1

Basicsofsignalprocessing,designofspecimens,
systemacquisition
BasicofSensorandTransducers
Dr.SimonePeloso
2
Generalprinciples
Meaningfulinterpretationofthemodeltestsisnotpossibleunlessproper
instrumentationisusedformeasuringthemanyimportantquantitiesrelatedto
thebehaviourofthestructure.
Theinstrumentationprocessincludes:
Carefulidentificationofthequantitiestobemeasured;
Selectionoftheappropriatesensorsandtheauxiliaryequipment;
Installationofthesensorsonthecompletedmodel;
Calibrationofsensors;
Checkoutofequipmentpriortothemodeltest;
Acquisitionofdata;
Reductionofdataintomeaningfulstresses,forces,andforcedeformation
relationships.
2
3
Generalprinciples
Thebehaviourofastructureisreflectedintheforcesanddeformationsthat
resultfromsubjectingittothedifferentloadingconditions.
Ingeneralthefollowingquantitiesneedmeasurement:
1. Strain:Strainmaybemeasuredinconcrete,eitherbyinstrumentingthe
surfaceorbysuitablyembeddinggagesinside,oronthesteelreinforcementand
theprestressing strands.
2.Deflection:Itsdistributionalongthestructureanditsvariationwiththeapplied
loadandmagnitudeinastructureoraconstituentelement.(Deflection
measurementsareneededtodefinetheloaddeformationcharacteristicsand
canbehelpfulindeterminingthelimitsofelasticbehavior,curvature,and
changesincurvature.)
4
Quantitiestobemeasured
3. Cracks:Theirlocations,patterns,andwidthsrelatedtotheloading.(This
informationisusedtodeterminesatisfactoryserviceloadconditionsandalsoto
obtaintheultimateorlimitloadstressconditions.)
4.Forces:Theirmagnitudesandnatureintheconcreteorthesteel
reinforcement,attheboundarysupports,andsometimesatloadingpoints.
(Knowledgeoftheseinternalforces,whichareinequilibriumwiththeapplied
forcesisespeciallyusefulinthestudyofindeterminatestructures.)
5.Temperature:Itsdistributionwithinthemassofconcrete,wherethestructure
issubjectedtodifferentialtemperatureconditions.
6.Creepandshrinkage:Theirmeasurementsinastructuresubjectedtosustained
loading.(Thesearesimilartoitem1above,butcaremustbeexercisedtoensure
thattheinstrumentationisstableovertheentireperiodofmeasurement.
7.Propertiesofmaterials:Theymustbedeterminedinordertotranslateother
measurements(suchasstrains)intooverallstructuralbehaviour,andtocorrelate
testresultswiththeory.(Measurementofpropertiesofconcrete areparticularly
importantsincetheyaresubjecttovariationsfromenvironmentalconditions,
suchasrelativehumidityandtemperature.)
3
5
Quantitiestobemeasured
8.Dynamicresponse:Varioustypesofresponsesofastructurewhensubjected
todynamicloads(e.g.impact,blast,seismic,fatigueandrepeatedloadings).
Accelerations,velocities,anddisplacementsaremeasured.
NOTES:
Theequipmenttomeasuretheabovequantitiesvariesfromsimple hand
instrumentstothemoresophisticatedelectronicdevices.
Thereadoutinstrumentsaccompanyingthesemeasuringdevicesalsovary
fromhandoperatedtocontinuousscanning,recording,andmonitoring
systems
Theoutcomeofanyexperimentalprogramdependssignificantlyon the
accuracyandreliabilityofmeasurements.(Inthecaseofsmallscalemodels,
thequantitiestobemeasuredaremuchsmallerinmagnitude,basedonthe
principlesofsimilitudethusmagnifyingtheerrorpossibilityandtheassociated
needforaccuracy)
6
Perofrmance specification
Properselectionandintegrationofsensorsandtransducersarecrucialin
instrumenting avibratingsystem.
Ameasuringdevicepassesthroughtwostagesinmakingameasurement.
Sensorstage
Transducerstage
Itiscommonpracticetoidentifythecombinedsensor transducerunitaseither
asensororatransducer
Themeasurand issensed
Themeasuredsignalistransduced
(i.e.converted)intoanelectricalsignal
Signalconditioning,Processing,orRecording
4
7
Performancespecification
Inmostapplications,thefollowingvariablesareparticularlyusefulindeterminingthe
responseandstructuralintegrityofavibratingsystem
Straingauge StressandStrain
Accelerometer Acceleration
TachometerorGeophones Velocity
PotentiometerorLVDT Displacement
MeasuringDevices ResponseVariable
Transducersaredividedintotwobroadcategories:
Passivetransducers donotrequireanexternalelectricsourceforactivation:
electromagnetic,piezoelectricandphotovoltaictransducers
Activetransducers donotpossessselfcontainedenergysourcesandthusneedexternal
activation:resistivetransducerssuchaspotentiometers
8
Performancespecification
Inmostapplications,thefollowingvariablesareparticularlyusefulindeterminingthe
responseandstructuralintegrityofavibratingsystem
Straingauge StressandStrain
Accelerometer Acceleration
TachometerorGeophones Velocity
PotentiometerorLVDT Displacement
MeasuringDevices ResponseVariable
Transducersaredividedintotwobroadcategories:
Passivetransducers donotrequireanexternalelectricsourceforactivation:
electromagnetic,piezoelectricandphotovoltaictransducers
Activetransducers donotpossessselfcontainedenergysourcesandthusneedexternal
activation:resistivetransducerssuchaspotentiometers
5
9
Transducers
Generallyspeaking,atransducer isadevicethat
convertsonetypeofenergy toanother.
Transducersaretheinputelementina
measurementsystem.
Thetransduceristhedevicesensingthephysical
quantitythatistobemeasuredandproducingan
electricaloutput.
Atransducermaycontainoneormoresensors
whichtransmitasignaltoameasurementunit
producingtheelectricaloutput.
10
AccuracyandPrecision
Themeasurementaccuracy determinestheclosenessofthemeasuredvalueto
thetruevalue.
Theprecision ofaninstrumentisdeterminedbythestandarddeviationoferror
intheinstrumentresponse.
%
) (TrueValue
) (TrueValue alue) (MeasuredV
or Err

=
Themeasurementerrormayberepresentedbyarandomvariableusingitsmean
valueanditsstandarddeviation
6
11
SensitivityandResolution
Thesensitivity ofatransducerisdefinedas
Thesensitivitymaybecomputedfromtheinputoutputrelationshipasthe
derivativedy/dx.
Whentherelationshipislinear,thesensitivityistheangularcoefficientofthe
straightlinea.
Theresolution ofasensoristhesmallestchangeitcandetectinthequantity
thatitismeasuring.
quantity physical in change
quantity electrical in change
y sensitivit =
12
InputOutputrelationship
Instaticconditions,the
behaviourofatransducermaybe
describedbydifferent
parametersthatcanbededuced
fromtheinputoutput
relationshipofthedevice.
Thetransducerislinearifitsinputoutputrelationshipmaybedescribedbya
straightline,i.e.intheformy=ax+b
X
Y
E
l
e
c
t
r
i
c

q
u
a
n
t
i
t
y

[
E
Q
]
(
o
u
t
p
u
t
)
Physicalquantity
[PQ]
(input)
IOrelationship
7
13
ThresholdandRange
Thethreshold isthe
minimuminputvaluefor
thephysicalquantityto
produceanonzerooutput
ofthetransducer.
Therange istheintervalof
thephysicalquantitys
valuesthatthetransducer
isabletomeasure,
definedbyitsinferiorand
superiorlimits.
EQ
(output)
PQ
(input)
Threshold
Threshold
Range
14
HysteresisandErrors
Hysteresis isthemaximumdifference
betweentheincreaseanddecreasepaths
ofthetransduceroutputduringacycle
extendingtotherangelimits.
Aloadcurveandanunloadcurvemustbe
usedtoinferthepropermeasurement.
e.q.
p.q.
e.q.
p.q.
Theerror ofatransduceristhe
differencebetweentherealandthe
idealtransducerbehavior.
Theerrorbandistheareaaroundthe
inputoutputcurvethatcoverstheworse
measurementerror.
8
15
Dynamicbehavior
Whenthephysicalquantitiesto
bemeasuredmayvaryrapidlyin
time,asinthecaseofdynamic
tests,oneneedstoensurethat
thetransducersmaybeableto
followitschangeswithout
alteringthemeasurement.
Thismaybeaccomplishedby
studyingthesensitivityofthe
transducerasafunctionof
frequency,i.e.thebodediagram
ofthetransferfunctionofthe
transducer.
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
M
a
g
n
i
t
u
d
e

