Advanced Sensors

By: Ashay Tejwani Presenter: Debajyoti Nandy

Purpose

To give you a general idea of which sensor will be best suited for a certain application you think of.

Temperature Sensors

Infra Red Thermopile Sensors

All objects give out IR Radiation. This radiation is a fixed function of the temperature. IR Thermopile sensors give a voltage output proportional to the intensity of radiation received. This can be then related to the temperature of the object.

Infra Red Thermopile Sensors

Application areas:
Ear thermometers Non Contact Thermometers Wind shield defogging Industrial Temperature control Home appliances Health care Thermal relay

http://www.thermometrics.com/assets/i mages/thermopile.pdf

Ambient Temperature sensor

LM35DT A precise integrated circuit temperature sensor Has linearity better than thermistors and an accuracy of 0.5oC

Ambient Temperature sensor

Uses:
Thermostat Along thermopiles to remove ambient temperature interference.

http://www.therobotlab.co.uk/2011/sim ple-thermostat-lm35dt-arduino/

Light sensors
A Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) gives a resistance proportional to the ambient light. The resistance decreases as intensity of light increases.

Light sensors

Uses:
Automating lights to start working when ambient light falls below a minima. In detecting the intensity of light from a source.

http://littlescale.blogspot.in/2007/11/connectingldr-to-arduino.html

Occupancy Sensors

Motion Sensor
These sensors work by detecting changes in IR power/sound/ultrasonic waves/microwaves within their Field of View. The sensor works by converting these changes into 5 Volts signal on its output.

Motion Sensor

Uses:
Motion detection Object presence detection Surveillance

http://elcodis.com/parts/2241627/AMN 34112.html

Humidity Sensor

Humidity Sensor
The sensor element is built out of a film capacitor on different substrates (glass, ceramic, etc.). The dielectric is a polymer which absorbs or releases water proportional to the relative environmental humidity, and thus changes the capacitance of the capacitor, which is measured by an onboard electronic circuit.

Humidity Sensor

Uses:
Moisture regulation Wheather conditions measurement Sound measurement experiments

http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduin o-Temperature-Humidity/

Force Sensors

Force Sensors
These sensors work on the primary principle of Piezo-electricity. They convert mechanical stimulus into an electrical / voltage signal proportional to the deformation it brings about on the piezo sensitive element.

Force Sensors

Uses:
Pressure Gauge Tap detection Force/impact measurement Load Cells Strain Gauge

http://www.ladyada.net/learn/sensors/f sr.html

IMUs

IMUs

Inertial Measurement Units: an electronic device that measures and reports on a craft's velocity, orientation, and gravitational forces, using a combination of accelerometers and gyroscopes, sometimes also magnetometers

IMUs

Uses:
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Quadrotors Satellites

http://code.google.com/p/ardu-imu/

Accelerometers
Accelerometers are commonly used to measure rate of change of velocity and tilts in systems. Their usage has become common in a wide range of devices, including mobile phones. Refer to:

Hand Gesture Input Gloves Gesture Controlled Car Hypnotized car all completed in ECSP 2011, based on accelerometers.

http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/ADXL3xx http://www2.usfirst.org/2005comp/Manuals/A cceler1.pdf

Gyrsocope
A gyroscope measures rate of change of acceleration. It is used in inertial measurement units along with an accelerometer http://www.instructables.com/id/Guideto-gyro-and-accelerometer-withArduino-inclu/

Magnetometer
It measures the strength and direction of magnetic fields. It can detect ferrous materials to a greater depth than a normal metal detector.

Flex Sensors

Flex Sensors
The resistance of these sensors varies with the extent to which one bends them. However, their sensitivity degrades with time. Hence, not a highly recommended sensor. Also, contacts melt on soldering, hence difficult to interface.

Flex Sensors

Uses:
Finger motion detection Detecting motion of joints

http://www.sparkfun.com/datasheets/S ensors/Flex/flex22.pdf

Proximity Sensors

Proximity Sensors
Emits an electromagnetic beam (Infrared, for instance), and looks for changes is field of the return signal. Types:

Phototransistor SHARP sensors TSOP Ultrasonic Range finders

Proximity Sensors

Uses
Obstacle detection Touch switch Vibration measurements in turbines Anti aircraft warfare Automatic car parking systems

http://bildr.org/2011/03/variousproximity-sensors-arduino/

Microphone
Convert audible sound into voltage signals. Uses:

Microphones Pick-ups Acoustic projects

http://negativeacknowledge.com/2008/ 06/final-lightbar-controller/

Non Invasive Current Sensor

Also known as Split Core Current Transformer, it can be clamped around a wire to know the amount of current flowing through it. http://openenergymonitor.org/emon/no de/58

The End
Hope this session was informative and helps in deciding the kind of sensor you need for your projects. You can refer to the links for more information about each sensor and contact mentors for further information. All the best for ITSP 2012.