Scribd
Upload
17 views

Measurements and Instrumentation

Criteria and know how's when dealing with measurements and instruments

Uploaded by

mugabibenjamin1972
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
17 views

Measurements and Instrumentation

Criteria and know how's when dealing with measurements and instruments

Uploaded by

mugabibenjamin1972
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 28

Instrument characteristics

Two types
• Static
• Dynamic
Static Characteristics
• Accuracy
• Precision
• Tolerance
• Range or Span
• Linearity
• Sensitivity of measurement
• Threshold
• Resolution
• Sensitivity to disturbance
• Hysteresis
• Dead Space
Accuracy
• A measure of how close the output reading of
the instrument is to the correct value

• Inaccuracy is the extent to which a reading


might be wrong, and is often quoted as a
percentage of the full-scale (f.s.) reading of an
instrument
Precision/repeatability/reproducibility
• Precision is a term that describes an
instrument’s degree of freedom from random
errors
• Precision is the repeated measurement of a
set of values relative to each other rather than
the actual value
• If a large number of readings are taken of the
same quantity by a high precision instrument,
then the spread of readings will be very small
Repeatability
• The closeness of output readings when:
 The same input is applied repetitively over a
short period of time
With the same measurement conditions,
same instrument and observer
Same location and same conditions of use
maintained throughout
Reproducibility
• The closeness of output readings for the same
input when:
 There are changes in the method of
measurement
Observer
Measuring instrument
Location
Conditions of use and time of measurement
Range or span
• