Transducers

• Definition: A transducer is a device which converts

the quantity being measured into an optical,
mechanical, or - more commonly - electrical signal.
• The energy-conversion process that takes place is
referred to as transduction.
• Transducers are classified according to the
transduction principle involved and the form of the
measurand. Thus a resistance transducer for
measuring displacement is classified as a resistance
displacement transducer.

Transducer elements
Most transducers consist of a sensing element
(Sensor), and a conversion or control element.

Transducer
Primary Secondary output
signal Sensing signal Conversion signal
or control
element element

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 Classification of Transducers by Signal Form
Form of signal Measurands
Thermal Temperature, Heat, heat flow, entropy, heat capacity etc.
Radiation Gamma rays, X-rays, ultra-violet, visible, infra-red, micro-
waves, radio waves etc.
Mechanical Displacement, velocity, acceleration, force, torque, pressure,
mass, flow, acoustic wavelength and amplitude etc.
Magnetic Magnetic field, flux, magnetic moment, magnetisation,
magnetic permeability etc.
Chemical Humidity, pH level and ions, concentration of gases,
vapours and odours, toxic and flammable materials,
pollutants etc.
Biological Sugars, proteins, hormones, antigens etc.
Electrical Charge, current, voltage, resistance, conductance,
capacitance, inductance, dielectric permittivity, polarisation,
frequency etc.

Characteristics of an Ideal Transducer

• High fidelity- the transducer output waveform shape should be a
faithful reproduction of the measurand; i.e. there should be minimum
distortion.
• There should be minimum interference with the quantity being
measured; i.e. the presence of the transducer should not alter the
measurand in any way.
• Size. The transducer must be capable of being placed exactly where it
is needed.
• There should be a linear relationship between the measurand and the
transduced signal.
• The transducer should have minimum sensitivity to external effects.
Pressure transducers, for example, are often subjected to external
effects such as vibration and temperature.
• The natural frequency of the transducer should be well separated from
the frequency and harmonics of the measurand.

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 Desirable Transducer Characteristics
Characteristic Ideal value
Response Exactly linear and noise free.
Baseline Zero point.
Response time Zero for instantaneous response.
Frequency band-width Infinite for instantaneous response.
Time to reach 90% of Zero for instantaneous response.
final value
Full -scale reading, ymax Calibrated max. output , e.g. 20 mA
current.
Working range, (ymax - ymin) Infinite.
Sensitivity High and constant over entire working
range.
Resolution Infinite.

Undesirable Transducer Characteristics

Characteristic Meaning
Non-linearity Response is not proportional to the input signal.
Slow response Output is slow to reach a steady-state value.
Small working range Operating range is highly restricted.
Low sensitivity Sensor can only respond to large input signals.
Sensitivity drift Output varies with time, e.g. change in ambient
temperature.
Baseline drift Output varies with time.
Offset Systematic error in transducer output.
Offset drift Offset drifts in time, e.g. due to transducer ageing.
Ageing Output changes with time.
Interference Output is sensitive to external conditions, e.g.
stray electromagnetic radiation, humidity etc.
Hysteresis System error in the input-output curve.
Noise Output contains an unwanted random signal.

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 Measuring System
Transduced Conditioned
• Three function elements: signal
signal
– transducer, G1 θi θ0
– signal conditioner, G2 G1 G2 G3
– recorder or indicator, G3
• The symbol θ is used in general to denote signal, θ i for
input signal, θo for output signal. The operation of each
element is represented by the transfer operators G1, G2 and
G3. The overall effect of the measurement system is given
by: θo = G1G2 G3θi

In-process and In-cycle Measurement

• In-process gauging will be used to refer to
measurement carried out whilst the process for
producing the dimension concerned is still in
operation.
• In-cycle measurement can then refer to measurements
taken after the dimension concerned has been
produced, but before the part has been removed from
the machine. This category can also include work
done by measuring devices which are contained in a
group of machines through which the part passes in
sequence.

