Fall 2024-25

Sensors and Instrumentation

Instructor:

Dr. Moganapriya C
Email: moganapriya.c@[Link]

1
 Tacho generators

• Tachometer -used for measuring the rotational speed or angular velocity of the machine which is coupled to it.
• It works on the principle of relative motion between the magnetic field and shaft of the coupled device.
• The relative motion induces the EMF in the coil which is placed between the constant magnetic field of the
permanent magnet. Developed EMF is directly proportional to the speed of the shaft.

• Mechanical tachometer measures the speed of shaft regarding revolution per minutes.
• Electrical tachometer converts the angular velocity into an electrical voltage.
• Depends on the natures of the induced voltage, the electrical tachometer is categorized into
• AC Tachometer
• DC Tachometer

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 DC Tachometer Generator

[Link]
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 DC Tachometer Generator
• Permanent magnet, armature, commutator, brushes, variable resistor, and the moving coil voltmeter are the main
parts of the DC tachometer generator.
• The machine whose speed is to be measured is coupled with the shaft of the DC tachometer generator.
• DC tachometer works on the principle that when the closed conductor moves in the magnetic field, EMF
induces in the conductor. The magnitude of the induces emf depends on the flux link with the conductor and the
speed of the shaft.
• The armature of the DC generator revolves between the constant field of the permanent magnet. The rotation
induces the emf in the coil. The magnitude of the induced emf is proportional to the shaft speed.
• The commutator converts the alternating current of the armature coil to the direct current with the help of the
brushes. The moving coil voltmeter measures the induced emf. The polarity of the induced voltage determines
the direction of motion of the shaft. The resistance is connected in series with the voltmeter for controlling the
heavy current of the armature.

[Link] 4
 AC Tachometer Generator

[Link] 5
 AC Tachometer Generator

• The DC tachometer generator uses the commutator and brushes which have many disadvantages. The AC
tachometer generator designs for reducing the problems.
• The AC tachometer has stationary armature and rotating magnetic field. Thus, the commutator and brushes
are absent in AC tachometer generator.
• The rotating magnetic field induces the EMF in the stationary coil of the stator. The amplitude and
frequency of the induced emf are equivalent to the speed of the shaft. Thus, either amplitude or frequency is
used for measuring the angular velocity.
• The circuit is used for measuring the speed of the rotor by considering the amplitude of the induced voltage.
The induces voltages are rectified and then passes to the capacitor filter for smoothening the ripples of
rectified voltages.

[Link] 6
 Fall 2024-25

Sensors and Instrumentation

Instructor:

Dr. Moganapriya C
Email: moganapriya.c@[Link]

1
2
Optical Encoders

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 Optical Encoders

• The optical encoder is composed of a light emitting device

(LED), photo sensors, and a disc called a code wheel with
slits (holes) in the radial direction and detects rotational
position information as an optical pulse signal.

• When a code wheel attached to a rotating shaft such as a

motor rotates, an optical pulse is generated depending on
whether light emitted from a fixed light emitting element
passes through a slit of the code wheel or not.

• Photo sensor detects the optical pulse, converts it into an

electrical signal, and outputs it.

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 Classification of Optical Encoders

Higher resolution and higher accuracy

• The resolution of an optical encoder is basically determined by

the number of slits in the code wheel.

• Therefore, it is necessary to increase the number of slits in the

code wheel to achieve high resolution, but it is necessary to
reduce the area of each slit to be compatible with the
miniaturization of the encoder.

• As a result, high precision is required for assembling the

components, and physical limits are reached somewhere.

• To further improve the resolution, there is a method of "electrical

interpolation" the A phase and B phase of the output signal by
using a pseudo sine wave signal instead of a pulse signal.

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 Classification of Optical Encoders
Classification by structure

Transmissive type - light emitting device (LED) and photo sensor sandwich the code wheel

Reflective type - LED and photo sensor are placed on the same side and the code wheel reflects the light.

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 Optical Encoders

Transmissive type
• The photo sensor detects whether the light emitted from the LED passes through the slit of the code wheel
• Easy to improve signal accuracy
• Easy development due to relatively simple optical path
Reflective type
• The photo sensor detects whether the light emitted from the LED is reflected by the code wheel
• Easy to miniaturize and thin

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 Classification of Optical Encoders
Classification by output electrical signal format
Optical encoders are classified into two types depending on the format of the output electrical signal.
There is an incremental method that outputs the angle change (movement amount) of the rotating disc and an
absolute method that outputs the absolute angle of the rotating disc.

