Life Support

2. Sensors
By:
1 Dr. Mohammed Abdul-Muttaleb
2
Sensors and actuators

 Sensors and actuators are examples of

transducers

A transducer is a device that converts

one physical quantity into another

 Sensor: an input transducer (i.e., a microphone)

 Actuator: an output transducer (i.e., a loudspeaker)

 Types of sensors

1. Resistive
2. Capacitive 4. Piezoelectric
3. Inductive 5. Photoelectric
6. Pyroelectric
7. Hall effect
8. Thermocouple

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1.Resistive Sensors
1.Resistive Sensors
1.1 Potentiometers: It is a resistance element with a sliding
contact which is moved over the length of the element.
 Used for monitoring
Linear or circular
displacements.
 The fraction ratio (f ) is
equal to f = xi/L = fi/ft
If the total track resistance =Rp then the resistance
between the sliding terminal and the reference terminal
= f Rp
1.Resistive Sensors
Potentiometers are linear elements (Vo is linearly
proportional to Vs) but as a load is placed across the output
linearity disappear and error is introduced.
Req= f RpRL/ f Rp+RL
Vo=Vs* Req/ Req+(1-f )Rp
=Vs f a
(Rp/RL)f (1-f )+1
Error=f Vs – Vo = Vs(Rp/RL)(f 2-f 3)
d(error)/df =0 f =2/3 for max. error
 1.Resistive Sensors
EX1: A potential resistor of 500W is connected with a multi-meter which has an
internal resistor of 10KW calculate the error if| the Vs=4v when f=0.5 (Vo=?)

𝑣𝑠𝑅𝑝
𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = ∗ 𝑓2 − 𝑓3
𝑅𝐿
500
𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = 4 ∗ 10000 ∗ 0.52 − 0.53 = 0.025 (2.5%)
  What happens when RL = 5KW instead of 10KW?

𝑣𝑠𝑅𝑝
𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = ∗ 𝑓2 − 𝑓3
𝑅𝐿

Good multi-meter should have low or high input impedance?

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  HW: If a voltmeter of 10KW internal resistance is
connected to a potentiometer of 500W total
resistance which is connected to a 10V voltage
source 1)find the error if the slide is a)at the
middle b)at the position which produces the
maximum error. C) derive the expression for the
maximum error.

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 1.Resistive Sensors
1.2 Resistance Temperature Devices (RTDs):
RTDs are made of materials whose resistance changes in
accordance with temperature
a)Metals

RT: R at t temperature
R0: R at 0 Co
α: Temperature coefficient

Why Platinum is used widely?

 Stable (linear)
 Wide range of temperature
 Example
 A platinum resistance thermometer has a
resistance of 100 ohm at 0C. Determine the
change in resistance that will occur when the
temperature rises to 30 C if the temperature
coefficient is 0.0039C-1

𝑅𝑡 = 𝑅0 + 𝑅0 𝛼𝑇

Δ𝑅 = 𝑅0 𝛼𝑇 = 100 ∗ 0.0039 ∗ 30 = 11.7W

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1.Resistive Sensors
Photo conductive: semiconductors used for their property
of changing resistance when electromagnetic radiation is
incident on them.

They are often called CdS cells (Cadmium-Sulfide) or LDR

(Light Dependent Resistor)
 1.Resistive Sensors

Lux values
• Dark night (0.002)
• Living room (50)
• (32,000–100,000) Direct
sun light
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 LDR circuits

1. Voltage divider 2. Switch circuit

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 Photo transistor
 They are p-n junctions which
produce a change in current when
electromagnetic radiation is incident
on the junction.

 Faster and more sensitive LDR.

 Varying current rather than resistance.
 The output is either on or off
 1.Resistive Sensors
1.3 Strain Gauge: consists of a resistance element in the form
of a flat coil of wire
Resistance is related to length and area of cross-section
of the resistor and resistivity of the material as

By taking logarithms and differentiating both sides, the equation becomes

Dimensional piezoresistance

Δ𝑅
= 𝐺𝐸
𝑅
E: Strain
G: sensitivity or gauge factor
 Example
 An electrical strain gauge has a resistance of
120W and a gauge factor of 2.1. Find the
change in resistance when a strain of 0.0005
is applied along the length.