(
d
B
)
10
-1
10
0
10
1
10
2
10
3
-90
-45
0
45
P
h
a
s
e

(
d
e
g
)
Bode Diagram
Frequency (rad/sec)
16
Instrumentratings
Inselectingaparticulartransducer(measuringdevice)foraspecificvibration
application,specialattentionshouldbegivetoitsratings,whichusuallyare
providedbythemanufacturer,andtherequiredperformancespecificationsas
providedbythecustomer(ordevelopedbythesystemdesigner).
Typicalratingparameterssuppliedbyinstrumentmanufacturersare:
Sensitivity ofatransducerismeasuredbythemagnitude(peak,rootmeansquare[RMS]
value,etc.)oftheoutputsignalscorrespondingtoaunitinput ofthemeasurand.Thismay
beexpressedastheratioof(incrementaloutput)/(incrementalinput)or,analytically,as
thecorrespondingpartialderivative.Inthecaseofvectorial ortensorial signals(e.g.,
displacement,velocity,acceleration,strain,force),thedirectionofsensitivityshouldbe
specified.
Crosssensitivity isthesensitivityalongdirectionsthatareorthogonaltothedirectionof
primarysensitivity;itisexpressedasapercentageofthedirectsensitivity.Highsensitivity
andlowcrosssensitivityaredesirableformeasuringinstruments.Sensitivitytoparameter
changes,disturbances,andnoisehastobesmallinanydevice,however;thisisan
indicationofitsrobustness.Often,sensitivityandrobustnessareconflictingrequirements
9
17
Instrumentratings
Dynamicrange ofaninstrumentisdeterminedbytheallowedlowerandupperlimitsof
itsinputoroutput(response)soastomaintainarequiredlevelofmeasurementaccuracy.
Thisrangeisusuallyexpressedasaratio,indecibels.Inmany situations,thelowerlimitof
thedynamicrangeisequaltotheresolutionofthedevice.Hence,thedynamicrangeis
usuallyexpressedastheratio(rangeofoperation)/(resolution),indecibels.
Linearity isdeterminedbythecalibrationcurveofaninstrument.Thecurveofoutput
amplitudevs.inputamplitudeunderstaticconditionswithinthe dynamicrangeofan
instrumentisknownasthestaticcalibrationcurve.Itsclosenesstoastraightline
measuresthedegreeoflinearity.Manufacturersprovidethisinformationeitherasthe
maximumdeviationofthecalibrationcurvefromtheleastsquaresstraightlinefitofthe
calibrationcurveorfromsomeotherreferencestraightline.If theleastsquaresfitisused
asthereferencestraightline,themaximumdeviationiscalledindependentnonlinearity,
Nonlinearitymaybeexpressedasapercentageofeithertheactualreadingatan
operatingpointorthefullscalereading.
18
Instrumentratings
Zerodrift isdefinedasthedriftfromthenullreadingoftheinstrumentwhenthe
measurand ismaintainedsteadyforalongperiod.Notethatinthiscase, themeasurand is
keptatzerooranyotherlevelthatcorrespondstonullreading oftheinstrument.
Usualcausesofdriftinclude:
instrumentinstability
ambientchanges(e.g.,changesintemperature,pressure,humidity,andvibrationlevel)
changesinpowersupply(e.g.,changesinreferenceDCvoltageorAClinevoltage),
parameterchangesinaninstrument(duetoaging,nonlinearities,etc.).
Bandwidthofaninstrument determinesthemaximumspeedorfrequencyatwhichthe
instrumentiscapableofoperating.Highbandwidthimpliesfasterspeedofresponse.
Bandwidthisdeterminedbythedominantnaturalfrequencyofthe transducer.
Instrumentbandwidthmustbeseveraltimesgreaterthanthemaximumfrequencyof
interestinthemeasuredsignal.Thebandwidthofameasuringdeviceisimportant,
particularlywhenmeasuringtransientsignals.Notethatthebandwidthisdirectlyrelated
totheusefulfrequencyrange.
10
19
Instrumentratings
Usefulfrequency range
correspondstotheintervalofboth
flatgainandzerophaseinthe
frequencyresponsecharacteristicsof
aninstrument.Themaximum
frequencyinthisbandistypicallyless
thanhalfthedominantresonant
frequencyoftheinstrument.
-25
-20
-15
-10
-5
0
5
M
a
g
n
i
t
u
d
e

(
d
B
)
10
-1
10
0
10
1
10
2
10
3
-90
-45
0
45
P
h
a
s
e

(
d
e
g
)
Bode Diagram
Frequency (rad/sec)
20
Instrumentratings
Examplesofratingparametersofseveralsensorsandtransducers
11
21
Linearpositiontransducers
Linearpotentiometersaredevicesallowing
totransducelineardisplacements.
Theyhavethreeconnectors:ground,V
cc
(supply)andV(outputconnector).
Resistancebasedpotentiometersmayusea
wirewindingaroundcylindricalcoreora
thincarbonlayerasresistors.
Theoutputconnectormaytranslateandis
rigidlyattachedtotheobjectwhose
displacementwewanttomeasure.The
displacementoftheobjectofinterest
thereforecausesadisplacementofthe
cursorontheresistor(X),whichcausesa
changeintheoutputvoltageofthepot.
L
X
V
E
X
L
V
E
=

X E
V
L
=
Iftheresistance
hasuniform
resistivity
22
Wirevs Carbon
Acommondrawback ofthewrappedwire
potentiometeristheresultingdiscrete
resolutionofitsinputoutputrelationship:
eachwrapping(coil)producesastepinthe
outputfunction.
Thelifespanofthesetransducersislimited
bythewearingoftheresistancedueto
mechanicalfriction.
Theforcenecessarytoovercomethe
frictionofthecursoraltersthe
measurement.
Aconditioningcircuittofilteroutthehigh
frequencynoiserelatedtocursor
displacementisusuallynecessary
V
X
Potentiometersbasedona
carbonfilmovercomethe
resolutionlimitationofwired
pots,yettheytendtobeless
linearandweardownfaster.
12
23
LinearVariableDifferential
Transformer(LVDT)
TheoperationoftheLVTDisbasedon
theprincipleofvariablemutual
inductance.
Thetransducerconsistsofoneprimary
coilandtwosecondarycoilswhichare
coupledthroughamovingcorewhose
positionistiedtothedisplacementto
bemeasured.
24
LinearVariableDifferential
Transformer(LVDT)
Analternatingcurrentisdriven
throughtheprimary,causingavoltage
tobeinducedineachsecondary
proportionaltoitsmutualinductance
withtheprimary.
Asthecoremoves,thesemutual
inductanceschange,causingthe
voltagesinducedinthetwosecondary
tochange.
Thecoilsareconnectedinreverse
series,sothattheoutputvoltageis
thedifferencebetweenthetwo
secondaryvoltages.
2
L ~
E
1
E
X
V=E
1
-E
2
E
2
2
L
13
25
Whenthecoreisinitscentralposition
equalbutoppositevoltagesare
inducedinthetwosecondarycoilsand
theoutputvoltageiszero.
Whenthecoreisdisplacedinone
direction,thevoltageinonecoil
increasesastheotherdecreases,
causingtheoutputvoltagetoincrease
fromzerotoamaximum,
correspondingtotheflux
concatenatingonlythefirstcoil.
LinearVariableDifferential
Transformer(LVDT)
Themagnitudeoftheoutputvoltageis
proportionaltothedistancemovedby
thecore,makingitalineartransducer.
26
Whenthecoreisdisplacedinone
direction,thevoltageinonecoilincreases
astheotherdecreases,causingtheoutput
voltagetoincreasefromzerotoa
maximum,correspondingtotheflux
concatenatingonlythefirstcoil.
Thisvoltageisinphasewiththe
primaryvoltage.
Whenthecoremovesintheother
direction,theoppositeoccursandthe
phaseoftheoutputvoltageisopposite
tothatoftheprimary.
LinearVariableDifferential
Transformer(LVDT)
Thephaseofthevoltageindicatesthe
directionofthedisplacement.
14
27
LVDTprinciples
Themagneticfluxforeachcoilfacingthecorewillbe
ThusifN1andN2arethecoilsfacingthecore,thefluxconcatenatingwiththe
secondarywindingsbecomes:
Thustheelectromotiveforceinducedineachsecondaryis:
Andthereforethedifferentialoutputvoltagewillbe:
Consideringthatn indicatesthenumberofcoilsperunitdisplacementinthe
twosecondarywindings,theoutputvoltageisrelatedtothecore
displacementX by:
BS u =
1 1
2 2
( )
( )
N X
N X
u = u
u = u
E j
E j
1 1
2 2
=
=
e
e
u
u
2 V j nX e = u
( ) ( )
1 2 1 2
V E E j N X N X e = = u (

28
Thesecondaryoutputsignalisthenprocessedbyaphasesensitivedemodulator
whichisswitchedatthesamefrequencyastheprimaryenergysupply.
Thisresultsinafinaloutputwhich,afterrectificationandfiltering,givesD.C.
outputproportionaltothecoremovementandalsoindicatesitsdirection,
positiveornegativefromthecentralzeropoint.
Becausetheslidingcoredoesnottouchtheinsideofthetube,itcanmove
withoutfriction,makingtheLVDTahighlyreliabledevice.
TheabsenceofanyslidingorrotatingcontactsallowstheLVDTtobecompletely
sealedagainsttheenvironment.
LinearVariableDifferential
Transformer(LVDT)
15
29
LVDTs arecommonlyusedforpositionfeedbackinservomechanisms,andfor
automatedmeasurementinmachinetoolsandmanyotherindustrial and
scientificapplications.
LinearVariableDifferential
Transformer(LVDT)
30
Instruments:Objectives
Measurement of the quantities of interest:
Local information:
Element curvatures in the critical
sections
Steel strain across the plastic hinges
Damage related quantities:
Floor displacements and rotations
Interstorey drifts
Shear deformation of infill panels
Global quantities:
Floor accelerations (dynamic
amplification of motion)
Proportions between the accelerations
at different points across the structure
(dynamic identification)
Deformations
Displacements
Accelerations
16
31
Instruments:Objectives
Measurement of the quantities of interest:
Direct Measure:
Strain Gauges
Deformations
Video acquisition with High Definition
Cameras
Displacements
Accelerometer Accelerations
Derived Measure:
Rectilinear Displacement Transducers
32
Instruments
Rectilinear Displacement Transducers
Direct measure:
Relative displacements between the two ends of the
instruments.
Derived measure:
Average deformation along the instrument length;
Average curvature (with more than one instrument)
Useful stroke from 25 to 250 mm
Infinite resolution
Displacement speed up to 10 m/s
Displacement force < 0.5 N
Electric output 010 V
17
33
Instruments
Rectilinear Displacement Transducers
Derived measure:
Average deformation
Average curvature
A
1
A
2
L
L
1
1
A
= c
L
2
2
A
= c
h
2 1
c c
_

