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Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory

Mechanical Sensors:
A sensor which can convert mechanical stimulus into an electrical output.
There is a huge range of mechanical sensors due to a large number of measurands.
Potentiometric Sensors
A position or displacement transducer can be built with a linear or rotary
potentiometer
Principle is based on the equation for wire resistance
Measurands (position, velocity, acceleration, force, stress, pressure, strain,
mass, density, moment, torque, shape, roughness, orientation,
stiffness, crystallinity, structural, integrity)
Since it requires a current through the device, so it is an active type
of device.
A stimulus in this case will produce a displacement d.
The potential is proportional to the displacement
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Gravitational Sensors
Inclination detectors which measure the angle from the direction to the earths
center of gravity are used in road construction, machine tools, inertial navigation
systems and other application requiring gravity reference.
Mercury switch.
One of the common use
of mercury switch is in a
household thermostat.
Electrolyte tilt
sensors- more
sensitive. The
angular range --
1
o
to 80
o

Sensor and Interface
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
The measuring
circuit must
extract
information about
the angle of tilt
and its polarity
Optoelectronic inclination sensor
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
LED= light emitting diode
PD = photo diode
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Gauging Capacitive sensors
The capacitance of flat capacitor is inversely proportional to the
distance between the plates.
This capacitance can be employed for measuring position, displacement, gauging or
any other similar parameter.
Design of a capacitive sensor:
One plate of the capacitor is connected
to the central conductor of a coaxial
cable and other plate is formed by the
target.
It operate in 3 MHz range and can
detect fast moving objects
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Ratiometric Displacement Sensors
Capacitive displacement sensor operates on a ratiomatric principle
involving two capacitor, one of fixed value and another is a variable.
The output voltage
is given by
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Cylinderical capacitive sensor
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Inductive Sensors
Position and displacement may be sensed by methods of
electromagnetic induction.
A magnetic flux coupling between two coils may be altered by the
movement of an object and subsequently converted into voltage.
There are two techniques to change the coupling:
1. Linear variable differential transformer (LVDT), here a
movement of an object made of ferromagnetic material is
within the flux path. This changes the reluctance of the path.
2. Rotary variable differential transformer (RVDT), here one of
the coils is physically moved relative to other coil.
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Inductive Sensor
When core in the middle, no output
Otherwise non-zero output
It can measure the displacement as well as the direction of applied force
Sensor and interface electronics
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Transverse Inductive Sensors or proximity sensors
It is useful for detecting relatively small displacement of ferromagnetic or ferrous
materials.
It measures the distance of an object which alters the magnetic field in the coil.
Principle: change in the
self-induction of the coil
produce output E.M.F.
The output signal is a function
of the distance to the disk.
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Brushless Absolute Angle Sensors
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Hall Effect Sensors
What is Hall Effect: A magnetic field perpendicular to the flow of current,
deflects the carriers perpendicular to both the magnetic field and to the
direction of flow of the current.
The total force on an
electron is given by
In y-direction
So there is a net force in
the direction of y
So the electric field in y-direction
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Two types of Hall sensors: Linear and threshold
They are more stable for noisy environments.
For the position and displacement measurements, the Hall effect sensors must
be provided with a magnetic field source and an interface electronic circuit.
Transfer function of linear Hall effect
Sensors
Transfer function of threshold Hall effect
Sensors
Output
Output
Magnetic field B
Magnetic field B
Null voltage
Hall sensor
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Applications: Automobile distributor
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Fluid level detector with Hall sensor
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Fiber-Optic Sensors
Fiber
d
d
Fiber-optic
displacement sensor
Optical liquid
level detector
Output depends on the phase difference
between the two incoming waves
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Capacitive occupancy detector
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Pressure Sensors:
Pressure P is defined as force/area or
Pressure is independent of the confining
boundaries so a great variety of pressure
sensors can be designed without the concern of
shape and dimension.
The gas pressure can be calculated from the kinetic energy of the molecules
as follows
KE is the kinetic energy, V is the velocity, R is a specific
gas constant, T is the temperature and N number of
molecules per unit volume.
Units of pressure:
1 Pascal =1.45x10
-4
lb/in
2

1 atm= 101235 Pascal (Pa)
Pressure and density of a
compressible fluids (gases)
are linearly related.
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Mercury Pressure Sensors
The output from a
Wheatstone bridge
Bellows, Membranes and Thin plates.
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
In a pressure sensor , a sensing element is a mechanical device which
undergoes structural changes under strain.
A bellow is intended for the conversion of pressure into a linear displacement
which can then be measured by an appropriate sensor.
The popular example of pressure conversion into a linear deflection is a
diaphragm.
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Diaphragm
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Membrane is a thin diaphragm under radial tension S measured in N/m.
At pressure p differences, the center deflection z
m
is given by
here r is the
membrane radius
Stress !
m

here S is the radial tension g is the
membrane thickness
The lowest natural frequency
of the membrane is
" is the
membrane
density
Question: what physical phenomenon can be used to convert a
deflection into an electrical signal?
Piezoresistive Sensors:
When a stress is applied to a piezoelectric semiconductor of initial resistance
R changes according to
Here #
1
and #
t
are the piezoresistive
coefficients in longitudinal and transverse
directions respectively.
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Here !
1
and !
t
are the stress in
longitudinal and transverse directions
respectively.
# depends on the crystal
orientation. Thus for a p-type
diffused resistor arranged in
the <110> direction, the
coefficients are
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Let E is the exciting voltage of the bridge, then output voltage is given by
The pressure sensitivity can be defined as
Flow Sensors:
Basic principle of flow is based on the mass conservation
The volume of a given medium
passing through a given plane in
unit time is
v is the velocity
of the medium.
Pressure gradient technique;
Bernoulli equation :
This equation is valid for the nonviscous ,
incompressible medium.
constant
Here p is the pressure in the tube, v is the
velocity and g is the acceleration due to gravity
and y is the height of the medium displacement.
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Differential pressure is defined as
Where
K is some correction coefficient .
The average velocity can be calculated as
So the mass flow, q, per unit time is given by
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Where $ is a coefficient which is determined through calibration.
Smart Sensor Technology I: Theory
Thermal Transport Sensors
Thermoanemometer
Mass equalizer
Heater
Rs
Ro
Moving
medium
Ro measures the temperature of
the flowing medium
Rs measures the temperature of
fluid after it has passed through
the heater.
In a still medium there will be no
difference in Rs and Ro
The velocity of the medium Where
is measured from
electric power
To circuit

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