Lecture notes

Instructor: Ha Le Nhu Ngoc Thanh, Ph.D.

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 Preface
1. Instructor – Ha Le Nhu Ngoc Thanh, Ph.D.
▪ Email: [email protected]
▪ Department: Mechatronics Engineering

2. Course Schedule:
▪ Lecture: Thursday, 13:20 – 15:10, Online Course
▪ Assignment: TBA
▪ Midterm exam: Week 8 (TBA)
▪ Final exam: Week 16 (TBA)

3. Textbooks and references

▪ Main book:
[1]. “Sensor and Actuator: Control System Instrumentation”, Clarence W. de Silva, 2nd Edition, CRC Press
[2]. “Sensors and Actuators”, Francisco Andre Correa Alegria, Would Scientific
▪ References:
[3]. “Sensor and Transducers”, Ian R. Sinclair, 3rd Edition,

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 Lecture 1+2:
Control and Instrumentation

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 Some general statements
• Control system: Dynamic system that contains a controller as a integral
part.
• Dynamic system can be quite complex and may be subjected to known or
unknown excitations (i.e., input)
• Example: Aircraft is a complex control system.

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 Some general statements
• The plant or process: The physical dynamic system (e.g., a mechanical system)
the response which (e.g., vibrations) needs to be controlled is called the plant or
process.
• e.g.

Control arm
(Actuator)

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 Some general statements
• Controller: The device that generates the signal (or command) according to
some scheme (or control law) and controls the response of the plant called the
controller.

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 Some general statements
• Desired manner (set-point, reference command) : a certain command signals
or inputs are applied to the controller and the plant is expected to behave
(response) in a desirable manner.

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 Some general statements
• Actuator (actuating devices): Perform control actions as well as to drive the plant
directly such as stepper motor, DC motors, AC motors, valves, relays, solenoids,
cylinder, etc. (see it in other Chapters)

• An actuator may be directly connected to the driven load, and this is known as
the direct-drive arrangement. More commonly, however, a transmission device
(see it another Chapter) may be needed to convert the actuator motion into a
desired load motion and for proper matching of the actuator with the driven
load.

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 Some general statements
• Sensor/Transducer: Measure the output signals (process responses) of the
system / monitoring / diagnosis
• Signal modification: Comprise of signal conditioning (amplification,
filtering, etc.) and signal conversion (Analogue Digital Conversion - ADC,
Digital Analog Conversion DAC, capabilities for transmitting) since many
different types and levels of signals are presented in a control system)

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 What is sensor/transducer?
• Comparison between intelligent machine and human body structure

Sense brain Body

Working
environment
Sensor Computer Actuator

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 What is sensor/transducer?
Definition of sensor/transducer (no uniform, various interpretation)
• A Sensor is an object whose purpose is to detect events or changes in its
environment, and then provide a corresponding output
• A sensor is a type of transducer; sensors may provide various types of output,
but typically use electrical or optical signals.
• A sensor is a device that, when exposed to a physical phenomenon (temperature
displacement, angle, velocity, etc.), produces a proportional (linear or nonlinear)
output electrical signal.

Thermocouple sensor
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 What is sensor/transducer?
For signal perspective: Two categories of
sensors: Analogue Sensors and Digital
sensor
Analogue sensors produce a continuous
output signal or voltage (raw data)
which is generally proportional to the
quantity being measured. Physical
quantities such as Temperature, Speed,
Pressure, Displacement, Strain etc. are
analogue quantities as they tend to be
continuous in nature.

For example: Using the thermocouple to

measure the temperature of a liquid, we
can use the thermometer, thermocouple
which continuously responds to
temperature changes as the liquid is
heated up or cooled down.

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 What is sensor/transducer?
Digital sensors produce a discrete
digital output signals or voltages (raw
data) that are digital representation of
the quantity being measured. Digital
sensors produce a binary output signal
in the form of a logic “1” or a logic “0”,
(ON, OFFF). This means then that a
digital signal only produces discrete
(non-continuous) values which may be
outputted as a single “bit”, (serial
transmission) or combining the bits to
produce a single “byte” output (parallel
transmission)

For example: To measure the speed of a

motor, we use an Encoder sensor.

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 What is Sensor/Transducer?
• For signal conditioning perspective: The sensors can be divided into passive
and active sensor

e.g. ultrasonic sensor, lidar sensor, e.g. thermocouple, microphone,…

encoder,…

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 What is Sensor/Transducer?
• A transducer is a device that converts one form of energy into another.
A typical example is a mercury thermometer: thermal energy is converted into mechanical
energy in the expansion of mercury within the thermometer.

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 What is Sensor/Transducer?
• Another definition: A transducer is more than a sensor. It consists of a
sensor/actuator long with signal conditioning circuits.
• A signal conditioning circuit which is a circuit to ensure the signal to be strong
enough for further processing. A system might contain many stages before the
signal finally reaches its destination to derive meaningful information.
• Input of transducer is called sensor, output of transducer is called actuator

• Example:

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 Example of common sensors/actuators
• Sensor and Actuators Used in Some Common Engineering Applications

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 Example of common sensors/actuators
• Sensor and Actuators Used in UAV

Barometer sensor,
GPS sensor

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
• The choice of a sensor or actuator for an specific application depends on the
requirements of that application and the characteristics of the
sensors/actuators that are provided by the manufacture.
• There are some specifications that apply to most sensors are discussed:
1. Transfer function 10. Repeatability
2. Sensitivity 11. Dead zone
3. Range. 12. Saturation
4. Accuracy
5. Precision
6. Hysteresis
7. Nonlinearity
8. Noise
9. Resolution

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
1.Transfer function (TF) of sensor:
- Transfer function specifies the functional
relationship between the input quantity
and the electrical output signal. This
relationship is generally described by a
graph or mathematic equation.