Δ𝑅
 = 𝐺𝐸
𝑅
 Δ𝑅 = 𝑅𝐺𝐸=120*2.1*0.0005=0.126 W

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 T1.Resistive Sensors
• Resistive Touch
The resistive touchscreen consists of a
glass panel with a resistive coating plus a
coversheet with a conductive coating.
The two layers are separated by tiny
insulating dots.
When the screen is touched, the
coversheet flexes to make electrical
contact with the coating on the glass.
The controller alternately drives the X
and Y axes on the glass layer with a +5V
current and reads the resulting voltage
from the cover sheet,
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 Resistive sensor application: Oximeter
 Types:
 Transmissive pulse oximetry
 Reflectance pulse oximetry

A transmissive pulse oximetry

send a light ray from a diode
and measure the amount of
received light on the other end

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 Oximeter
• One LED is red, with wavelength of 660 nm,
and the other is infrared with a wavelength of
940 nm.

• Absorption of light at these wavelengths differs

significantly between blood loaded with oxygen
and blood lacking oxygen.

• Oxygenated hemoglobin absorbs more infrared

light and allows more red light to pass through.
Deoxygenated hemoglobin allows more infrared
light to pass through and absorbs more red light.

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 the device passes two wavelengths of light through the body part to a
photodetector. It measures the changing absorbance at each of
the wavelengths, allowing it to determine the absorbances due to the
pulsing arterial blood alone

where HbO2 is oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyhemoglobin) and Hb is

deoxygenated hemoglobin.

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 Resistive sensor application: Oximeter
 Reflectance pulse oximetry is a less common alternative to
transmissive pulse oximetry.
 This method does not require a thin section of the person's
body and is therefore for feet, forehead, and chest, but it also
has some limitations.

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24
Wheatstone bridge
Wheatstone bridge: Consists of 4 resistors in a diamond
orientation, with a resistive transducer in one or more legs.
VS VS
I1 = I 3 = I2 = I4 =
R1 + R3 R2 + R4
Vo = I1 R1 − I 2 R2 b a
R1 R2
Vo = VS − VS
R1 + R3 R2 + R4
R1 R2
if = , Vo = 0
R3 R4

𝑅2 𝑅3
𝑅1 = 𝑅4
When Vo=0

Used to measure resistance accurately

 Wheatstone bridge as a sensor
If R1 is a sensor and its resistance is changed to be R1+ΔR1;
therefore Vo is changed to be Vo+ΔVo

Δ𝑅1
Δ𝑉𝑜 ≈ 𝑉𝑆
𝑅1 + 𝑅3

Δ𝑅
For Strain gauge = 𝐺𝐸
𝑅

𝑉𝑠 𝑅1 𝐺𝐸
Δ𝑉𝑜 = 𝑅1 +𝑅3
 Load cell

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Different Types of Sensors
2.Capacitive Sensors
Input being measured is transformed into a
capacitive change. The capacitive (C) of a parallel
plate capacitor depends on the area (A), separation
distance (d) and the relative permittivity (ε) of the
materials between them given as:

Vacuum permittivity
ε0= 8.85×10−12 F/m.
 An electrolytic It is constructed of
capacitor is made of two or more
Aluminum evaporated alternating layers
on either side of a very of ceramic and
thin plastic film (or a metal layer acting
electrolyte) as the electrodes.
• Low frequency
• high frequency
• High value • Lower value
• Polarized • stable

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 Capacitive Touch Screen
 Capacitive touchscreens
work by sensing the
conductive properties of an
object, usually the skin.
 When a capacitive panel is
touched, a small amount
of charge is drawn to the
point of contact.
 A controller measures the
current from different
corners to determine the
location
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 Humidity Sensor
 Capacitive: A capacitive humidity sensor measures
relative humidity by placing a thin strip of metal oxide
between two electrodes. The metal oxide’s electrical
capacity changes with the atmosphere’s relative humidity.
Weather, commercial and industries are the major
application areas
 Resistive: Resistive humidity sensors utilize ions in salts
to measure the electrical impedance of atoms. As
humidity changes, so does the resistance of the electrodes
on either side of the salt medium.