=
h
c
1
c
2
34
Instruments
Rectilinear Displacement Transducers
Derived measure:
Shear deformation of infill panels
18
35
Accelerometers
Anaccelerometerisatransducer
measuringproperacceleration
(i.e.relativetofreefall,oraninertial
frame).
Themostcommonaccelerometerconsists
inaboxcontainingaknownmasswhich
canmoveonalinearpathandisheldbya
springattachedtothebox.
Themassisalsoattachedtoadamper,
introducingaviscousterminthe
equilibriumequationandreducingthe
oscillationswhichwouldresultfromstep
displacements.
Thedisplacementofthemassisthen
transducedbyalinearpotentiometer
(frictionless).
0 = + x K x D ) s x ( M
s
36
MassSpringDamperAccelerometer
Whentheaccelerometerexperiencesanacceleration,themassisdisplacedto
thepointthatthespringisabletoacceleratethemassatthesamerateasthe
casing.Thedisplacementisthenmeasuredtogivetheacceleration.
( ) ( ) ( ) 0 = s x K s x s D Ma s x M s
2
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) s a M s x K s x s D s x M s
2
= +
( )
( ) M K s M D s
1
s a
s x
2
+ +
=
19
37
Frequencyresponse
Thedynamicresponseofthemass
springdamperaccelerometertypically
resemblestheoneshowninfigure.
Atlowfrequencies,
therelationshipX = - M/K a holds,
whileatrelativelyhighfrequencies
thereisapeakofresonancefollowed
byarapidgaindecrease.
Theapplicabilityofthesetransducers
thereforerangesbetween0rad/s and
theresonancefrequency
res
log
X
a
log e
/
res
K M e =
38
MEMSaccelerometers
Modernaccelerometerstake
advantageofcurrentmanufacturing
technologiesallowingthe
miniaturizationofdevicesandtheir
implementationasmicroelectro
mechanicalsystems (MEMS).
Theseoftenmeasurethedeflectionofa
heatedgasbubblefromthecenterof
thedevice.
Thesquareinthemiddleofthechipisa
resistorthatheatsupagasbubble.As
thedeviceismoved,surrounding
thermalcouplessensethelocationof
thebubble.
20
39
MEMSaccelerometers
Modernaccelerometerstake
advantageofcurrentmanufacturing
technologiesallowingthe
miniaturizationofdevicesandtheir
implementationasmicroelectro
mechanicalsystems (MEMS).
MostMEMSworkinplane:theyare
designedtobesensitiveonlytoaone
ortwodirectionsintheplaneofthe
circuit.Byaddinganadditionaloutof
plane devicethreeaxescanbe
measured.
Thissolutionalwayshasamuchlower
misalignmenterrorthanthreediscrete
devicescombined.
40
TypicalMEMSaccelerometersexhibita
1gto 10grange.
Sensitivityisoftenratiometric (i.e.the
outputoftheinstrumentisdirectly
proportionaltotheinput),fora5V
powersupplythesemaybe25to500
mV/g,dependingontherangeofthe
device.
Manufacturers:
AnalogDevices;
STmicroelectronics;
Memsic;

MEMSaccelerometers
21
41
Apiezoelectricaccelerometerthatutilizesthe
piezoelectriceffectofcertainmaterialstomeasure
accelerations.
Aswithalltransducers,piezoelectricaccelerometers
convertoneformofenergyintoanother,specifically
theyprovideanelectricalsignalinresponsetothe
accelerationbeingmeasured.
Piezoelectricaccelerometers
Piezoelectricmaterialsusedforthepurposeofaccelerometerscanalsofallinto
twocategories.
Thefirst,andmorewidelyused,issinglecrystalmaterials (usuallyquartz).
PRO:longlifespanintermsofsensitivity;
CON:lesssensitivethansomepiezoelectricceramic.
Thesecondispiezoelectricceramicmaterials.
PRO:higherpiezoelectricconstant(sensitivity);lowerproductioncosts;
CON:theirsensitivitydegradeswithtime(shorterlifespan)
42
Usingthegeneralsensingmethodupon
whichallaccelerometersarebased,
accelerationactsuponaseismicmass
thatisrestrainedbyaspringor
suspendedonacantileverbeam,and
convertsaphysicalforceintoan
electricalsignal.
Beforetheaccelerationcanbe
convertedintoanelectricalquantityit
mustfirstbeconvertedintoeithera
forceordisplacement.Thisconversion
isdoneviathemassspringsystem
showninthefigure.
Piezoelectricaccelerometers
22
43
Theseismicmassandthepiezoceramics (plusother"flexible"components)form
aspringmasssystem.Itshowsthetypicalresonancebehavioranddefinesthe
upperfrequencylimitofanaccelerometer.Inordertoachievea wideroperating
frequencyrangetheresonancefrequencyshouldbeincreased.Thisisusually
donebyreducingtheseismicmass.However,thelowertheseismicmass,the
lowerthesensitivity.Therefore,anaccelerometerwithhighresonance
frequency,forexampleashockaccelerometer,willbelesssensitivewhereasa
seismicaccelerometerwithhighsensitivityhasalowresonancefrequency.
Piezoelectricaccelerometers
44
Figureshowsatypicalfrequencyresponsecurveofanaccelerometerwhenitis
excitedbyaconstantacceleration.Severalusefulfrequencyrangescanbe
derivedfromthiscurve:
Piezoelectricaccelerometers
Atapproximately1/5theresonance
frequency(0.2f
r
)theresponseofthe
sensoris1.05.Thismeansthatthe
measurederrorcomparedtolower
frequenciesis5%.
Atapproximately1/3theresonance
frequency(0.3 f
r
) theerroris10%.For
thisreasonthe"linear"frequency
rangeshouldbeconsideredlimitedto
1/3theresonancefrequency.
The3dBlimitwithapproximately30%
errorisobtainedatapproximatelyone
halftimestheresonancefrequency.
Logoffreq.
Error
23
45
Figureshowsatypicalfrequencyresponsecurveofanaccelerometerwhenitis
excitedbyaconstantacceleration.Severalusefulfrequencyrangescanbe
derivedfromthiscurve:
Piezoelectricaccelerometers
Thelowerfrequencylimitmainly
dependsonthechosenpreamplifier.
Oftenitcanbeadjusted.Withvoltage
amplifiers,thelowfrequencylimitisa
functionoftheRCtimeconstant
formedbyaccelerometer,cable,and
amplifierinputcapacitancetogether
withtheamplifierinputresistance.
Logoffreq.
Error
46
Positioningexample
Accelerometers
Directmeasure:
Singleaxisacceleration
Derivedmeasure:
Flooracceleration
Floordisplacementandrotation
Modalquantities
Accelerationrange: 2.5g
Resolution:0.8g@<1Hz
Resonantfrequency:5000Hz
Weight28grams
24
47
Positioningexample
Accelerometers
Directmeasure:
Singleaxisacceleration
Derivedmeasure:
Flooracceleration
Floordisplacementandrotation
Modalquantities
Accelerationrange: 2.5g
Resolution:0.8g@<1Hz
Resonantfrequency:5000Hz
Weight28grams
48
Straingauge
Astraingaugeisadevicethatmeasuresthestrain
ofanobjectbymeasuringtheresulting
deformation.
Themostcommontypeofstraingaugeconsistsof
aninsulatingflexiblebackingwhichsupportsa
metallicfoilpattern.Inatypicalstraingauge,a
long,thinconductivestripisarrangedinazigzag
patternoflinesparalleltothedirectionofthe
measurement.
Thegaugeisattachedtotheobjectbyasuitable
adhesive.Astheobjectisdeformed,thefoilis
deformed,causingitselectricalresistanceto
change.Thisresistancechange,usuallymeasured
usingaWheatstonebridge,isrelatedtothestrain
byaquantityknownasthegaugefactor.
L
25
49
Straingauge
Astraingaugeisbasedonthepropertythat
electricalconductance (G=1/R)doesnot
dependonlyonthe conductivity ofa
conductor(apropertyofitsmaterial),butit
dependsalsoonitsgeometry.
Whenanelectricalconductor isstretchedit
willbecomenarrowerandlonger,thus
increasingitselectricalresistanceendto
end.
Conversely,whenaconductoris
compresseditwillbroadenandshorten,
changesthatdecreaseitselectrical
resistanceendtoend.
Fromthemeasuredelectricalresistance of
thestraingauge,theamountofstrainmay
beinferredandeventuallythestresscanbe
derived.
50
Gaugefactor
Thegaugeisattachedtotheobjectwithadhesiveand,astheobjectisdeformed,
thegaugeisdeformedcausingachangeofitsconductance.Thesensitivityofthe
deviceismeasuredbythegaugefactor:
Recallthattheresistanceofaconductorisrelatedtoitsphysicalpropertiesby
Differentiating,thegagefactormaybeexpressedas
Where0<<1
Typicalgvaluesformetallicgaugesisabove2.Fornickelcopperalloysitis2,
nickelironchromereaches3.5andpurenickelslightlyabove12.
Highergvaluesmaybeobtainedusingsuperconductormaterials,buttheirun
deformedresistanceisthentemperaturedependent.
R
R
g
L
L
A
=
A
L
R
S
=
1
d
dL
L
g

