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Assignment 1

Lifts use load sensors to measure the weight inside and determine the number of passengers. Photoelectric sensors in the doors use time of flight to measure if anything is obstructing closing. Phones use capacitive touch screens to detect finger position through changes in capacitance. Proximity sensors measure the time infrared light takes to reflect off objects to determine distance from the face. Accelerometers detect tiny mass displacements from movement to allow for motion sensing and orientation changes. Microphones convert sound waves into electric signals by measuring changes in capacitance caused by plate movement.

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Andrew Stephens
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12 views

Assignment 1

Lifts use load sensors to measure the weight inside and determine the number of passengers. Photoelectric sensors in the doors use time of flight to measure if anything is obstructing closing. Phones use capacitive touch screens to detect finger position through changes in capacitance. Proximity sensors measure the time infrared light takes to reflect off objects to determine distance from the face. Accelerometers detect tiny mass displacements from movement to allow for motion sensing and orientation changes. Microphones convert sound waves into electric signals by measuring changes in capacitance caused by plate movement.

Uploaded by

Andrew Stephens
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Assignment 1: Measurement is everywhere

Lifts
Lifts have a load sensor built into them. The measurement taken is the change in weight within the lift; this measurement is taken via a load sensor built into the floor of the lift. This measurement can be used to calculate the number of passengers in the lift. Knowing this is a good safety measure as if the lift is over capacity it will not close the doors, and also in some lifts if the lift is near its capacity it will not make any more pick-up stops until some people have gotten out. The doors of lifts have photoelectric sensors that use a reflector or receiver as a reference point in order to determine whether something is inbetween the doors of the lift. The sensor will fire a beam and will measure the time until the beam is received. If the beam is obstructed this measurement will change and the doors will not shut.

Phone
Capacitive touch screen technology is used in a lot of phones at present. The screen is a layer of capacitors in a co-ordinate layout so that if a point on the screen is touched the capacitance at that point on the screen changes, and the phones processor can determine the exact coordinates of where the user pressed the screen. This technology is used as it allows for multi touch. Most smartphones with touch screens contain proximity sensors that will turn off the screen whilst the phone is close to the users head whilst in use. This is done in order to save battery life and also prevents accidental input to the phone via the users ears or head. The proximity sensor sends out a beam of infrared light and a photo detector on the sensor detects any reflections of the beam. The measurement of how long the beam took to be reflected allows the proximity of the body to be determined. Another sensor in many current smartphones is an accelerometer. These use very tiny hammer like arms, that when the device moves will be displaced from their central position and this tiny movement of mass is detected by capacitors and transformed into a signal the phone can interpret. The accelerometer allows for motion sensing games and allows the phone to adapt to its orientation such as changing the screen from portrait to landscape. All phones use microphones in order to convert sound waves into electric signals. This is done by sound waves causing a movement of a component such as a plate of a capacitor which causes a change of capacitance, which when amplified can be measured.

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