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Sensors and Signal Conditioning (UEI 304)

1 Definition, Application and types of measurements, Instrument classification 2
2 Functional elements of an instrument 1
3 Input-output configuration of measuring instruments 1
4 Methods of correction for interfering and modifying inputs, 2

5 Standards, Calibration, Introduction to Static characteristics and Dynamic 2

characteristics, Selection of instruments
6 Loading effects 1
7 Types of errors 1
8 Methods of error analysis, Uncertainty analysis, Statistical analysis 2
9 Gaussian error distribution, Chi-Square test, Correlation coefficient 2
10 Students t-test 2
11 Method of least square, Curve fitting 2
12 Graphical analysis, General consideration in data analysis, Design of 2
Experiment planning

13 Definition, Types, Basic principle and applications of Resistive, Inductive, 2

Capacitive
14 Piezoelectric and their Dynamic performance 1
15 Fiber optic sensors, Bio-chemical sensors 2
16 Hall-Effect, Photoemissive, Photo Diode/ Photo Transistor, Photovoltaic 1
17 LVDT, Strain Gauge 1
18 Digital transducers: Principle, Construction, Encoders, Absolute and 1
incremental encoders

19 Silicon micro transducers 2

20 Operational Amplifiers: application in instrumentation 2
21 Charge amplifier, Carrier amplifier 1
22 Introduction to active filters, Classification, Butterworth, Chebyshev, Couir 2
filters, First order, Second order and higher order filters,
23 Voltage to frequency and frequency to voltage converters 1
 THAPAR UNIVERSITY, PATIALA
Department of Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering
Tut sheet 6
Sensor and Signal Conditioning

Q.1 Three registers of having resistance of 250 ohm, 500 ohm and 375 ohm are
connected in parallel. The 250 ohm resistor has a +0.025 fractional error, the
500 ohm resistor has a -0.036 fractional error and 375 ohm resistor has a
+0.014 fractional error. Determine the fractional error of the total resistance
based upon rated values.
Q.2 Prove that the method of high gain feedback reduces/ minimizes the effect of
modifying inputs in any measurement system.
Q.3 A study has indicated that the life of TV picture tubes manufactured by a
certain firm is normally distributed with a mean life of 5 years [1 year = 365
days] and a S.D. of 500 days. The manufacture gives a guarantee of 1 year.
Determine
i) What % of picture tubes will have to replace in 1 year?
ii) If the manufacturer wishes to replace the same amount of picture
tubes with 2 years guarantee, what should he do?
Q.4 The following table gives the stopping distance D (in meters) during whole of
the time starting from the instant the danger is perceived (i.e. reaction time
plus the breaking time) observed for a car traveling at V (m/s).
Speed( V ) 15 20 25 30 35

Distance (D) 30.7 42.8 57.4 70.5 91.3

Fit the least square straight line (D=aV+c) if V is more accurate than D.
Q.5 (i) Comment upon the given statement and justify your answer The
threshold of an instrument can be less than its resolution.
(ii) What is the significance of chi square test? Explain. Also comment
upon the importance of degree of freedom?
(iii) Is there any relation between the repeatability and precision of an
instrument? Comment.
Define error. If the error in = + 5 then what will be the error in sin ? The
Q.6

value of varies from 0 to 180 .

 THAPAR UNIVERSITY, PATIALA
Department of Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering
Tut sheet 4
Sensor and Signal Conditioning

1. From the experimental data given below calculate A.M, mean deviation, S.D., variance,
S.D. of S.D.,

Value 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Frequency of 1 2 3 6 7 6 4 2 1
occurrence

2. A wire type strain gauge produced by a certain firm has a mean resistance of 75
with a S.D. of 0.3 . They are used in a certain application where the requirements are
75 + 0.42 .
a. What proportion of gauges will be defective?
b. What should the precision be if the manufacturer wants to have 90% within the
required range? Assume the resistance of gauges manufactured to be normally
distributed.

3. The following data points are expected to follow a functional variation of the form y = ax
+ b. Obtain the best predicted straight line relation and draw the least squares for linear
curve fitting. Also calculate the standard deviation of the data from the result.
X 0.9 2.3 3.3 4.5 5.7 6.7
Y 1.1 1.6 2.6 3.2 4.0 5.0

4. Three resistors have following values R1 = 200 + 10%, R2 = 100 + 5% and R3 = 50

+ 5%. Determine the magnitude of the resultant resistances and limiting errors if they are
connected in
(i) series
(ii) parallel.
 THAPAR UNIVERSITY, PATIALA
Department of Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering
Tut sheet 5
Sensor and Signal Conditioning

1. As part of the quality control process, samples of parts are periodically taken for measurement
to see if they conform to specifications. In one sample the diameter of a part is measured
with the following results:
xm1 = 3.56 mm, 1= 0.06 mm, n1= 20
A second sample is taken with the following reulsts:
xm2 = 3.58 mm, 2= 0.03 mm, n2 = 23
Examine these data to determine if they yield the same results with a confidence level of 90
percent.

2. The length of a production part is sampled twice with the following results:
xm1 = 3.632 cm, 1= 0.06 cm, n1= 17

xm2 = 3.611 cm, 2 = 0.02 cm, n2= 24

Determine if the two samples yield the same results with a confidence level of 90 percent.

3. Ten measurements are made of the thickness of a metal plate which give 3.61, 3.62, 3.60, 3.63,
3.61, 3.62, 3.60, 3.62, 3.64, and 3.62 mm. Determine the mean value and the tolerance limits
for 90 percent confidence level.

4. Determine the output current for 1% change in input resistance of current sensitive
equal arm bridge having resistance of 100 ohm in each arm initially. The supply voltage
is 6V and the resistance of galvanometer is 200ohm.
 THAPAR UNIVERSITY, PATIALA
Department of Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering
Tut sheet 7
Sensor and Signal Conditioning

1 Find the strain that results from a tensile force of 1000 N applied to a 10 m long
aluminum bar having cross sectional area 4 10-4 m2. The modulus of elasticity of
aluminum is 69GN/m2
2 A resistance wire strain gauge having a nominal resistance of 350 is subjected to
strain of 500 micro-strain . Find the change in the value of the resistance
neglecting the piezoresistive effect.
3 Compare the resistance change produced by a strain of 150 micro-strain if a strain
gauge having a nominal resistance of 120 is used (i) When made of wire
resistance having a gauge factor of 2.13 and (ii) when made of a semiconductor
material having a gauge factor of 151.
4 A strain gauge is bonded to a steel beam 0.25m long and has a cross sectional area
of 0.4 10-3 m2. Youngs modulus of elasticity for steel is 207GN/m2. The strain
gauge has an unstrained resistance of 240 and a gauge factor of 2.20. When the
load is applied, the gauges resistance changes by 0.013 .Calculate the change in
length of the steel beam and the amount of force applied to the beam.
5 A strain gauge having a gauge factor of 4 is used for testing a machine. If the
gauge resistance is 100 , and the strain is 20 x 10-6 , how much will the resistance
of the strain gauge change ?
 THAPAR UNIVERSITY, PATIALA
Department of Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering
Tut sheet 8
Sensor and Signal Conditioning

