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Sensor|TypesofSensor|Electrical4u

Sensor
Asensorisadevicewhichiscapableofconvertinganyphysicalquantitytobemeasuredintoasignalwhichcanberead,
displayed,storedorusedtocontrolsomeotherquantity.Thissignalproducedbythesensorisequivalenttothequantitytobe
measured.Sensorsareusedtomeasureaparticularcharacteristicofanyobjectordevice.Forexampleathermocouple,a
thermocouplewillsenseheatenergy(temperature)atoneofitsjunctionandproduceequivalentoutputvoltagewhichcanbe
measuredbyavoltmeter.Morethetemperaturerise,higherthevoltagereadbythevoltmeter.
Allsensorsneedtobecalibratedwithrespectwithsomereferencevalueorstandarddeviceforaccuratemeasurement.Belowis
thefigureofathermocouple.

Notethatatransducerandasensorarenotthesame.Intheabovegivenexampleofthermocouple.Thethermocoupleactsasa
transducerbuttheadditionalcircuitsorcomponentsneededlikethevoltmeter,adisplayetctogetherfromatemperaturesensor.
Hencethetransducerwilljustconverttheenergyfromoneformtoanotherandalltheremainingworkisdonebytheadditional
circuitsconnected.Thiswholedeviceformsasensor.Sensorsandtransducersarecloselyrelatedtoeachother.

CharacteristicsofSensors
Agoodsensorshouldhavethefollowingcharacteristics
1.HighSensitivity:Sensitivityindicateshowmuchtheoutputofthedevicechangeswithunit
changeininput(quantitytobemeasured).Forexamplethevoltageofatemperaturesensor
changesby1mVforevery1Cchangeintemperaturethanthesensitivityofthesensoris
saidtobe1mV/C.
2.Linearity:Theoutputshouldchangelinearlywiththeinput.
3.HighResolution:Resolutionisthesmallestchangeintheinputthatthedevicecandetect.
4.LessNoiseandDisturbance.
5.Lesspowerconsumption.

TypesofSensors
Sensorsareclassifiedbasedonthenatureofquantitytheymeasure.Followingarethetypesofsensorswithfewexamples.
1.Acousticandsoundsensors
e.g.:Microphone,Hydrophone.
2.Automotivesensors
e.g.:Speedometer,Radargun,Speedometer,fuelratiometer.
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Sensor|TypesofSensor|Electrical4u

3.ChemicalSensors
e.g.:Phsensor,Sensorstodetectpresencesofdifferentgasesorliquids.
4.ElectricandMagneticSensors
e.g.:Galvanometer,Hallsensor(measuresfluxdensity),Metaldetector.
5.EnvironmentalSensors
e.g.:Raingauge,snowgauge,moisturesensor.
6.OpticalSensors
e.g.:Photodiode,Phototransistor,Wavefrontsensor.
7.MechanicalSensors
e.g.:StrainGauge,Potentialmeter(measuresdisplacement).
8.ThermalandTemperaturesensors.
e.g.:Calorimeter,Thermocouple,Thermistor,Gardongauge.
9.ProximityandPresencessensors
Aproximityorpresencessensoristheonewhichisabletodetectthepresencesofnearby
objects without any physical contact. They usually emit electromagnetic radiations and
detectthechangesinreflectedsignalifany.
e.g.:Dopplerradar,Motiondetector.

Furtherclassificationcanbedonebasedontheprincipleofoperationandnatureofoutputsignal(analogordigital).

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