SENSOR TECHNOLOGIES

1
By
Syed Khawar Hussain Shah
2 Capacitive Sensor

  
Capacitive sensors consist of two parallel metal plates in which the
dielectric between the plates is either air or some other medium.
The capacitance C is given by
C=
 Capacitive devices are often used as displacement sensors, in which
motion of a moveable capacitive plate relative to a fixed one changes the
capacitance.
 Often, the measured displacement is part of instruments measuring
pressure, sound or acceleration.
 Alternatively, fixed plate capacitors can also be used as sensors, in which
the capacitance value is changed by causing the measured variable to
change the dielectric constant of the material between the plates in some
way.
3 Resistive sensors

 Resistive sensors rely on the variation of the resistance of a material

when the measured variable is applied to it.
 This principle is most commonly applied in temperature measurement
using resistance thermometers or thermistors, and in displacement
measurement using strain gauges or piezo resistive sensors.
 In addition, some moisture meters work on the resistance variation
principle.
4 Magnetic sensors
 Magnetic sensors utilize the magnetic phenomena of inductance,
reluctance and eddy currents to indicate the value of the
measured quantity, which is usually some form of displacement.
 Inductive sensors translate movement into a change in the mutual
inductance between magnetically coupled parts. One example of
this is the inductive displacement transducer
 The inductance principle is also used in differential transformers
to measure translational and rotational displacements.
5 Hall-effect sensors
 Basically, a Hall-effect sensor is a device that is used to measure the magnitude of a
magnetic field.
It consists of a conductor carrying a current that is aligned orthogonally with the magnetic
field, as shown in Figure .
This produces a transverse voltage difference across the device that is directly proportional
to the magnetic field strength.
For an excitation current I and magnetic field strength B, the output voltage is given
V=KIB
6 Strain gauges

 Strain gauges are devices that experience a change in resistance when they
are stretched or strained. They are able to detect very small displacements,
usually in the range 0–50 µm, and are typically used as part of other
transducers,
For example
 Diaphragm pressure sensors that convert pressure changes into small
displacements of the diaphragm.
7 Strain gauges
 The traditional type of strain gauge consists of a length of metal resistance
wire formed into a zigzag pattern and mounted onto a flexible backing
sheet, as shown in Figure
 The wire is nominally of circular cross-section. As strain is applied the
gauge, the shape of the cross-section of the resistance wire distorts,
changing the cross-sectional area.
 The input–output relationship of a strain gauge is expressed by the gauge
factor.
8 Piezoelectric transducers

 Piezoelectric transducers produce an output voltage when a force

is applied to them.
 They are frequently used as ultrasonic receivers and also as
displacement transducers, particularly as part of devices
measuring acceleration, force and pressure.
9 Piezoelectric transducers

 Piezoelectric transducers are made from piezoelectric materials.

These have an asymmetrical lattice of molecules that distorts
when a mechanical force is applied to it. This distortion causes a
reorientation of electric charges within the material, resulting in a
relative displacement of positive and negative charges.

where F is the applied force in g, A is the area of the material in mm,

d is the thickness of the material and k is the piezoelectric constant.

The polarity of the induced voltage depends on whether the material

is compressed or stretched.
10 Piezoelectric transducers

 Materials exhibiting piezoelectric behavior include natural ones

such as quartz, synthetic ones such as lithium sulphate and
ferroelectric ceramics such as barium titanate. The piezoelectric
constant varies widely between different materials. Typical values
of k are 2.3 for quartz and 140 for barium titanate.
11 Piezoresistive sensors

 A Piezoresistive sensor is made from semiconductor material in

which a p-type region has been diffused into an n-type base. The
resistance of this varies greatly when the sensor is compressed or
stretched.
 This is frequently used as a strain gauges. It is also used in
semiconductor diaphragm pressure sensors and in semiconductor
accelerometers.
12 Optical sensors (air path)
 Optical sensors are based on the modulation of light travelling
between a light source and a light detector.

 The transmitted light can travel along either an air path or a fiber-
optic cable. Either form of transmission gives immunity to
electromagnetically induced noise, and also provides greater safety
than electrical sensors when used in hazardous environments.
 Air-path optical sensors are commonly used to measure proximity,
translational motion, rotational motion and gas concentration.
13 Optical sensors (fibre-optic)

 As an alternative to using air as the transmission medium, optical

sensors can use fibre optic cable instead to transmit light between a
source and a detector.
 The basis of operation of fibre-optic sensors is the translation of the
physical quantity measured into a change in one or more parameters
of a light beam.
 The light parameters that can be modulated are one or more of the
following:
 intensity
 phase
 polarization
 wavelength
 transmission time.
14 Optical sensors (fibre-optic)

 Fiber-optic sensors usually incorporate either glass/plastic cables

or all plastic cables.
 All glass types are rarely used because of their fragility. Plastic
cables have particular advantages for sensor applications because
they are cheap and have a relatively large diameter.