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 Example: A capacitive sensor consist of two plates in air, the plates
being 50mm square and separated by a distance of 1mm. A new sheet
of dielectric material of thickness 1mm and 50mm square can slide
between the plates. Determine the capacitance of the sensor when
the sheet has been displaced so that half of it is between the
capacitor plates. The dielectric of the new sheet is 4 and it can be
presumed as 1 for the air.
 𝐶𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = 𝐶𝑎𝑖𝑟 + 𝐶𝑛𝑒𝑤
Eo Er A −12 −3 2
𝐶𝑎𝑖𝑟 = = 8.85 ∗ 10 ∗ 1 ∗ 50 ∗ 25 ∗ 10 /1 ∗ 10−3
D
=1.106*10-11 =11.06 pf
Eo Er A −12 2
𝐶𝑛𝑒𝑤 = = 8.85 ∗ 10 ∗ 4 ∗ 50 ∗ 25 ∗ 10 /1 ∗ 10−3
−3
D
=4.425*10-11 =44.25 pf
𝐶𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 =11.06+44.25=55.31 pf
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 3.Inductive Sensors
3.1 Variable reluctance sensor: in a similar way that a
electromotive force drives current through a resistance a
magneto-motive force drives flux though a reluctance
m.m.f=flux (f)*reluctance(S)

Reluctance(So) =L/ μr μoA

Reluctance of air gap (Sa)=2d/ μoA

ST= So+ Sa

ST= L/ μr μoA+ 2d/ μoA

 3. Inductive Sensors Applications
 Detection of ferrous metals - steel, iron, cobalt,
nickel
 Determine the position of a mechanical moving
object
 Speed calculator
 Coil and transformer production

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 ‫‪solenoid valve‬‬
‫‪ ‬وهو عبارة عن صمام الكترو‪-‬ميكانيكي الي يستخدم بشكل شائع لتنظيم جريان السوائل والغازات‪.‬‬
‫‪ ‬يتم هذا بشكل اساسي عن طريق اما فتح او اغالق فوهة الصمام بواسطة تنشيط الملف‬

‫‪ ‬يستخدم هذا الصمام في معظم تطبيقات التدفق الي تحتاج الى ايقاف واسماح بجريان السوائل والذي‬
‫يتم تشغيله الكترونيا لهذا الغرض من خالل تنشيط وايقاف تنشيط الملف‪.‬‬
‫‪ ‬من اسباب شيوع استخدامها هو امكانية وضعها باماكن بعيدة او نائية والتحكم بها بسهولة عن طريق‬
‫مفاتيح كهربائية بسيطة‪.‬‬
‫‪ ‬وكدذلك بسبب عمرها الطويل ‪ ،‬سرعة التبديل بين حالة التشغيل الى االيقاف وبالعكس‪ ،‬احجامها‬
‫الصغيرة وكذلك استهالكها المنخفض للقدرة‬

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 Radio-frequency identification (RFID)
 uses electromagnetic field to
automatically identify and track
tags attached to objects.
 Passive tags collect energy from
a nearby RFID reader.
 Active tags have a local power
source (such as a battery) and
may operate hundreds of
meters from the RFID reader.

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 Applications
 1
 2
 3
 ….

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 Wireless charging

 Advantageous
 Protected connections
 Used in medical devices

 Disadvantages
 Slow charging
 More expensive

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 HW. Show that the output voltage for a Weatstone bridge
with a strain gauge which has identical platinum resistors
is equal to:

𝑉𝑠 𝐺𝐸
𝑉0 = 2

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4.Piezoelectric Sensors
 Piezoelectricity: some dielectric materials when stretched
its surfaces become charged

Strain causes a
redistribution of charges
and results in a net
electric

• A piezoelectric material produces

voltage by distributing charge (under
mechanical strain/stress)
 Energy harvesting

• In a microphone, we need to convert sound energy

(waves of pressure traveling through the air) into
electrical energy

• power source is not necessary hence can be used to

convert kinetic energy to electricity

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 The other way round!
 If you pass electricity through the same
crystals, they "squeeze themselves" by
vibrating back and forth!
 Can be used in ultrasound equipment, a
piezoelectric transducer converts electrical
energy into extremely rapid mechanical
vibrations.
 In quartz clock

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 Ultra-sonic sensor

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  85 to 180 Hz (male)
 165 to 255 Hz (female)

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 Ultrasonic Sensor

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 Ultrasonic Sensor

Time=distance/speed

𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆
𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 = ∗ 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅
𝟐

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 Multi-sensors

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 Fire Alarm
 An optical smoke
detector contains a source of
infrared, visible, or ultraviolet light,
a lens, and a photoelectric receiver.
 All of these components are
arranged inside a chamber.
 Piezo-electric loud speaker is used.