There are two ways that encoders represent rotation and angle information: a relative angle and an absolute angle,
and the format of an electrical signal output from encoders differ depending on each expression way.

Relative angle: How many degrees have you moved before and after moving?
Absolute angle: How many degrees are you in now from the home position?

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 Classification of Optical Encoders
Incremental method representing a relative angle
• An encoder that detects the amount of movement from one position to the next is called a relative angle detection type.
• An optical encoder generates pulses when a disk with a slit (hole) in the radial direction rotates.
• Counting the number of pulses shows the angular change (movement) of the disk.
• When four slits are arranged in a row, the number of pulses per rotation is four, so it can be seen that one pulse has
rotated 360 ° / 4 = 90 °. If the number of slits is doubled to eight, one pulse rotates 360 ° / 8 = 45 °.
• If the number of slits, that is, the number of pulses per rotation, is larger, the resolution of the angle change will be
higher, and the movement can be represented better.

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Classification of Optical Encoders

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Classification of Optical Encoders

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 Classification of Optical Encoders
Absolute method representing an absolute angle
• An encoder that detects how far from the home position is called an absolute angle detection type.
• The absolute angle detection type encoder outputs the current absolute angle in a digital serial code or an analog
voltage in response to instructions from the microcomputer.
• Incremental method has only one row of slits, while the absolute method has multiple rows.
• For example, if there are four rows of slits, you can find the absolute position of 16 angles from 0000 to 1111 in
binary code (binary number).
• If there are 5 rows of slits, there are 32 patterns from 00000 to 11111.
• By doubling the row of slits to eight, you can see the absolute positions of 256 different angles from 00000000 to
11111111.
• As the number of rows of slits increases, the resolution of the angle change increases, allowing for a finer
representation of the amount of movement.

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Classification of Optical Encoders

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 Classification of Optical Encoders

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[Link]
Classification of Optical Encoders

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 Fall 2024-25

Sensors and Instrumentation

Instructor:

Dr. Moganapriya C
Email: moganapriya.c@[Link]
2
DISPLACEMENT
MEASUREMENT
TRANSLATION
ROTATION
SIMULTANEOUS ROTATION AND
TRANSLATION
 NEED FOR DISPLACEMENT
MEASUREMENT

The need for secondary transducer in force, torque, etc., measurement.

8
POTENTIOMETER

• A typical potentiometer scheme will have the following

elements.
• Resistive element
• Power source
• Sliding contact or wiper
• Voltmeter
• Mandrel (Optional)
POTENTIOMETER BASIC CIRCUIT
RESISTIVE ELEMENT

• Protective coating
• Wire - precision drawn – dia. 50 microns
• Resistive element materials:
• alloys of nickel-chromium,
• copper-nickel,
• silver palladium
SLIDING CONTACT OR WIPER

• It should have good spring action to work efficiently in

a vibratory environment.
• The contact force should be minimum, just to make
contact, to reduce friction.
• Conductive lubricants can be used to reduce the
friction.
• On the other hand, it should have sufficient contact
force to reduce the contact resistance.
MANDREL

• To accommodate long length resistive element in small

space, it is wound over an insulator, called “Mandrel”.
• Mandrel can be cylindrical or flat in shape.
• It should posses minimum possible coefficient of thermal
expansion to stay dimensionally stable and ideally electric
insulator.
• Ceramic, molded epoxies are some examples of mandrel
materials.
POTENTIOMETER BLOCK
DIAGRAM
DESIGN VARIATIONS
DESIGN VARIATIONS
SPECIFICATION OF WIRE WOUND
POTENTIOMETER
• All climatic operation.
• One and two-sectional with circular operation.
• Power at a temperature of 100C =0.5 watt
• Rated resistance range = 100 to 15000 .
• Tolerance on rated resistance 5 %.
• Resistance behavior is linear.
• Tolerance on linearity 0.5 %.
• Mass =12g.
• Temperature range –60 C to 125 C
• Relative air humidity (@35C) = 98%
• Air pressure = 0.13 to 304 kPa.
CONDUCTIVE PLASTIC
POTENTIOMETERS
ITS CHARACTERISTICS INCLUDE

