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Third Lecture
Measurement System and Its
Static Characteristics
Instrumentation and Product Testing
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Introduction to Instrumentation and Product
Testing

Why Need Instrumentation and Product Testing in
Manufacturing?

The goal of Manufacturing or Production of parts/products
is to produce them economically, in compliance with design
specifications, which assure the proper function and
service of the manufactured product in its expected life.
The roles of Instrumentation and Product Testing are:

- Quality, Safety and Reliability Control
- Process Control and Automation
- Design and Production of Intelligent Products

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Some application examples:

(a) Manual Process Control

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(b) Automatic Inspection for Process Control
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(c) Quality Inspection (d) Indexing for Process Control
Therefore, the basic purpose of
Instrumentation (or Engineering
Measurement) in Manufacturing is to
ensure and verify the agreement of the
product, in various stage of
manufacturing, with compliance to the
specifications of the design, aiming to
achieve and Economical and Efficient
production of High Quality and Reliable
products.
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(e) Intelligent Products


- Toys
- Automobiles
- Audio/Video Instruments
- Watches
- Electric Appliance (Rice cooker, Washing
machine, etc.)


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Unit of Measurement

It is a well-known saying that the knowledge about
anything is complete only when if it can be
quantified (expressed in numbers) correctly.

Therefore, in conjunction with the above need, for
every kind of quantity measured, there must be a
unit to measure it and express it in numbers of that
unit.

Furthermore, in order that this unit is followed by
all and not one who is taking the measurements,
there must be a universal standard and the various
units for various parameters of importance must be
standardised.
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What does a Standard mean?

Two meanings:

(1) Documents of regulations or
guidelines for standardisation, and

(2) ...
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Standard

Unit has to have some relation to physical world,
Therefore, physical records, called standards, are used
to permanently record the size of units.


Definition of standard:

A standard is a permanent or readily reproducible
physical record of the size of a unit of measurement.
A universal standard must be one which is reproducible
with such a degree of accuracy that for all industrial
and scientific purposes it may be considered as
absolute.
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Primary Standard and Secondary Standard

-A primary standard is used as a fundamental
definition of the size of a physical unit. Primary
standards are specified by the provisions of an
international treaty.

-A secondary standard is a copy of a primary
standard that can be used routinely for making
measurements.

Few of us will ever see/use a primary standard.
Rather, we will generally deal with a secondary
standard (say, laboratory standard) that has been
copies from another secondary standard that itself
may be many steps removed from the primary
standard.
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Error and uncertainty

The difference between a measured value and its true
value is the error in measurement. The essence of
measurement is not only to know the magnitude of an
unknown quantity, but also some knowledge of the
degree of accuracy of the measurement.

Types of errors

- Systematic errors are those caused by the measuring
procedure, e.g. errors due to excessive measuring
pressure, sine errors etc. Constant errors are those which
affect all of a series of measurements by the same
amount. e.g. errors in calibration, zero errors, wear of
measuring contacts etc.

Random errors (uncertainties) are caused by incapability
of technology and skill.
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Factors affecting accuracy in measurements

In measurement work, it is important to minimize
errors and thus lead to increased accuracy. The
choice/design of appropriate method is crucial.

For example, measurement of an angle:







The error ou becomes very large when measuring an
angle u close to 90.

h
l
u
l
h
= u sin
( ) ou u o u ou = tan sec
1
h
l
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Moreover, it is necessary to identify the
various factors affecting accuracy. These
can be due to one or more of the
following:

Standard S
Workpiece W
Instrument I
Person P
Environment E

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Measurement systems
With a measurement system, physical quantities
are measured so as to obtain data which can be
transmitted to recording and display devices.

The measurand is the physical quantity to be
measured, i.e. temperature, pressure, flow rate,
strain, displacement, etc.
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A complete measurement system
All measuring systems include three basic elements:

Transducer

Signal
conditioner

Recorder or
Display
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A complete measurement system
All measuring systems include three basic elements:

Transducer

Signal
conditioner

Recorder or
Display
detect and convert the physical quantity into a more
usable form: a mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic or
electrical signal.
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A complete measurement system
All measuring systems include three basic elements:

Transducer

Signal
conditioner

Recorder or
Display
modify the signal to a desirable output:
amplifier, filter, A/D converter, etc.
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A complete measurement system
All measuring systems include three basic elements:

Transducer

Signal
conditioner

Recorder or
Display
show and record the measurand:
analog or digital
Transmission Path: noise and attenuation
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Example: A Pressure gauge
kPa
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
Pressurized Gas Pipe
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Bourdon-tube (oval cross-section)
detector transducer stage
Increased pressure
causes movement of
tube in this direction
Sector
Sector and pinion
are modifying stage
Pressure
source
Pointer and dial
are indicator stage
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Pedometer
Transducer?


Signal Conditioner?


Display?


Mass


Counter


LCD
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4. Characteristics of measurement systems

To choose the one most suited to a particular
measurement application, we have to know
the system characteristics.

The performance characteristics may be
broadly divided into two groups, namely
static and dynamic characteristics.
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Static characteristics
- the performance criteria for the measurement
of quantities that remain constant, or vary
only quite slowly.

Dynamic characteristics
- the relationship between the system input and
output when the measured quantity
(measurand) is varying rapidly.

I n practice, the characteristics of the one group may well
influence the characteristics of the other. In order to access
overall instrument performance, however, the two groups of
characteristics are normally studied separately and then a
semi-quantitative superposition is carried out.
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Static characteristics
(Ref: Principles of Measurement Systems, J.P. Bentley, Longman;
BS 5233, BS 5532, and ISO 3534)
Determination of static characteristics is by calibration:
Element or System
to be calibrated
Standard
instrument
Standard
instrument
Standard
instrument(s)
Input, I
Environmental
Inputs, E
i

Output, O
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Accuracy

This is the closeness with which the measuring
instrument can measure the true value of the
measurand under stated conditions of use, i.e. its
ability to tell the truth.

The accuracy of an instrument is quantified by the
difference of its readings and the one given by the
ultimate or primary standard.
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F
r
e
q
u
e
n
c
y
True value, X
T
Mean of measurement
output, X

Variations, i.e.
random error
Systematic error = X

X
T
Repeatability (that describes
precision) Standard deviation of
measurement data
Basic Concept of Accuracy and Error
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Bias

Bias (constant error) describes a constant error
which exists over the full range of measurement of
an instrument. This error is normally removable by
calibration.
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Precision

Precision describes an instruments degree of
random variations in its output when measuring a
constant quantity.

Precision is often confused with accuracy. High
precision does not imply anything about
measurement accuracy.
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Measuring a fixed target position from
a satellite
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Measuring a fixed target position from
a satellite
Satellite
Apollo 13:
Low
precision,
low
accuracy
Satellite
PolyU 18:
High
precision,
low
accuracy
Satellite
CYT 118:
High
precision,
High
accuracy
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Thank you