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51
Carbon monoxide detector
• Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless, and tasteless gas
that is near impossible to identify without a proper detector.

• It is caused by fuels not burning completely

• Metal-oxide detectors have open chambers containing

sensors made of metal (tin or platinum) oxide.

• Usually the percent is 0.2 ppm

(particle per million) for clear
air
• It shouldn’t exceed 35 ppm
for more than one hour
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 Carbon monoxide detector
• When there's carbon monoxide around, the metal
oxide reacts with it: the carbon monoxide "steals"
oxygen from the metal oxide, converting itself into
carbon dioxide, turning the metal oxide into pure
metal, and producing heat at the same time.

• An electronic circuit monitors the temperature inside

the chamber and sounds the alarm if too much heat is
produced too quickly.

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 6.Pyroelectric Sensors
 Pyroelectricity can be described as the ability of certain
materials to generate a temporary voltage when they are heated or
cooled.
 When the pyroelectric material is exposed to infrared radiation
its temperature rises and the amount of polarization is reduced.
 Charge decreases as temperature
increases.

Used to measure sensitive

temperature changes.
 Stable and can tolerate severe conditions (flame detector)
 Near-infrared detector (trap camera)
Light spectrum

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 Passive InfraRed Sensor (PIR)
 All objects with a temperature above
Absolute Zero (0 Kelvin -273.15 °C) emit
heat energy in the form of infrared
radiation, including human bodies. The
hotter an object is, the more radiation it
emits.

 Passive infrared (PIR) sensors are

sensitive to a person's skin temperature
through emitted body radiation at mid-
infrared wavelengths

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 Passive InfraRed Sensor (PIR)
 When the sensor is idle, i.e. there
is no movement around the
sensor; both slots detect the same
amount of infrared radiation,
resulting in a zero output signal.

 But when a warm body like a

human or animal passes by; it first
intercepts one half of the PIR
sensor, which causes a positive
differential change between the
two halves.
No energy is emitted
from the sensor, thus the
name passive infrared
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58
 Pyroelectric sensor’s applications:

• Security
• Light control system
• Motion activated camera
• Pyrometer

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 Piezo-electric vs Pyro-electric

Piezo-Electric
Mechanical Electrical

Pyro-Electric/thermocouple
Thermo-Elastic

Thermal

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7.Hall effect Sensors
The action of a magnetic field on a flat plate carrying an
electric current generates a potential difference which is a
measure of the strength of the field. A beam of charged
particles can be deflected by a magnetic field (Hall effect).
 Applications
 Electronics compass

 Position sensing of moving objects

Hall effect Magnetometer for Arduino

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 8. Thermoelectric Sensors
Seebeck effect: connecting two different
metals produces a potential difference across
the junction when there is a temperature
difference
V α (T1 – T2)

A thermocouple is an electrical device

consisting of two dissimilar electrical
materials.
 The junctions has to be at different
temperature to produce a voltage

Seebeck effect in a thermopile

made from iron and copper wires
 Principle and applications

• Heat sensor (metal)

• Power generator (semiconductor )
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• smartwatch powered by body heat
 Peltier effect /ˈpɛltɪeɪ/
 When an electric current is passed through a circuit of a
thermocouple, heat is evolved at one junction and absorbed at the
other junction.
• Used for cooling electronics devices
• Cooling function can be turned into heating by simply reversing the
polarity
• Temperature can be accurately adjusted
by adjusting current

65 Arduino Thermoelectric Cooler

MEMS Accelerometer and Gyroscope
 MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical system)

 Measure acceleration by measuring capacitance change inside chip

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 Accelerometer

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 Gyroscope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqZgxR6eRjo
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