• Non-contact type
• Fast response
• Low actuating force
• Frequency response is high (up to 10 gHz)
• Low operating power
• No electrical contact to oxidize or wear out.
• Less sensitive to environmental conditions
such as humidity, salt spray, shock and vibration
• It may need temperature compensation
OPTICAL POTENTIOMETER
FOR ROTARY MEASUREMENT
POTENTIOMETER FOR LARGE
DISPLACEMENTS
ADVANTAGES OF
POTENTIOMETER
• It is relatively less costly
• It doest not require amplification, as it gives high voltage
output signals in most of the cases.
• Wide ranges are available.
DISADVANTAGES OF
POTENTIOMETER
• Due to friction and arm inertia, force is needed to move
the slider. This mechanical loading distorts the original
signal.
• It is not suitable for high frequency applications due to
slider bounce, friction, inertia.
• Electrical loading error is high when load resistance is low.
• Wear out, heating effect, oxidation of resistive element and
wiper increases degradation.
• The resolution is limited by number of turns and coil
uniformity and making it not suitable for small displacement
applications.
• Variation in supply voltage causes error.
 CAPACITANCE:

C   r 0
A
 N  1
d
Where,
C – Capacitance of capacitor
A – Effective area between plates
N – Number of capacitor plates.
r – Relative Permittivity of dielectric material.
0 - Permittivity of free space (=8.854*10-12 F/m)
 CAPACITANCE OF THE
CYLINDRICAL CAPACITOR

2 l
C   r 0  r2 
 
 r1 
log e

Where,
l – length of the overlapping part of the cylinder.
r1 – radius of inner cylindrical plate.
r2 – radius of outer cylindrical plate.
CURRENT DUE TO CAPACITANCE
CHANGE IN THE CIRCUIT
FACTORS AFFECTING
CAPACITANCE:
1. Effective Surface area.
2. Distance between the plates.
3. Di-electric material.
EFFECTIVE SURFACE AREA:
DISTANCE BETWEEN THE PLATES:
DI-ELECTRIC MATERIAL:
WORKING PRINCIPLE:
RELATION BETWEEN THE DISPLACEMENT
AND VOLTAGE DIFFERENCE

A
c1  c2  c   0 r
l

x
e1  e2  e
t
MEASUREMENT OF ROTATIONAL MOTION
USING CAPACITIVE TRANSDUCER:
APPLICATION CASE STUDIES OF
CAPACITANCE SENSORS
INDUCTANCE TYPE
TRANSDUCERS
LINEAR VARIABLE DIFFERENTIAL
TRANSFORMER
CONSTRUCTION

• Shell
• Primary winding
• Secondary winding
• Core
• Power supply
• Display unit
POWER SUPPLY

• AC excitation of 5kHz – 20 kHz is applied to

primary winding to develop an inductance
currents in secondary windings which are linked
by magnetically conductive core. The frequency of
excitation depends on the input signal. What is
the significance 5kHz – 20 kHz in excitation
frequency? At very low frequencies the resistance
effect dominates and at very high frequencies the
capacitance effect dominates. The LVDT works on
inductance principle and its effect is more in the
frequency range of 5kHz – 20 kHz.
WAVEFORM OF LVDT SIGNAL
BLOCK DIAGRAM OF LVDT
WORKING
SIGNAL CONDITIONING
OSCILLATOR MODULE
DEMODULATOR MODULE
SPECIFICATION OF LVDT

• 1. Electrical
• Linearity (Expressed as % of FSD)
• Sensitivity (Expressed as mV/V/mm)
• Excitation: Energizing current
• Response time
• Output ripple (Expressed as % of FSD)
• Thermal effect (Expressed as % FSD/C)
• Compensated temperature range
• Operable temperature range
• Electrical connection (about cable and wiring details)
SPECIFICATION OF LVDT

• Mechanical
• Threaded core (M2, M3 etc.)
• Core material
• Case material
• Weight
LINEAR RANGE
APPLICATION CASE STUDIES
ELONGATION MEASUREMENT IN
TENSILE TESTING MACHINE
TO MEASURE MATERIAL
THICKNESS
TO MEASURE PRESSURE, FORCE
AND LOAD
OTHER APPLICATIONS

• Inspection of dimensions
• LVDT for Counting Currency, sheets etc.
ROTATIONAL VARIABLE
DIFFERENTIAL TRANSFORMER
ADVANTAGES OF LVDT

1. Infinite resolution
2. High repeatability, accuracy, stability and linearity
3. Wear & tear are almost not there unlike pots
4. Near ideal electro-mechanical conversion
5. Both magnetic hysteresis and mechanical back lash are
negligible.
6. It has low output impedance in the order of 100.
7. Directional measurements (positive /negative) are possible.
8. It is durable, robust and less expensive.
9. Small ranges (2mm) are available.