output circuits and further
quantity. The physical quantity to be measured, in the for multi ratio attenuator these impedance ratios are
first place is sensed and detected by an element which constant irrespective of the ratio setting.
gives the output in a different analogous form. This As discussed earlier, the output of transducer
output is then converted into an electrical signal by a contains information needed for further processing by
transducer. This is true of most of the cases but is not the system and the output signal is usually a voltage
true for all. In many cases the physical quantity is or some other form of electrical signal. The two most
directly converted into an electrical quantity by a important properties of voltage are its magnitude and
transducer. The first stage of a measurement system is frequency though polarity may be a consideration in
known as a detector transducer Stage. some cases. Many transducers develop low voltages of
the order of mV and some even pV. A fundamental

Fig. 1.5 Functional elements of an instrumentation system.

Measurements and Measurement Systems 9

problem is to prevent this signal being contaminated indicating instruments like ammeters, voltmeters etc.
by unwanted signals like noise due to an extraneous In case the data is to be recorded, recorders like
source which may interfere with the original output magnetic tapes, high speed camera and T.V. equip­
signal. Another problem is that a weak signal may be ment, storage type C.R.T., printers, analog and digital
distorted by processing equipment. The signal after computers or microprocessors may be used. For
being sensed cannot be directly transmitted to the next control and analysis purpose microprocessors or
stage without removing the interfering sources, as computers may be used.
otherwise highly distorted results may be obtained
which are far from true. Many a times it becomes
necessary to perform certain operations on the signal
before it is transmitted further. These processes may
be linear like amplification, attenuation, integration,
differentiation, addition and subtraction. Some non­
linear processes like modulation, detection, sampling,
filtering, chopping and clipping etc. are also
performed on the signal to bring it to the desired form
to be accepted by the next stage of measurement
system. This process of conversion is called Signal
Conditioning. The term signal conditioning includes Fig. 1,6 Bourdon tube pressure gauge.
many other functions in addition to variable The final stage in a measurement system is known
conversion and variable manipulation. In fact the
as terminating stage. As an example of a
element that follows the primary sensing element in
measurement system, consider the simple bourdon
any instrument or measurement system is called
tube pressure gauge as shown in Fig. 1.6. This gauge
Signal Conditioning Element.
offers a good example of a measurement system. In
When the elements of an instrument are actually this case the bourdon tube acts as the primary sensing
physically separated, it becomes necessary to transmit element and a variable conversion element. It senses
data from one to another. The element that performs the input quantity (pressure in this case). On account
this function is called a Data Transmission Element. of the pressure the closed end of the bourdon tube is
For example, space-crafts are physically separated displaced. Thus the pressure is converted into a small
from the earth where the control stations guiding their displacement. The closed end of the bourdon tube is
movements are located. Therefore control signals are connected through mechanical linkage to a gearing
sent from these stations to space-crafts by a arrangement. The gearing arrangement amplifies the
complicated telemetry systems using radio signals. small displacement and makes the pointer to rotate
The signal conditioning and transmission stage is through a large angle. The mechanical linkage thus
commonly known as Intermediate Stage. acts as a data transmission element while the gearing
1.13.4 Data Presentation Element arrangement acts as a data manipulation element.
The information about the quantity undjer The final data presentation stage consists of the
measurement has to be conveyed to the personnel pointer and dial arrangement, which when calibrated
handling the instrument or the system for monitoring, with known pressure inputs, gives an indication of the
control, or analysis purposes. The information pressure signal applied to the bourdon tube. The
conveyed must be in a form intelligible to the schematic diagram of. this measurement system is
personnel or to the intelligent instrumentation system. given in Fig. 1.7. ' . '
This function is done by data presentation element. In When a control device is used for the final
case data is to be monitored, visual display devices are measurement stage, it is necessary to apply some
needed. These devices may be analog or digital feedback to the input signal to accomplish the control

Fig. 1.7 / Schematic diagram of a Bourdon tube pressure gauge.