o = + +
26
51
Straingaugecircuits
Tocompensateforthetemperatureinfluenceontherestingresistancetwo
identicalstraingaugesorthogonaltoeachotherandconnectedasonelegofa
Wheatstonebridge.
Fortwodimensionalmeasurements,fourstraingaugesaretypicallyused
togetherbuildingafullWheatstoneBridge
Strainisdefinedas
andisthereforeunitless
R
C
R
D
4
A
U
V L
V g
L
A
A =
L
L
c
A
=
52
Applications
Straingaugesarethebuildingcomponentofothertypesoftransducersfor
measuringforces(ifappliedtoatestmaterialofknownproperties),torques
(usingapairofstraingaugesmeasuringthetorsionaldeformationofarod)and
pressures.
2
A
V L
V g
L
A
A =
27
53
Straingaugescomeinavarietyofsizesandshapes.
Lineardisplacementtransducersbasedonstraingagestypicallyhaveafull
measurementrangebetween5and100mm.Typicalcrackdetectiongauges
range10mmto50mminstrandlength.
Strainmeasuresareusuallyverysmallandareusuallyexpressed in.
Measuringstrainrequiresaccuratemeasurementofverysmallchangesin
resistance.Forexample,supposeatestspecimenundergoesasubstantial
strainof500.Astraingaugewithagaugefactorg =2willexhibitachange
inelectricalresistanceofonly2(500 10
6
)=0.1%.Fora200 resistance
thechangewillbeonly2
Straingauge
54
Positioningexample
StrainGauges
Directmeasure:
Deformationofsteelbarsacrossthe
plastichinges
Note:thestraingaugehastobe
appliedtothesteelbarPRIORtothe
concretecasting.
28
55
Seismometer
Theseismometeristhetransducerof
groundmovementsandisusedtorecord
seismicwavesduringearthquakes.The
seismographadditionallyincludesa
recordingdevice.Seismometersmayrecord
grounddisplacement,velocityor
accelerationvs.time.
Theworkingprincipleofthetraditional
seismometerissimilartothatofthemass
springaccelerometer:amassisfreeto
movewithrespecttoitscasingwhileheld
toitbyaspringdampersystem.Whenthe
groundmoves,themasstendstoremain
motionlessinspacewhiletheframemoves
withtheground.Themovementofthe
internalmassrelativetotheframeis
measured.
AreplicaofanancientChineseSiesmograph
fromEasternHanDynasty(25220CE)
56
Seismometer
Geophonesuseamagneticmassmovingwithinawirecoil,producingan
electricalsignalwhichisproportionaltogroundvelocity.Theirfrequency
responseisthatofaharmonicoscillator,withcornerfrequency typicallyaround
10Hz.
/
res
K M e =
29
57
Teleseismometers
Modernbroadbandseismometersallowthe
measurementofmovementsatfrequencies
betweencloseto0.001Hzto30Hz.
Theseinstrumentsuseanegativefeedback
looptoholdthemassstillinspacewithrespect
totheframeusinganelectromagneticfield.
Theforceusedtoholdthemasssteadyis
measuredandgroundaccelerationisinferred.
Devicesmaybemultipleaxisbyusingseparate
masses.
Movementsoftheinternalmassismeasured
usingaLVDTandrepresenttheerrorwhichthe
negativefeedbackcontrolloopattemptstodrivetozerobyvaryingthecurrent
drivingtheelectromagneticfield.Thelatterisaprecisemeasurementofthe
forceneededtoholdthemasssteadyanditsaccelerationcanthereforebe
inferredasa=F/m.
DatamaybedigitallyrecordedusinganA/Dconverterandstored orperiodically
transmittedautomatically.
Specialcaremustbeusedforlongtermmonitoringinstrumentsbeingexposedto
largetemperatureexcursionsandweatheragents.
58
ForceMeasurement
Varioustypesofinstrumentationareavailablefordirectlymeasuringdifferent
forces,suchascompressionortension.
Loadcells:formeasuringreactionsandexternalforces(straingaugeload cells
arethemostcommon)
Embeddedstressplugs ormeters:formeasuringstressesandstrainsinsidea
concretestructure
Stresssensitivepaints:betweenwasherstomeasureforcesbytheelectrical
resistanceofthesepaints
Althoughmostoftheseareavailablecommercially,oftentheiruseisprecluded
becauseofeconomicfactorsandthenatureoftheexperiment;e.g.,aloadcell
requiredformeasuringreactionsinasmallscalebeamtestmaynotbeavailable
inthatsmallsizeorelsemaynotfitintheavailablespaceforthemeasurement.
Insuchacase,laboratoryavailableequipmentcanbeeasilyusedtofabricatethe
requiredloadcell.
30
59
Loadcells
Aloadcellisanelectronicdevice(transducer)thatisusedtoconvertaforceinto
anelectricalsignal.
Thisconversionisindirectandhappensintwostages:
1)Throughamechanicalarrangement,theforcebeingsenseddeformsastrain
gauge.
2)Thestraingaugeconvertsthedeformation(strain)toelectricalsignals.
AloadcellusuallyconsistsoffourstraingaugesinaWheatstonebridge
configuration.
Theelectricalsignaloutputistypicallyintheorderofafewmillivolts andrequires
amplificationbyaninstrumentationamplifier beforeitcanbeused.
Theoutputofthetransducerispluggedintoanalgorithm tocalculatetheforce
appliedtothetransducer
60
Loadcells:Wheatstonebridge
Abasicloadcellofanyofthesekindsconsistsofacompletestraingagebridge
Ifthestraingagesreadingstrains
2
and
4
areplacedintheloadcellsoastoread
strainsoppositeinsigntostrains
1
and
3
,thesensitivityandaccuracyofthe
loadcellimproves.
ThisisaccomplishedbyplacingR
1
andR
3
inthedirectionoftheappliedforceand
R
2
andR
4
inthetransversedirection
Thestraingages1,2,3,and4are
arrangedsoastoeliminatetheeffect
oftheundesiredstresscomponents.
Frombridgetheory,theoutputofthe
bridgemaybeexpressedas:

0
=
1
+
2

3
+
4
SideView
PlanView
Connection
scheme
31
61
Loadcells
Thus
0
=K
1
whereK=brdge multiplicationfactor
(K=2.6ifPoissonsrationis0.3).
Sensitivityofaloadcellmaybeexpressedinunitsofstrainperunitload.Thus,it
isdirectlyproportionaltothemaximumstressusedinthedesignofthecelland
inverselyproportionaltoitsmaximumloadcapacity.
E
stress design
K K
1 0
= c = c
E
K
load design
stress design
load design
y Sensitivit
0
=
c
=
Foragivedesignstressanddesignload,theoptimumsensitivitywillresultfroma
maximumvalueofKandaminimumvalueofE
62
Typicalloadcells
Loadcellsareusedformeasuringloadsandreactionsandotherforcesandcan
beclassifiedintocategories,dependingonthetypeofloading.
32
63
Loadcells
Avastnumberofloadcelltypeshavedevelopedovertheyears:
Thefirstdesignssimplyuseastraingaugetomeasurethedirectstresswhichis
introducedintoametalelementwhenitissubjectedtoatensileorcompressive
force
R1
R2
R3
R4
64
Bendingloadcells
Abendingbeamtypedesignusesstraingaugestomonitorthestressinthe
sensingelementwhensubjectedtoabendingforce.
Thestraingaugesarebondedontheflatupperandlowersectionsofthecellat
pointsofmaximumstrain.Thisloadcelltypeisusedforlowcapacitiesand
performswithgoodlinearity.Itsdisadvantageisthatitmustbeloadcorrectlyto
obtainconsistentresults.
33
65
Bendingloadcells
Sincethemajorityofthebeamlength
servesonlytoincreasethemomentat
therigidclamp,variousmodifications
ofthesimplebeamareusedtoreduce
thebeammassintheinterestof
maintainingahighnaturalfrequencyor
toconcentratethestrainatthestrain
gaugelocations.
Areviewofbeambending
characteristicsrevealsthatthesurface
strainpresentinthebeamsurface
linearlyvariesfromthepointof
forceapplicationtotheclamp.Thisimpliesthatthestraingaugeswillexperience
astraingradientandprovideanoutputequatingtotheaveragestrain.Constant
stressbeamsectionscanbefabricatedbytaperingtheedgesofthebeamsuch
thatthetaperededgesprojectedintersectatthepointofloadapplicationtothe
beam
66
Bendingloadcells
Multiplecantilever structuresproducea"multiplebending wheretensionand
compressionstrainfieldsexistonthesamesurfaceofthebeam.
Coupleddualbeamloadcellconfigurationsconvenientlyproduceequaland
oppositeaxialloadswithineachofthebeamsinresponsetoextraneouscouples.
Sincethestraingaugescanbewiredtocanceltheeffectsofaxialloads,theresult
isaloadcellstructurelargelyinsensitivetothepointofloadapplication.The
sensitivityoftheloadcelltooffaxisloadsisminimized.
34
67
BendingRing(Morehouse provingring)
Bothaxialandbendingoccurwithin
thetransductionzoneofthesensor
characterizesringstyleloadcells.
Thebeautyoftheprovingringwith
straingaugesinstalledasshownisthe
factthatallgaugesoftheWheatstone
bridgeideallyexperienceidenticalaxial
strain,resultingincancellationofaxial
straineffectsintheoutputofthebridge.
68
Shearloadcells
Straingaugebasedloadcellstructures,
configuredtooperatebaseduponthe
measurementofshearstrain,provide
highcapacityandlowcomplianceina
compactandlowprofilegeometry.
Itisamoreefficientmethodofload
determinationasitislessdependent
onthewayanddirectioninwhichthe
forceisappliedtotheloadcell.
35
69
Shearloadcells
Straingaugesmeasuringshearareorientedat45degreestotheneutralaxisin
bendingandaremountedtostraddletheneutralaxis.Bendingstressesare,by
definition,equaltozeroattheneutralaxisinbending.Althoughthestraingauge
mustpossesssomefinitephysicaldimensions,byequallystraddlingtheneutral
axisinbending,halfofeachstraingaugewillexperiencesome bendingstrain
whiletheotherhalfwillexperiencethesamestrainintheoppositedirection
therebylargelycancellingbendingintheoutputofthesensor.Practically,the
shearpatternscannotbepositionedwithabsoluteperfectionand shearwebs
cannotbefabricatedwithabsolutesymmetryresultinginlessthanperfect
cancellationofbendingstrains.
70
Loadcellserrors
Excitationvoltage
Higherexcitationvoltage
increasesthetemperature
gradientfromthegagestothe
material
e.g.Interfacecellsoperatesat
10VDC.Increasingtheexcitation
voltageto20VDCwould
decreasesensitivityby0.07%
36
71
Loadcellserrors
Hysteresis
Thedifferencebetweenloadcelloutputreadingsforthesameappliedload,one
readingobtainedbyincreasingtheloadfromminimumloadandtheotherby
decreasingtheloadfrommaximumload.
Thiscouldbeminimizedby
conditioning theloadcell.
Threecyclesfromzeroto
130140%maxload
72
Loadcellserrors
Nonlinearity
Thedeviationoftheincreasingloadcellcalibrationcurvefrom either:
1)astraightlinewhichpassesthroughminimumloadoutputandtheloadcell
outputat75%ofthemeasuringrange;
2)astraightlineconnectingthezeroload
andtheratedloadoutputvalues;
3)thebeststraightlinefittedtooutput
valuesbytheleastsquaresmethod,
throughzeroloadoutput.
Allmeasurementsatastableambient
Temperatureof20Cor68F.
37
73
Loadcellserrors
Creep
Thechangeinloadcelloutputoccurringwithtimewhileunderconstantload
(>90%oftheloadcellcapacity)andwithallenvironmentalconditionsandother
variablesremainingconstant.
MinimumDeadLoadOutputReturn
(MDLOR)
Thedifferenceinloadcelloutputat
minimumdeadload,measured
beforeandaftera30minuteload
applicationofatleast90%ofthe
cell'sratedcapacity
74
Loadcellserrors
Whenweconsiderresolution,repeatabilityandreproducibility ofloadcellwe
needtoconsidertheaboveperformancesintermsofthesystemsweretheload
cellareused.
Thelimitingfactorsaregenerallynotassociatedwiththeloadcell:
properapplicationoftheloadcell
loadingsystemsandmechanicalfixturesusedtoapplytheloads
electricalequipmentusedtomeasuretheloadcelloutput.
Difficultproblemstosolve:
temperaturevariations
forcessuchasairmotionandbuildingvibration
inabilityofhydraulicsystemstomaintainastablepressure
38
75
Loadcellserrors
Repeatability isaffectedbyanyoneofthesefactors:
tightnessofthemechanicalconnectionsoffixtures
rigidityoftheloadframeorforceapplicationsystem
repeatabilityofthehydraulicforcingsystemitself
applicationofadeadweightloadtooquickly(impact)
poorcontrolofreadingtimesintroducingcreepintodata
unstableelectronicsduetotemperaturedrift,
powerlinesusceptibility,noise,etc.
Reproducibility?
Theloadcelliscalibratedatonelocationandthenusedtomeasureforcesat
anotherlocation.
76
ComputerVisionSystemfor
HighPrecisionDisplacementMeasurements
Anumberofapplicationspreventstheuseoftraditionalacquisitioninstruments
andsystem.
Applicationoffastorimpulsiveloads,largedisplacementstests,experimental
activitiespossiblyinducingpartialortotalcollapseofthespecimensarejust
someexamplesoftestsforwhichnormaltransducerscannotbeused.
Themainreasonsare:
limitedreliabilityoftheacquiredsignals(relatedtothehighloadingrate);
highriskofbreakingtransducers(highcost).
Inthesecases,particularlytoavoiddamagesorlossofinstrumentations,contact
lesstransducersareaneffectivesolution.
AtEucentre,wehavedevelopedamachinevisionsystem:anopticalacquisition
systembasedonhighdefinitioncameras,retroreflectivemarkersandinfrared
illumination.
39
77
Highdefinition digital cameras
Markerplacedonthespecimen
Digitalcamera
Markersidentification
performedonacquiredimages
Pixelposition
Worldcoordinate(mm):
[150;50]px [240;80]mm
Measurepositionsofmarkersacquiringandanalysing aseriesofdigitalimages
78
Hardware(AcquisitionUnit)
Each acquisition unit is composed by:
PC with UPS device in a ruggedized case
X64 Xcelera CL-PX4
frame grabber, plugged
into the PCI express 4x
socket
PT4004M60 (Pantera) high definition
digital camera (Dalsa) with NIR filter and
Illuminator
Camera resolution: 2352x1728 (8bpp) at
60Hz, scalable up to 2352x864 at 120Hz
40
79
Hardware(Overall System)
10portsKVMSwitch
forremote
managementof
acquisitionunits
ISOTechSignalgeneratorfor
atriggeredsynchronized
acquisition
3M Reflectivemarkers
(roundedandflatshaped)
80
Software(Acquisition Unit)
Multilayered softwaresolution:EuVision (lower to higher abstraction level)
Dalsa Drivers (Sapera LTSDK) interfaceto framegrabber
C++ /Assembly core analysis module image compression /markers detection
OpenCV C++ higher level frameandsignals filtering management
C++/CLI.NET frontend (User Interface)
WCF /Remoting service listening for remoteautomation
Performs theimage acquisition
Detects andtracks blobs inthe
frame
Converts pixelcoordinates into
worldphysical units
Stores datainlocal orremote
database
Exposes measures to remoteusers
41
81
Software(Overall System)
Remote Controller Application (EuRemote)
Polls each connected unit state
Remotely sets acquisition and storing parameters
Remotely controls the acquisition (start/stop/pause)
Detects blobs identification issues and frames loss
.NET Remoting full duplex application,
written in C#
Optimized binary TCP/IP secure
communication
Synchronized start/stop with < 8ms max
phase error between acquisition units
Virtually unlimited number of stations
connected
82
Blob Detection
IR filter lenses make only the reflective markers
visible in the scene when NIR lighting is on.
Calculation of the centroid for
each blob, using colour intensity
as weight parameter
Blob identification (recognition of
a contiguous set of pixels after the
application of a B/W threshold) in
the scene
Precise up to
1/10 - 1/50
sub-pixel, using
colour transitions
(depending on the
threshold value
and environmental
lighting conditions)
42
83
Blob Tracking (sequence)
A first image is acquired
84
Blob Tracking (sequence)
A first image is acquired
The user can select and
number the blobs to track
43
85
Blob Tracking (sequence)
A first image is acquired
The user can select and
number the blobs to track
Each new grabbed frame is analysed
and measurements can be plotted
during the acquisition
86
Calibration
(1 parametersidentification)
Pin-hole camera model
Extrinsic parameters
Camera
sensor and
lens
distortion
(focus and
lens non-
linearities)
Calibration result (calibration pattern is
reconstructed in the image)
Intrinsic parameters
(relative
roto-translation
between the two
coordinate systems
camera & target)
44
87
Calibration
(2 realworldcoordinatescomputation)
Knowing the roto-
translation matrix allows for
inverse computation of
points lying on the
calibration plane
On-line algorithm projects the optical
ray of each blob center (in pixels
coordinates) into the calibration
image plane (in physical length units
[mm])
88
SystemSynchronization
45
89
Telepresence /remotevisualization
Blobs can be selected for on-line data
transmission to the remote database
Database allows concurrent transactional
data access
Remote applications can show live
measurements during the test
3D geometry model
F.E.M. model with
live displacements
plotted
90
SERIESPOLYMASTExperiment
10 acquisition units connected
Following around 400 markers placed over the specimen
60Hz sampling frequency
Cameras at a distance of 6-8 meters from the structure
Frame dimensions about 1.8 m x 2.0 m
46
91
7700 7702 7704 7706 7708 7710 7712 7714
36.4
36.45
36.5
36.55
36.6
36.65
36.7
36.75
36.8
36.85
36.9
Foundation
D
is
p
l
(
m
m
)
Found C3
Found C6
Found C9 Detail of the displacement measured by
three different acquisition units.
Notice the perfect phase of the signals.
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
-80
-60
-40
-20
0
20
40
60
80
Foundation
D
is
p
l
(
m
m
)
Found C3
Found C6
Found C9
Same plot in a wider range. The
precision obtained (compared
with traditional measurement
devices) is near to 0.05 mm,
corresponding to a 1/10 1/20
sub-pixel in the frame
SERIESPOLYMASTExperiment
92
Movements of the measurement plane, like for example movements of the
specimen towards the camera resulted in errors and distortions
The idea is to apply a simplified calibration pattern to the target plane and perform
an on-line recalibration of the system during the tests
Outofplaneerror
47
93
Calibration Plane
Errors
Actual Plane
Optical Centre
Calibration Origin
This error can be estimated
directly dependent on the
angle between the central
optical ray (which connects
the optical centre and the
calibration origin) and the ray
to the observed marker.
Outofplaneerror
94
6m
2m
Reference
Twocamerasatadistancebetween6and8metersfromthe
calibrationplanewillmeasurethereferenceobjectdisplacements.
Thisreferenceisthenmovedtowardsthecameras(andingeneral asorthogonally
aspossibletothecalibrationplane)andthesemovementsarerecordedbythe
application
Outofplaneerrorestimation
48
95
6m
2m
Reference
Twoothercamerasareplacedandcalibratedinordertofollowthe
outofplanemovementsabovedescribed(theyneedtobeaccurate aspossible,
thereforetheywillbe23metersaway)
Outofplaneerrorestimation
96
x
y
The two front cameras are calibrated on plane A
The reference is displaced along the x axis in order to cause a measurement error
by effect of the out of plane offset
Outofplaneerrorestimation
49
97
x
y
Thesecondcoupleofcamerasiscalibratedonaplanewhichis
orthogonaltothepreviousone(planeB).
Theywillthereforebeextremelypreciseinthemeasurementsoftheoutofplane
movement
Bycombiningtheresultsonthetwoplanes,theerrormadebythetwofrontal
cameraswillbeestimated.
Outofplaneerrorestimation
98
mm
Outofplane error reduction
Asimpleerrorreductioncanbeperformedbyusingthedesiredevolutionofa
targetandcomparingittotheactualdisplacementmeasuredbythesystem.
Thiscanbetherecordingofaslowrigidmovementofthetestspecimenor
comingfromanalternativeacquisitiondevice.
Slowbuilding
movement:
200mm(100mm)
Sinusoidal0.03Hz
Sampledat60Hz
50
99
Outofplaneerrorreduction
Acentralmarkerisusedasthereferencefortheslowmovement
100
Outofplaneerrorreduction
Thealgorithmconsidersandreducesthedistancebetweenthedesired
movement(mainmarker)andthemeasuredevolutionofanyothermarker.
51
101
Outofplaneerrorreduction
Plotoftheevolutionofthedistancebetweenagenericmarkerandthe
mainmarker.Thisdistanceshouldbeasconstantaspossibleinaslow
rigidmovement.Theredlineisthemeasureddistance,theblueoneisits
correctedversion.
102
Outofplane error reduction
(statistics)
Meansandstandarddeviationsofanymarkercomparedtothemain one
(whichhistogramvalueisnullbydefinition)
0,00
0,02
0,04
0,06
0,08
0,10
0,12
0,14
0,16
0,18
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43
Marker
M
e
a
n