 Fiber-optic sensors characteristically enjoy long life. For

example, the life expectancy of reflective fibre-optic switches is
quoted at ten million operations.
15 Intrinsic sensors

Light intensity is the simplest parameter to manipulate in intrinsic

sensors because only a simple source and detector are required.
The various forms of switches shown in Figure are perhaps the
simplest form of these, as the light path is simply blocked and
unblocked as the switch changes state

Modulation of the intensity of transmitted light takes place in various

simple forms of proximity, displacement, pressure, pH and smoke
sensors. In proximity and displacement sensors, the amount of
reflected light varies with the distance between the fibre ends and a
boundary.
16 Intrinsic sensors
17 Extrinsic sensors

 Extrinsic fibre-optic sensors use a fibre-optic cable, normally a

multimode one, to transmit modulated light from a conventional
sensor such as a resistance thermometer.
 A major feature of extrinsic sensors, which makes them so useful
in such a large number of applications, is their ability to reach
places that are otherwise inaccessible.
18 Extrinsic sensors

 One example of this is the insertion of fibre-optic cables into the

jet engines of aircraft to measure temperature by transmitting
radiation into a radiation pyrometer located remotely from the
engine.
 Fibre-optic cable can be used in the same way to measure the
internal temperature of electrical transformers, where the extreme
electromagnetic fields present make other measurement
techniques impossible.
19 Intrinsic sensors vs Extrinsic sensors
20 Distributed sensors

 Current research is looking at ways of distributing a number of

discrete sensors measuring different variables along a fibre-optic
cable.
 Alternatively, sensors of the same type, which are located at
various points along a cable, are being investigated as a means of
providing distributed sensing of a single measured variable.
 For example, the use of a 2 km long cable to measure the
temperature distribution along its entire length has been
demonstrated, measuring temperature at 400 separate points to a
resolution of 1 degree C.
21 Ultrasonic transducers

 Ultrasonic devices are used in many fields of measurement,

particularly for measuring fluid flow rates, liquid levels and
translational displacements.
 Ultrasound is a band of frequencies in the range above 20 kHz, that
is, above the sonic range that humans can usually hear.
Measurement devices that use ultrasound consist of one device that
transmits an ultrasound wave and another device that receives the
wave.
 Changes in the measured variable are determined either by
measuring the change in time taken for the ultrasound wave to travel
between the transmitter and receiver, or, alternatively, by measuring
the change in phase or frequency of the transmitted wave.
22 Transmission speed

 The transmission speed of ultrasound varies according to the

medium through which it travels.
 When transmitted through air, the speed of ultrasound is affected
by environmental factors such as temperature, humidity and air
turbulence.
23 Ultrasound as a range sensor

 The basic principles of an ultrasonic range sensor are to measure

the time between transmission of a burst of ultrasonic energy
from an ultrasonic transmitter and receipt of that energy by an
ultrasonic receiver. Then, the distance d can be calculated from:
S=vt
24 Use of ultrasound in tracking 3D object motion
 In this, an ultrasonic transmitter mounted on the moving object (T)
transmits bursts of energy to three receivers A, B,C located at the origin
(A) and at distances q (to B) and p (to C) along the axes of an xyz co-
ordinate system. If the transit times from T to A, B and C are measured,
the distances a, b and c from T to the receivers can be calculated from
equation.
 The position of T in spatial (xyz ) co-ordinates can then be calculated by
triangulation by solving the following set of equations.
25 Nuclear sensors

 Nuclear sensors are uncommon measurement devices, partly

because of the strict safety regulations that govern their use, and
partly because they are usually expensive.
 The principle of operation of nuclear sensors is very similar to
optical sensors in tradition is transmitted between a source and a
detector.
 Caesium-137 is commonly used as a gamma-ray source and a
sodium iodide device is commonly used as a gamma-ray detector.
The latter gives a voltage output that is proportional to the
radiation incident upon it.
26 Micro sensors

 Microsensors are millimeter-sized two- and three-dimensional

micromachined structures that have smaller size, improved
performance, better reliability and lower production costs than
many alternative forms of sensor.
 Microsensors are usually constructed from a silicon
semiconductor material, but are sometimes fabricated from other
materials such as metals, plastics, polymers, glasses and ceramics
that are deposited on a silicon base.
 Many of the techniques used for integrated circuit (IC)
manufacture are also used in sensor fabrication, common
techniques being thin film deposition, ion implantation, wet and
dry chemical and laser etching, and photolithography.