Instrumentation

Prof. Phillips
March 14, 2003

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 Electrical Instrumentation
Electrical instrumentation is the process of
acquiring data about one or more physical
quantities of interest using electrical sensors
and instruments.

This data may be used for diagnostics,

analysis, design, or to control a system.

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 Instrumentation Examples
• Every engineering discipline uses electrical
instrumentation to collect and analyze data.
• The following examples are illustrative of
the different types of sensors and
instrumentation that different engineering
disciplines use.

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Strain Measurements

Strain
gauge

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Non-destructive Testing

Ultrasound
transducer

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 Automotive Sensors
Accelerometer Oxygen
Sensor

Airflow
Sensor

Oil
CO Sensor Pressure Water
Temperature
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Biomedical
Ultrasound
Transducer

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 Typical Instrumentation System
Sensor A/D
Amplifier Computer
Converter

• Sensor - converts the measured value into an

electrically useful value (a transducer)
• Amplifier - “conditions” the signal from the sensor
• A/D Converter - changes the signal into a digital
format
• Computer - processes, displays, and records the
signal
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 Sensor
• The output of a sensor (transducer) is
proportional to the quantity of interest.
• The sensor output may be a
– voltage or current (temperature, pressure)
– resistance (strain gauge)
– frequency (accelerometer)

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 Amplifier
• The output of the amplifier is (usually) a
voltage.
• The gain of the amplifier is set so that the
voltage falls between lower and upper limits
(for example, -10V to 10V).

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 A/D Converter
• Analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion consists
of two operations:
– Sampling: measuring the voltage signal at
equally spaced points in time.
– Quantization: approximating a voltage
using 8, 12 or 16 bits.

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 Instrumentation Issues
• Noise
• Signal bandwidth
• Sampling
• Amplifier characteristics
• Feedback
• Real-time processing
• Control systems
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 Noise
2

Signal -1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
-1

-2

Signal 1

+ -1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Noise -1

-2

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 Sources of Noise
• Thermal noise caused by the random
motion of charged particles in the sensor
and the amplifier.
• Electromagnetic noise from electrical
equipment (e.g., computers) or
communication devices.
• Shot noise from quantum mechanical
events.

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 Effects of Noise
• Reduces accuracy and repeatability of
measurements.
• Introduces distortion in sound signals.
• Introduces errors in control systems.

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 What to Do?
How can we eliminate or reduce the
undesirable effects of noise?

• Grounding/shielding electrical connections

• Filtering (smoothing)
• Averaging several measurements

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 Signal Bandwidth
Conceptually, bandwidth (BW) is related to
the rate at which a signal changes:

High BW Low BW
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 Bandwidth and Sampling
A higher bandwidth requires more
samples/second:

High BW Low BW
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 Bandwidth Limitations
Every component in the instrumentation
system has bandwidth limitations:
• Sensors do not respond immediately to
changes in the environment.
• The amplifier output does not change
immediately in response to changes in the
input.
• The A/D converter sampling rate is limited.

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 Effects of BW Limitations
1

0.5

Sensor Output -1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
-0.5

-1

0.5

Amplifier 0
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Output -0.5

-1

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 Amplifier Characteristics
Amplifiers are characterized in terms of
attributes such as:
• Gain
• Bandwidth and/or frequency response
• Linearity
• Harmonic distortion
• Input and output impedance
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 Op Amps
• One commonly used type of amplifier is the
Operational Amplifier (Op Amp).
• Op Amps have differential inputs: output
voltage is the amplified difference of two
input voltages.
• Op Amps have very large gains (>103).

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 Op Amps (cont.)
• Most op-amp circuits use negative feedback
• Op-amp circuits can be designed to:
– Provide voltage gain or attenuation.
– Convert current to voltage.
– Integrate or differentiate.
– Filter out noise or interference.

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 Feedback
Often, sensors measure quantities associated
with systems. The sensor output is used to
control the system in a desired manner.

System
(Plant, Process)

Control

Feedback Path
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 Example: Industrial Process
Control
• In many manufacturing processes
(integrated circuits, for example)
temperatures must be closely controlled.
• Feedback can be used to maintain a constant
temperature.

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 Temperature Control

Furnace
Desired Control Temperature
and
Temperature System Sensor
Material

The Control System sets the current supplied to the

heating elements in the furnace to keep the material
temperature at the desired (setpoint) value.
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A car cruise control is a feedback
system. How does it work?

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 Benefits of Feedback
• Provides stability with respect to changes in
system parameter values.
• Helps to obtain a (nearly) linear response
from non-linear components.
• Can be used to change the characteristics of
a system under control.

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 Class Example
• Instrumentation Design Problem

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