e
r
r
o
r

(
m
m
)
before corrected
0,00
0,05
0,10
0,15
0,20
0,25
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43
Marker
S
t
a
n
d
a
r
d

d
e
v
i
a
t
i
o
n

(
m
m
)
52
103
EUVision
Thecurrentimplementationoftheproposedmachinevisionsystem hasshown
avaluableprecisionwhenappliedtoplanarmeasurements.
Thestronghypothesisofhavingeachmarkerlyinginthesameplaneusedfor
thecalibrationfortheentireacquisition,ontheotherside,isalmostnevervalid
forrealapplications.
Differentofflinealgorithmshavebeendevelopedinordertoovercometothe
resultingmeasurementerrorsandcurrentlyapreciseestimationoftheeffectof
thisissueisundergoing.
Atthesametimehumanandsoftwareresourceshavebeenallocatedinlightof
afuturestereoscopicvisionmechanismtobecombinedtotheactual
architecture.
104
8acquisition units connected
Following around 250markers placed over the
specimen
120Hzsampling frequency
Cameras atadistance of 6meters from thestructure
Frames widearound 1.80x1meters
Example scheme andplacing of themarkers
Exampleofapplication
53
105
DataAcquisition
NationalInstrumentsPXI
NationalInstruments
AnalogDigitalConverter
NationalInstruments
SCXIMultiPlexer Chassis
NationalInstruments
SignalConditionerBoards
ConnectionPanels
Instruments
106
SystemPerformance
Acquisitionspeedupto300Ksample persecond:
(themaximumsamplingratedependsonthenumberofconnected
instrument)
Sampletype:18bit
Resolution2x10
17
V
DataAcquisition
54
107
Architecture of an acquisition system
108
Analog to Digital Conversion
Sampling Quantization
Numerical
coding
S(t) S(n)
S*(n)
in
out
Ts
V0=000
V1=001
V2=010
:
V7=111
V(t)
V(n) V*(n) N(n)
Basics of Analogto Digital
Conversion (A/D)
55
109
Sampling:thedeltadistribution
(pulse)
Inthefieldofsignalanalysissomedistributionsarefundamentaltodescribe
sometheoreticalaspects.
ThepulseorDiracdistribution,o(t),canbeviewedasthelimitofaseriesof
rectangularfunctionshavingincreasingheightanddecreasingbaseinorderto
maintainaunitaryarea.
t t t
t d
h=1/d
2h
d/2
d/4
4h
y y
y
o(t)
area=1 area=1
area=1
area=1
110
Sampling an analogsignal
Theoperationoftakingasampleofacontinuousfunctiony(t)atatimet
1
is
mathematicallydescribedastheproductofy(t)withthepulsefunctiono(tt
1
).
t
o(t -t
1
)
t
1
y(t)
t
y(t
1
)o(t -t
1
)
t
1
56
111
Sampling ataconstant rate
Let us consider asequence of infinitepulses spaced by afixed time interval
t 0 T 2T 3T 4T -T -2T
This distribution canbe expressed by thefollowing summation

=
o
i
) iT t (
This distribution canbe obtained as thelimit of aperiodic function f,with
period T,containing all theharmonics of period T/kfor kinteger number >
112
Sampling inthetime domain
Thesampled signal,taken attheconstant rateTS,inthecontinuous time,is
described by theproduct of y(t)andthesequence of deltadistributions
t
0 T
C
2T
C
3T
C
4T
C
-T
C
-2T
C
Inthediscretetime,it is described by asequence of numbers yi =y(iT
S
)
i 0 1 2 3 4 -1 -2


=

=
=
i
S S
i
S
iT t iT y iT t t y ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( o o
57
113
Sampling inthetime domain
Thebasicquestion:
Isthesampledsignalequivalenttotheanalogsignal?
Itispossibletodetermineifsomeinformationislostduringthesamplingprocess
and,oncetheoriginalsignaly(t)hasbeensampledandtransformedintoa
sequencey(n),isitpossibletocompletelyrecovertheoriginalanalogsignal?
Tosolvetheseproblemsweneedtostudythesamplingprocess inthefrequency
domain throughtheFouriertransform.
Thecorrectsamplingrateforasignalcanbechosenbymakingreferencetothe
Nyquist orShannontheorem.
114
Thesampling theorem
(Nyquist orShannon)
Whendigitizingananalogsignals(t)havingaspectrums(f)oflimitedbandwidth
B(s(f)=0forf>B),s(t)mustbesampled,withoutlossofinformation,ata
samplingfrequencythatisatleasttwicethesignalhighestfrequencycomponent
B (SF> 2B).
s(t)=sin(2tft), SF=f (Ts=1/f)
t
s(t)
s(nT
c
)
samples constant component not present ins(t)
58
115
Sampling
Examples of errors introduced by aSFtoo low
B) s(t)=sin(2tft), f<SF<2f (1/f>T
s
>1/2f)
t
s(t)
s(nT
c
)
Samples Lowfrequency oscillation that
does not exist intheoriginal signal
116
Samplinginthefrequencydomain
Westartfromthepropertiesofthe Fouriertransform inthecontinuoustime.
The product inthetimedomainisequivalenttoa convolution inthefrequency
domain.
Thesequenceofpulses(Deltasequence)isaperiodicsignaloffundamental
periodTs,containingalltheharmonicswithequalamplitude:thenitsFourier
transformisstillasequenceofpulsesequallyspacedinthefrequencydomainof
anamountSF=1/T
S
f 0 SF 4SF -2SF
59
117
Theresultofsamplingawaveformy(t)atafrequencySFistoreplicatetheFTof
y=Y(e)aroundthemultipleofe
S
=2tSF


