NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

TECHNOLOGY
KARNATAKA

A
Seminar
On
ULTRASONIC POSITION SENSOR
Presented by:
Arpit Soni
15mc05f
Mtech I sem
Mechatronics engg.
ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
CONTENTS
 Introduction

 Working principle

 Blind zone

 Types

 Specifications

 Conclusion

 References
ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
INTRODUCTION
 Precisely detect objects made from various materials
regardless of their shape, colour, or surface contour.
 Uses high frequency sound waves, inaudible to human ears
 Sound waves with a frequency above approximately 20 kHz
are referred to as ultrasonic

Fig. 1 - Basic working principle

ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
CONSTRUCTION TYPES
 Ceramic sensors
 are bonded to a metal case or cone and use the Piezo effect to
create and measure ultrasonic pulses. Also called piezoelectric
sensors.
 Electrostatic sensors
 consist of a fixed aluminium plate and a moveable plate coated
with a thin gold layer. When a signal is applied to the two plates,
the gold foil is attracted to the back plate which displaces air and
creates an ultrasonic burst.

ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
WORKING PRINCIPLE
 An wave generator circuit inside the sensor’s housing that
emit sound pulses.
 Receiver in the sensor
 Converted into an electric signal via the piezoelectric
transducer.
 Propagation time of sound.
 The sensor measures the time lag between the emitted
ultrasonic pulse being sent and the received echo and
calculates the distance to the object using the speed of
sound.
 At room temperature, the speed of sound in air is about 334
m/s.

ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
WORKING PRINCIPLE
t sec (forward and backward both)

S= C . t/2
S (distance)

Fig. 2 - Basic working principle

C=334 m/s = speed of sound

ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
BLIND ZONE
 Because the transducer continues vibrating after emitting
a pulse, the echoes cannot be received immediately. This
delay corresponds to a blind zone.
 This blind zone is located directly in front of the sensor,
and the target cannot be reliably detected. No objects
should be placed in this area.
 However, that sensors with separate emitter and receiver
transducers (e.g., thru-beam) sensors have no blind zone.

ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
BLIND ZONE

Blind zone

Sensing range
Fig. 3 – blind zone in ultrasonic sensor

ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
TYPES
 On the basis of measurement method
 Diffuse mode sensor- The output state
changes when an object is detected within
the set switching range.

Fig 4 – diffuse mode

 Retro reflective sensor- As long as there is no

object between the sensor and reference reflector, the
sensor receives a constant echo from the reflector.
When an object enters the sensing range, the reflection
of the ultrasound signal changes.

Fig 5- retro reflective mode

ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
TYPES
 Thru beam sensor- Ultrasonic thru-beam sensors use dedicated
emitter and receiver transducers contained in two separate housings.

Fig. 6 – thru beam sensor

ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
ULTRASONIC RANGING MODULE SN-HC-
SR04
 Working Voltage-DC 5 V
 Working Current-15mA
 Working Frequency-40kHz
 Range-2cm to 4m
 Measuring Angle-15 degree
 Resolution : up to 0.3 cm

Fig 6 – ultrasonic sensor module SN-HC-SR04

ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
SPECIFICATION

ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
SPECIFICATION

ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
SPECIFICATION

ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
CONCLUSION

 Ultrasonic sensors are used for precise detection

of objects and measuring the distance.
 As per the requirement, various types of it are
available in the market.

ME825 - Virtual Instrumentation,

Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
REFRENCES
 www.pepperl-fuchs.com/ultrasonics
 www.hexamite.com/sensors

 www.globalspec.com/learnmore/sensors_transduc
ers_detectors/linear_position_sensing/ultrasonic_
position_sensors
 www.cytron.com.my/p-sn-hc-sr04

Virtual Instrumentation,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, NITK
Thank you...