1 In a variable capacitive transducer the diaphragms are 20 mm in diameter and

4mm apart. If the pressure produces an average deflection of 0.25mm, Calculate
the value of the capacitance after the application of the force. The capacitance
before the application of the force 400 pF.
2 A parallel plate capacitive transducer has plates of 600mm2 area which are
separated by air by a distance of 0.2mm. Calculate the capacitance of the
transducer. The permittivity of air is 8.85 10-12F/m.
3. A displacement capacitive transducer uses a differential arrangement with two
outer plates which are fixed and a central plate which is moveable. The distance
between fixed and moveable plates is 5 mm when no displacement is applied. A
voltage of 1000 V rms is applied across the fixed plates. Find the differential
output voltage if a displacement of 0.01mm is applied to the central plate. Find
also the sensitivity of the transducer.
4. An LVDT has an output of 6V rms when the displacement is 0.4 10-3 mm.
Determine the sensitivity of this instrument in V/mm. A 10V voltmeter with 100
scale divisions is used to read the output. Two tenths of the division can be
estimated with ease. Determine the resolution of the voltmeter.
5. An LVDT with a secondary voltage of 5V has a range of 25 mm. Find the
output voltage when the core is 18.75 mm for the center.
 THAPAR UNIVERSITY, PATIALA
Department of Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering
Tut sheet 9
Sensor and Signal Conditioning

1 The voltage sensitivity for barium titanate is 12 10-2 Vm/N while that of quartz
is 50 10-2Vm/N. The permitivity of barium titanate is 12.5 10-9 F/m and that
of quartz is 40.6 10-12 F/m . Calculate the charge sensitivities and their ratio. If
the thickness of the crystal in each case is 2.5mm, Calculate the sensitivities in
each case and their ratio.
2 A quartz crystal has the dimensions of 2mm x 2mm x 1mm . Quartz has the
following properties
Charge sensitivity 21 C/N , Youngs modulus of 8.6 10 10 N/m2 , Permittivity =
40.6 10 12 F/ m . Calculate the value of force , charge and voltage if the crystal
is subjected to a strain of 10 10 6 m/m .
3 A flat frequency response within 10% is required from a piezo electric crystal .
Find the value of the minimum frequency for which it can be used if the time
constant is 2ms.Find also the phase angle.
4 The hot junction of a chromel alumel thermocouple is connected to a
potentiometer terminals at 24C . The potentiometer whose terminals are 24 C
reads 25.75 mV . What is the temperature of the thermocouple junction? The
calibration chart of the thermocouple junction is
Temperature C 20 24 28 . 480 488 493
Voltage mV 0.8 0.95 1.12 . 26.25 26.72 26.04
5 A germanium crystal having dimensions of 5mm 5mm 2mm is used for
measurement of flux density. Hall effect co-efficient is 8 x 10-13 V-m/A Wbm-
2. If the current density of the crystal is 0.3 A/mm2 and the voltage developed is
0.36 V. Find the value of flux density.
 THAPAR UNIVERSITY, PATIALA
Department of Electrical and Instrumentation Engineering
Tut sheet 10
Sensor and Signal Conditioning

1 An OPAMP with an open loop gain of 105, impedance = infinity , and output
impedance Ro= 0 and with Vmax= - Vo min= 10 V. If a sinusoidal voltage with 1
V amplitude is applied directly across the input terminals of the OPAMP,
determine the corresponding voltage, vo. Also determine the length of the time
during which the OPAMP is operating in the amplifier region if the period of
sinusoid is 10 s.
2 The supply voltage to an OPAMP is 10 V and its differential gain (open loop) is
105 . In case overloads have to be avoided, the output voltage should not exceed
the supply voltage. Calculate the limiting value of differential Voltage vd = v+ -
v-
3 Design a non-inverting amplifier circuit that is capable of providing a voltage gain
of 10. Assume an ideal OPAMP.
4 Design a inverting amplifier circuit that is capable of providing a voltage gain of
10. Assume an ideal OPAMP.
5 A physical process is described by the equation z =2x 3y
Where x and y are process variables that may be represented by voltages v1 and v2
which are well within the threshold value of the OPAMP. Design an OPAMP
circuit that makes quantity z available as an output voltage vo .Confine the design
to the use of standard resistors. Assume x and y originate as positive quantities
6 A differential amplifier has two inputs +100 mV and + 250 mV connected to its
two terminals. The output voltage is +1.5 V. What is the gain?
7 A differential amplifier has an input e1= +150 mV and e2= +150 mV. If the
amplifier was an ideal one. What would its output? Suppose the amplifier is not
ideal but instead, has an output of 1.5 mV. What is the value of common mode
gain?