=

=
=
)
`

k
S
i
S
) k Y( ) iT (t y(t) k
F
T
S
e
S
t
e
Y(e)
y(t)
Sampling inthefrequency domain
118
Thus,if thesampling frequency is chosen higher than 2times themaximum
frequency contained insignal,thespectra donot overlap when thesampling
process replicatetheoriginal spectrum each e
s
.Otherwise we canobserve the
foldover of thespectra (aliasing).
e
S
e 0
e
M
e
S
e 0
e
M
e
S
/2 yes
no
Samplinginthefrequencydomain
60
119
Frequency analysis of a
sampled signal
Once fixed the sampling frequency SF, the maximum frequency that can
be represented is half of the sampling frequency, f
N
=SF/2=e
S
/4t and it is
called Nyquist frequency.
0 0 e e e
N
e
N
2e
N
-e
M
e
M
For this reason,intherightexample,thefrequencies from e
N
to e
M
arenot
correctly represented.
120
Example:let us consider 3sinusoids at1.2,5.2e9.2Hzall sampled at4Hz:
they give exactly thesame discretesignal that corresponds to the1.2Hzsinusoid.
Why?
Frequency foldover aliasing
61
121
Aliasing:effect of spectra replication
Asamatteroffact,theFouriertransformofthesinusoidat1.2Hzshowstwo
pulsesat+1.2andat1.2Hz,whicharereplicatedsymmetricallyaround4Hzdue
tothesamplingprocess:theygivepulsesat4k1.2e4k+1.2Hzfork=1,2,..N
5.2Hz=4+1.2Hz>4(k1)1.2and4(k+1)+1.2Hz
9.2Hz=2x4+1.2Hz>4(k2)1.2e4(k+2)+1.2Hz
Wethusfindthesamepulsesinthefrequencydomain.
122
Antialiasingfiltering
OnceaSFhasbeenchosen,weneedtoeliminateallfrequencycomponents
higherthanSF/2beforesamplingthesignaly(t)inordertoavoidthealiasing
phenomenon.
A/D
converter
y(t)
y
i
Antialiasing filter
e
N
e
Simplefirstorder
antialiasing low
passactivefilter
Note:thelowpass
antialiasing filteristhe
onlyanalogfilterthat
cannotbesubstituted
byadigitalfilter.
62
123
Choiceofthesamplingfrequency
1)Samplingtheorem(SF>2fmax)
2)Timeaccuracy(ifwewanttomeasureeventsintimewithanaccuracyoft1,
SF>1/t1)
3)Processingalgorithms(e.g.NumericalDifferentiation oneofthemostused
algorithmsforcomputingthederivativeofasignalisthetwopointscentral
difference,wheretheoutputiscalculatedas
ThisalgorithmbehaveslikeaderivativeuptoafrequencyF=0.224SF,thenit
behaveslikealowpassfilter.)
s
T
k x k x
k y
2
) 1 ( ) 1 (
) (
+
=
124
Quantization
Quantizationcorrespondstothediscretization inamplitude.
ThenumberoflevelsthattheADCusestorepresenttheanalogsignalisthe
resolution.Theamplitudeofasinglelevel iscalledquantizationlevel.Thehigher
theresolution(thesmallerthequantizationlevel),thelargerthenumberof
divisionstherangeisbrokeninto,andtherefore,thesmallerthedetectable
voltagechange.Thefigureshowsasinewaveanditscorrespondingdigitalimage
asobtainedbyan
ideal3bitADC.
63
125
Thequantization error
Thequantization dueto theA/Dconversion introduces an approximation
error,that canbe viewed as an additivenoise (n
Q
)to thesignal (y)
y^=y+n
Q
Thestochastic characteristics of thenoise process canbe easily determined:
1)theprobability distribution is uniform from Q/2andQ/2(theerror can
happen with equal probability inthequantization interval Q)
2)thus mean andvariance are: m
Q
=0; o
Q
2
=Q
2
/12
3)it is awhite noise
4)thenoise is independent from thesignal (it is not correlated)
5)thevariance of thesignal is increased by thequantization noise
o
y^
2
=o
y
2
+Q
2
/12
126
Quantization noise
Rounding Truncation
Probability density
m
Q
=0, o
Q
2
=Q
2
/12 m
Q
=-Q/2
64
127
Quantization noise
ThequantizationleveldeterminestheaccuracyoftheA/Dconversion.
Thequantizationleveldependsonthenumberofbitsusedbythe A/Dconverter.
Example:
8bitcorrespondto2
8
=256differentvalues.
Accuracyis1/256~0.4%ofthewholeanalogrange
(usuallyfrom5Vto+5Vorfrom10Vto+10V).
128
Quantizationandnumericalcoding
Range Rangereferstotheminimumandmaximumvoltagelevelsthatthe ADC
canquantize.Recentacquisitiondevicesofferselectableranges sothatthe
deviceisconfigurabletohandleavarietyofvoltagelevels.Withthisflexibility,
youcanmatchthesignalrangetothatoftheADCtotakeadvantageofthe
availablemeasurementresolution.
CodeWidth Therange,resolution,andgainavailableonanacquisitiondevice
determinethesmallestdetectablechangeinvoltage.Thischange involtage
represents1leastsignificantbit(LSB)ofthedigitalvalueandisoftencalledthe
codewidth.Theidealcodewidthisfoundbydividingthevoltagerangeby the
gaintimestworaisedtotheorderofbitsintheresolution.Forexample,a16bit
acquisitiondevice,hasaselectablerangeof0to10or10to10Vandselectable
gainof1,2,5,10,20,50,or100.Withavoltagerangeof10to10V,andagain
of20,theidealcodewidthisdefinedbythefollowingequation:
V 63 , 7
2 20
10 10
16
=

+
65
129
RelativeAccuracy Relativeaccuracyisameasureinleastsignificantbitsofthe
worstcasedeviationfromtheidealacquisitiondevicetransferfunction,a
straightline.Relativeaccuracyisdeterminedbyconnectingavoltageatnegative
fullscale,digitizingthevoltage,increasingthevoltage,andrepeatingthesteps
untiltheinputrangeofthedevicehasbeencovered.Whenthedigitizedpoints
areplotted,theresultwillbeanapparentstraightline(leftdiagram).However,
youcansubtractactualstraightlinevaluesfromthedigitizedvaluesandplot
theseresultingpoints,asshownintherightdiagram.Themaximumdeviation
fromzeroistherelativeaccuracyofthedevice.
Quantizationandnumericalcoding
130
Continuous Waveform Acquisition
Dataacquisitionapplicationsthatdonothaveapredeterminednumberof
samples,orthatrunforsuchlengthsoftimethatasinglebufferofdataistoo
largetopracticallyfitintomemorymayneedtomakeuseofcontinuous
acquisition.
Inacontinuousacquisition,dataisplacedintoacircularbuffer bythehardware.
Simultaneously,thesoftwareremovespreviouslyacquireddatafromthebuffer,
processandstoresdataonapermanentmemory(disk).Typicalprocessing
operationsincludemathematicaloperations,screendisplay,andfileI/O.
Aslongasthesoftwareremovesdatafromthebufferatleastas fastasthe
hardwareprovidesit,thecircularbufferneverfills,andtheoperationmay
continueendlessly.
66
131
Thedatabufferfordoublebufferedinputoperationsisconfiguredasacircular
buffer.Inaddition,thesoftwarelogicallydividesthebufferintotwoequal
halves.Thecoordinationschemeissimple thesoftwarecopiesdatafromthe
circularbufferinsequentialhalvestoatransferbuffercreatedbytheuser.
DoubleBuffered InputOperations
132
Aproblemoccurswhenaninputdeviceoverwrites databeforeithasbeen
transferredtothetransferbuffer.ThesituationispresentedinFigure
Anotherproblemwithcontinuouswaveformacquisitionisthatthe softwarefails
toremovethedataasfastasthehardwareprovidesit.Whenthishappens,an
overruncondition occurs.Thisisduetothesoftwareloopthatisretrievingthe
data.Ifitbecomesimpossibletospeedthecodeanyfurther,thedataacquisition
willneedtobeslowed.
Problems with continuous acquisition
67
133
Multiplexing
Acommontechniqueformeasuring
severalsignalswithasingleADCis
multiplexing.Signalconditioning
hardwareforanalogsignalsoften
providesmultiplexingforusewith
slowlychangingsignals.
TheADCsamplesonechannel,switchestothenextchannel,samplesit,switches
tothenextchannel,andsoon.BecausethesameADCsamplesmanychannels
insteadofone,theeffectivesamplingrateofeachindividualchannelisinversely
proportionaltothenumberofchannels sampled.Forexample,aconverter
samplingat1MS/son10channelswilleffectivelysampleeachindividual
channelat100KS/s
134
Problems of multiplexing
1. Samplescomingfromdifferentchannelsareneversimultaneous
2. Evenifsingularsignalspresentslowvariationsintime,themultiplexedsignal
mayappeartobeahighfrequencyoscillatingsignal(seeFigure wherea40
channelmultiplexedacquisitionsignalisrepresented)
3. TheprogrammableamplifierbeforeADCmusthaveaveryfastresponse
(settlingtime)
68
135
136
NumberofChannels Thenumberofanalogchannelinputsisspecifiedforboth
singleendedanddifferentialinputs fordeviceswithbothinputtypes.
Singleendedinputs areallreferencedtoacommongroundreference.These
inputsaretypicallyusedwhentheinputsignalsarehighlevel(greaterthan1V),
theleadsfromthesignalsourcetotheanaloginputhardwareareshort(lessthan
5m),andallinputsignalsshareacommongroundreference.
Ifthesignalsdonotmeetthesecriteria,youshouldusedifferentialinputs.With
differentialinputs,eachinputhasitsowngroundreference;noiseerrorsare
reducedbecausethecommonmodenoisepickedupbytheleadsiscanceledout.
Analoginputs
Singleended
(Potentiometer)
Floatingsource
(termocouple)
69
137
We often describe the effect of the signal conditioning by the term transfer
function. By this term we mean the effect of the signal transformation on
the input signal. Thus, a simple voltage amplifier has a transfer function of
some constant that, when multiplied by the input voltage, gives the output
voltage.
It is possible to categorize signal conditioning into several general types:
Signal level changes
Linearization
Conversions
Filters and Impedance matching
Loading
Signal conditioning
138
Thesimplestmethodofsignalconditioningistochangethelevelofasignal.The
mostcommonexampleisthenecessitytoeitheramplify orattenuate avoltage
level.
Generally,monitoringapplicationsresultinslowlyvaryingsignalswhereDCor
lowfrequencyresponseamplifierscanbeemployed.Animportantfactorinthe
selectionofanamplifieristheinputimpedance thattheamplifierofferstothe
sensor(oranyotherelementthatservesasaninput).
Inprocesscontrol,thesignalsarealwaysrepresentativeofaprocessvariable,
andanyloadingeffectsobscurethecorrespondencebetweenthemeasured
signalandthevariablevalue.
Insomecases,suchasaccelerometers andopticaldetectors,thefrequency
responseoftheamplifierisveryimportant.
Level change
70
139
Often,signalconditioningisusedtoconvert onetypeofelectricalvariationinto
another.Inthesecases,itisnecessarytoprovideacircuitto convertthischange
eithertoavoltageortoacurrentsignal.Thisisgenerallyaccomplishedbybridges
whenthefractionalresistancechangeissmalland/orbyamplifiers whosegain
varieswithresistance.
SignalTransmission
Animportanttypeofconversionisassociatedwiththeneedoftransmitting
signalsas420mA currentlevelsinwire.Thisgivesrisetotheneedforconverting
resistanceandvoltagelevelstoanappropriatecurrentlevel atthetransmitting
endandforconvertingthecurrentbacktovoltageatthereceivingend.Of
course,currenttransmissionisusedbecausesuchasignalisindependentofload
variationsotherthanaccidentalshuntconditionsthatmaydrawoffsome
current.Thus,voltagetocurrentandcurrenttovoltageconvertersareoften
required.
Conversions
140
Often,thedependencethatexistsbetween
inputandoutputofasensorisnonlinear.
Eventhosedevicesthatareapproximately
linearmaypresentproblemswhenprecise
measurementsofthevariablearerequired.
Historically,specializedanalogcircuitswere
devisedtolinearize signals.
Themodernapproachtothisproblemisto
providethenonlinearsignalasinputtoa
computerandperformthelinearization
usingsoftware.
Virtuallyanynonlinearitycanbehandledin
thismannerand,withthespeedofmodern
computers,innearlyrealtime.
Linearization
71
141
Often,spurioussignalsofconsiderablestrengtharepresentinthetesting
environment,suchasthe50or60Hzlinefrequencysignals.
Motorstarttransientsalsomaycausepulsesandotherunwantedsignalsinthe
processcontrolloop.Inmanycases,itisnecessarytousehighpass,lowpass,or
notchfilters toeliminateunwantedsignalsfromtheloop.Suchfilteringcan be
accomplishedbypassive filtersusingonlyresistors,capacitors,andinductors;or
active filters,usingoperationalamplifiersandfeedback.
Impedancematching isanimportantelementofsignalconditioningwhen
transducerinternalimpedanceorlineimpedancecancauseerrors in
measurementofadynamicvariable.Bothactiveandpassivenetworksare
employedtoprovidesuchmatching.
FiltersandImpedancematching
142
Oneofthemostimportantconcernsinanalogsignalconditioning istheloading
ofonecircuitbyanother.
Supposetheopencircuitoutputofsomeelementisavoltage,sayVx,whenthe
elementinputissomevariableofvaluex.Loadingoccurswhenwedoconnect
something,aload,acrosstheoutput,andtheoutputvoltageoftheelement
dropstosomevalue,Vy <Vx.
Quantitatively,wecanevaluateloadingasfollows.Thevenin's theoremtellsus
thattheoutputterminalsofanyelementcanbedefinedasavoltagesourcein
serieswithanoutputimpedance.
Loading
72
143
TheelementismodeledasavoltageV
X
andaresistanceR
X
.Nowsupposeaload,
R
L
,isconnectedacrosstheoutputoftheelementasshowninthefigure.R
L
could
betheinputresistanceofanamplifier,forexample.Acurrentwillflowand
voltagewillbedroppedacrossR
X
.Itiseasytocalculatethattheloadedoutput
voltagewillthusbegivenby
Thisequationshowshowtheeffectsofloadingcanbereduced.Clearly,the
objectivewillbetomakeR
L
muchlargerthanR
X
,thatis,R
L
>>R
X
.
Theratio(VxVy)/Vx iscalledtheloadingerror (orinterconnectionerror).
Note: Theinputimpedanceofagoodamplifierisoftheorderoftenthsof
MOhms andtheoutputimpedanceofatransducermayvaryfrom100ohms to
tenthsofkOhms.
|
.
|