- Example: transfer function of a relative

humidity sensor.
Dash line: manufacturing tolerance
Thick line: typical value (measured value)
Straight line: ideal value.

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
2. Sensitivity:
- The parameter “sensitivity” specifies how large is the variation of the output
with respect to a variation of the input signal.
- Sensor is more sensitive when the same input but the output is larger

e.g.
motorcycle

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
3. Range:
- It specifies the range of values of the quantity being measured that can be
converted into an electrical signal. Values outside this range usually lead to a
large measuring error.
- e.g. Lidar Scanner Sensor

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
4. Accuracy:
- It parameter specifies the maximum error with which the sensor is supposed
to make measurement. This error is the difference between the actual value
and the measured value.
- e.g. pressure sensor

Measured curve

Ideal curve

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
5. Precision:
- When a sensor performs several measurements of the same quantity under the
same conditions, the results obtained are not necessarily the same. This is due
to the inevitable presence of noise in the sensor and/or the electronic circuit
that accompanies it
- e.g. distance sensor

A) B) C)

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
5. Precision:
- Compare precision and accuracy

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
6. Hysteresis:
- Some sensors do not always have the same output for a given value of the
measured quantity. This value depends on the derivative of the transfer
function, as seen in Figure. This is called hysteresis

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
7. Nonlinearity:
- Ideally, the transfer function of a sensor should be linear
- Linear characteristic: an angular coefficient of the tangent of the transfer
function curve is constant
- Nonlinear: other cases

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
8. Noise:
- All sensor produce some noise along
with the output signal. Noise comes in
two forms, electrical and seismic. The
power supply typically transmits
electrical noise through the connection to
the sensor. Seismic radiates from an
outside sources such as an airplane
engine or a siren. When these acoustic
waves are present. The sensor will detect
this as vibration.
- Sensors are often placed in noisy
environments such as factories, trains,…

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
8. Noise:
- Noise is unavoidable of a dynamical system. But there are some solutions to
minimize this interference such as filter techniques: low pass filter, average
filter, Kalman filter,….

Low pass filter

Average filter

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
9. Resolution:
- The resolution is defined as the minimum detectable variation of the quantity
to be measured. Example of LiDAR sensor, and Encoder

Encoder resolution is commonly measured in

pulses per revolution (PPR) for incremental
encoders and bits for absolute encoders

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
10. Repeatability :
- For repeatability to be established, the following conditions must be in place:
the same location; the same measurement procedure; the same observer; the
same measuring instrument, used under the same conditions; and repetition
over a short period of time.
- “the repeatability coefficient” is a measurement of precision, which denotes
the absolute difference between a pair of repeated test results.

Example of repeatability error

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
11. Dead Zone :
- The dead zone is range of values of the measurand for which sensor output
varies very little in comparison to the rest of the measuring range

Dead
zone

e.g. LiDAR sensor

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 Criteria to choose a Sensor
12. Saturation:
- Saturation is a state in which the signal that needs to be measured is larger
than the dynamic range of the sensor. When that happens, the output of the
sensor becomes the limiting value of the sensor range.

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 Some popular sensors
• Accelerometer — Measures the acceleration to which the mobile phone is subjected.
The original function was to measure the acceleration of gravity to orient the image on
the screen when the phone was oriented differently. Other applications have emerged,
such as measuring the number of steps taken or estimating speed
• Gyroscope — Measures the angular speed of the phone. This information allows the
accelerometer to help determine the orientation of the mobile phone. It can also be
used in games where the mobile phone simulates the steering wheel of a vehicle
• Magnetometer — Determines the magnetic field around the phone. The determination
of the direction of the earth’s magnetic field allows the real-time orientation of the
maps presented in navigation applications. This sensor is also used in applications that
make it possible to detect the presence of metals as they disturb the magnetic field
around them.
• Global Positioning System (GPS) — The mobile phone receives information from
several satellites in orbit around the Earth that allows the estimation of the position of
the mobile phone on the Earth’s surface. This is used in navigation applications.

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 Some popular sensors
• Barometer — Measures atmospheric pressure and can be used to determine the
altitude at which the device is located as well as providing information used for
weather forecasting.
• Proximity Sensor — Located next to the microphone, it allows you to determine
when the phone is close to the ear and turning off the screen, preventing unwanted
commands from being executed through the touch panel.
• Ambient Light Sensor — Determines the amount of ambient light and is used to
decrease the brightness of the phone’s screen in low light situations to save battery.
• Fingerprint Sensor — Determines the user’s fingerprint and compares it with prints
stored in a local database to allow access to the mobile phone.
• Temperature sensor — Used to determine the air temperature.
• Camera — Used to take pictures.
• Touch Screen — Used as an interface between the user and the device
• Microphone — Captures the user’s voice for phone calls or the surrounding sound
when recording videos

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 HCMUTE Univ. - FME
https://fme.hcmute.edu.vn/

Lecture notes info

Sensors and Actuators
Fall 2021

Ha Le Nhu Ngoc Thanh, Ph.D.

[email protected]
Sites: https://sites.google.com/view/halenhungocthanh/courses?authuser=0

The End of Lecture 1+2

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