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 Force-measuring transducers
• Coil springs
• Cantilevers
• Beams
• Diaphragms
• Piezoelectric force transducers
• Accelerometers
• Electrical-resistance strain gauges

Displacement transducers
• Resistive displacement transducers
– Translational
– Rotational (rotary potentiometer)
• Capasitive displacement transducers
– Variable-area type
– Variable-separation type
• Inductive displacement transducers
– Variable-coupling transducers
– Differential transformers , LVDT

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Angular displacement transducers
• Potentiometers
• Absolute angular encoders
– Binary code
– Gray code
• Incremental angular encoders

Acceleration transducers
• Accelerometers

• LVDT (Linear variable differential

transformer)

• Strain gauge

• Piezoelectric

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 Vibration transducers
• Relative-motion transducers
– Capacitive vibration transducers
– Inductive vibration transducers
• Absolute-motion transducers
– Electromagnetic seismic-mass velocity
transducers
– Piezoelectric accelerometers

Application Area
• This concerns the physical quantity (or
quantities) to be measured or the process
to be monitored and/or measured.
• Other aspects include the required supply
voltages such as AC or DC, the
environmental conditions, and ranging.

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 Example (Application Area)
A digital temperature measurement system is specified as follows:
– Temperature range -50°C to +150°C
– Operating temperature -10°C to +40°C
– Storage temperature -40°C to +75°C
– Power 100 V AC ± 10%, 120 V AC ± 10%, 240 V AC ± 4%,
selected by internal switches, 50-400 Hz, 5 W max.
– Display 7.5 mm high, 3.5-digit, 7-segment LCD, with decimal
point location and °C indication.
– Analog output: 0-10 V for complete range and load >1 kΩ,
0-20 mA or 4-20 mA, load < 600 Ω.
– Relative humidity <90%

Resolution
• Resolution is defined as the smallest change at the
input which can be processed by the system.
• Resolution is defined in different fashions, e.g.:
– the smallest change of the input value, δxmin
– the smallest change of the input value related to the
maximum input value, δxmin /xmax
– the reverse of the above definition, or [δxmin /xmax]−1
The last two definitions are sometimes called relative
resolutions.

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 Example (Resolution)
First, consider a four-digit decimal display with a fixed decimal
point, one position from the right. The specified resolution is 0.1
unit. The maximum value to be displayed is 999.9, consequently the
relative resolution is about 10−4 or 104. mode
Secondly, we have to determine the relative resolution of a digital
voltmeter (DVM) in voltage model, in current mode and in
resistance mode. From the specifications delivered by the
manufacturer we can read the respective resolutions in the different
modes. Assume they are specified as follows:
10 mV at ±200 V 0.1 μA at 2 mA 0.1 Ω at 2 k Ω
Then, the respective relative resolutions are:
in voltage mode: 200/10 X 10−3 = 2 X 104
in current mode: 2/0.1 X 10−3 = 2 X 104
in resistance mode: 2 X 103 /0.1 = 2 X 104

Accuracy and Inaccuracy

• The accuracy of a system is a figure of merit which
describes the probability that the measurand is correct.
• If it is claimed the accuracy is 1% we certainly do not
mean the accuracy is 1%, but the inaccuracy is 1% and
hence the accuracy is 99%.
• The accuracy equals (1 − inaccuracy) and so they are
the complement of each other.
• Causes of inaccuracies include calibration faults,
tolerances of components, interference, mismatching of
stages, applying the wrong method, environmental
conditions, etc. We can distinguish two types of error:
absolute and fractional.