\
|
+
=
x L
x
x y
R R
R
V V 1
Loading
144
Scheme of acommercially
available system
73
145
ReducingNoisein
DataAcquisitionSystems
146
Currentflowthroughoneormoreunintendedpaths,knownasgroundloops,
createsmeasurementerrors.Eachgroundhasauniquevoltagepotential,which
maydifferfromothergroundsinadataacquisitionsystem.Undergeneral
operatingconditions,thesepotentialdifferences,orcommonmodevoltages,
rangefrommillivolts totensofvolts.
Onewaytominimizethelargedifferencesingroundpotentialis tousethesame
groundedACoutlettopowerthecomputer,dataacquisitionsystem,andsystem
undertest.
Groundingproblems
74
147
However,evenwhenallthedataacquisitionequipmentoperatesfromthesame
ACoutlet,groundloopsstilloccur.
Insituationswhereacommonmodevoltageexceeds1015volts,usersshould
consideremployingisolatedsignalconditioningequipment.Generally,data
acquisitionsystemsthatareisolatedorthatarefloatingelectricallyprevent
groundloops.
Groundingproblems
148
Wheninstallingshieldedleads,theshieldingshouldneverbegroundedatboth
ends.Anypotentialdifference causingcurrentflowthroughtheshield(withthe
capacitiveproximityoftheshieldtothecentreconductor) canresultinanoisier
connection.Groundingtheleadsatbothendsalsosimultaneously couplesother
noiseintothesignalleads,whichnegatestheadvantageofusingshieldedleads.
Inputleadsmadeoftwistedpairs oftenpreventnoiseaseffectivelyasshielding.
Twistedpairsaremadebytwistingtwoloosewiresintoasingle spiralpair.The
tighterthespiral,themoreeffectivethetwistedpair.Twisted pairsalsoimprove
mostmeasurementstakeninreverseproportiontothesignallevels.
InputLeads
75
149
Inmostcases,userscanincreasedata
accuracybymakingdifferentialvoltage
measurements(seeFigure).
Thisisaccomplishedbyattachingthe
channelinputleadsdirectlytothe
voltagepointandthemostappropriate
referencepoint.
Differentialconnectionsworkwell
becausethenoiseonthehighanalog
inputleadcloselyapproximatesthe
noiseonthelowanaloginputlead.This
noisevoltagecanbeconsiderably
higherthanthesignalthattheuseris
attemptingtomeasure.
V
m
=V
+
V

DifferentialMeasurements
150
Oneofthemostcommonmistakesmadewhensettingupadifferential
measurementisfailingtoestablishabiasingpath betweentheirdifferential
inputs.Alldifferentialmeasurementapplicationsrequireabiasingpath.Although
specificapplicationsmayalreadyhaveanestablishedbiasingpath,othersmust
haveoneestablishedorthedatawillbeinvalid.Userscaneasilyestablisha
biasingpathbyconnectingaresistor(10KOhmsto1MOhms)fromthelow
inputlinetotheanalogcommonline.Inanapplicationwithmultiple
measurementpointsreferencedtothesameanalogcommonline,usersneed
onlyoneconnectiontothedataacquisitionsystem'sanalogcommonline.
DifferentialMeasurements
76
151
Wiring configurations
152
Wiring configurations
77
153
Wiring configurations
154
Manyusersmaynotconsideraveragingtheirdataforfearoflosingvaluable
informationonsignalvariations.However,whenthesignalcanbeconsideredas
steady,averagingprovidesmoreaccuratedatabyreducingnoiseviathesquare
rootofanumberofaverageddatasamples.
Datacollectedfordynamicsignalsshouldnotbeaveragedbecauseittendsto
becomedistorted.
Beforeauserdecidestoaveragethedatafortheirsteadysignalmeasurements,
theyshouldconsiderseveralimportantfactors.Averaginggenerallyeliminates
onlyrandomnoise;itcannoteliminatemanytypesofsystemnoise(e.g.noise
thatoccurswiththesamedelayafteratriggeringevent).
Averagingisusefulonlytotheextentthatthenoisecomponentofasignal
averagestozero.Noiseinmeasurementsdecreasesonlyasthesquarerootof
thenumberofmeasurements.Therefore,incertainapplications,reducingthe
RMSnoisetoasinglecountbyaveragingwouldrequirefartoomanysamples.
Averaging
78
155
AnalogandDigital Filtering
Some50(60),100(120),and150(180)HzresidualnoiseemittedfromAC
equipmentisvirtuallyimpossible toeliminateonlybyanaccuratewiring
connections.
Dependingonthefrequencyofthesignalbeingmeasured,userscanemploy
eitherlow,orhighpass,ornotchfiltering.Multiplefiltersprovidegreater
attenuation.Sometimesasimplefilteringapproachatthesignal sourcehelps.For
example,asmallcapacitor(range0.001Fto0.1F)acrossasignalsource
removesmuchofthehighfrequencynoise.Thistechniqueworkswellwithstrain
gageoutputsandotherlowlevel,lowfrequencysensors.
However,thebestmethodtoeliminatenoisewithinthesignalfrequencyrangeis
throughdigitalfilters.Theyhavenumerousadvantageswithrespecttoanalog
filters:
1. theycanbeverysharpineliminatingundesiredfrequencies(notch).
2. theycanbedesignedwithzerophaseshift (differentlyfromanalogfiltersthat
alwayspresentphaseleadorlag).
3. mostofthemcanoperateinrealtimeacquisition
156
1. Oppenheim A.V. andWillsky A.V. Signals andSystems,PrenticeHall,1983.
2. Dataacquisition fundamentals,NationalInstruments Application Note007,
2000
3. Schraff F.,StrategiesforIncreasingMeasurementAccuracy:ReducingNoise
inDataAcquisitionSystems,Sensors,1996
4. Cerna M.,HarveyA.F.,ThefundamentalsofFFTbasedsignalanalysisand
measurement,NationalInstruments Application Note041,2000
5. Benzoni G.,Experimental Mehods inEarthquake Engineering,Notesof the
MSc course atROSESchool (IUSSPavia),2010
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