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1. Absolute error
(a) The absolute error can be defined as the difference
between the measurand, m, and the true value, tv,
absolute error = m − tv
(b) The absolute value of the error is defined as the
absolute error, neglecting the sign, absolute error
value = ⎟ m − tv⎟
(c) The fractional absolute error is defined as the
ratio of the absolute error and the value of full scale
deflection, fsd, often expressed as a percentage.
fractional absolute error = (m − tv)/fsd X 100%

Example: (Absolute error)

Suppose the measured value is 19.8 V, the true
value is 19.9 V and full scale deflection is 100
V, then

absolute error = 19.8 − 19.9 = − 0.1 V

absolute value of error = ⎟ − 0.1 ⎟ = 0.1 V
fractional absolute error = (−0.1/100) X 100%
= − 0.1%.

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2. Fractional error
• The fractional error is defined as the ratio of the absolute error
value and the measurand, often denoted in percentage value,
fractional error = ⎟ m − tv⎟ /m X 100%
• Example: Applying the same values as in the previous Example
we find fractional error = ⎟ [(19.8 − 19.9)/19.8] ⎟ X 100% = 0.5%
• Constant independent errors can be considered as additive errors,
while errors depending on the measured value can be considered
as multiplying errors.
• Multiplying errors often deliver a constant fractional error and are
strongly related to the inaccuracy of the display method applied.

Linearity
• The non-linearity of a system can be defined as the
maximum deviation of the specified approximated linearity.
non-linearity = Δxmax/ xmax
This value can be expressed as a percentage.
• Other examples of frequently occurring static non-linearity
mechanisms are
(a) saturation, e.g., in a transistor characteristic;
(b) jamming, e.g., the maximum supply level is achieved;
(c) dead zone, e.g., when hysteresis is involved.
These non-linearities are called static because they can occur
when slowly varying signals are involved.

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 Linearity (2)
• When rapid changes are involved another type of non-
linearity comes into scope, called slew-rate. Slew-rate is
defined as the time rate of change of the output voltage for
a voltage step applied at the input. For instance, the slew-
rate of an amplifier is specified as 100 V/μs.
• For sine wave-shaped signals an alternative definition is
used; it is the maximum frequency at which the peak
output voltage swing can be obtained without distortion.
Changes in the input are time-limited at the output; in
other words, the slope is always less than π/2.

Offset and Drift

• Offset can be defined as the deviation of the output signal from
zero when the input is zero.
• A difference is made between input offset and output offset.
• Drift can be defined as a slow variation of a zero-setting.
• Example: Every data book of operational amplifier
specifications contains information concerning the offset and
drift of a specific amplifier. For instance, for instrumentation
amplifiers the following specifications are known:
typical max
input offset voltage ±40.0 μV 100.0 μV
drift ± 0.4 μV/K 1.8 μV/K
long-term stability 0.4 μV/month 2.0 μV/month
offset current 10.0 nA 75.0 nA
slew-rate 1.7 V/μsec 1.9 V/μsec

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 Principles of Offset Voltage and Current
• Every active element requires a certain biasing current and
voltage in order to make this element operative in the
desired region. With the input signal source put to zero, the
effect of this biasing will result in a certain output voltage
level.
• The required input voltage to be applied to make the output
voltage exactly zero, is called the input offset voltage of the
active element.
• The required input current to be applied to make the output
voltage exactly zero, is called the input offset current of that
active element.

Principles of Offset Voltage & Current (2)

• In both definitions it is presumed that the signal source is
set to zero. Both conditions must be fulfilled to make the
output zero.
• The required voltage and current to make the output
voltage zero can be considered to be delivered by two
independent sources Vbias and Ibias in the single-stage case
and Voffset and Ioffset for the differential stage.
• Usually, for operational amplifiers, the (input) offset
voltage and the (input) bias current are specified by the
manufacturer.

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 Environmental Conditions
• Environmental conditions describe the
specified circumstances to which the system
is subjected during manufacturing.
• It also describes the environmental
conditions under which a system may be
used to remain within the specified regions:
aspects such as shock and vibration
resistances, humility, laboratory or missile
launch conditions, and so on.

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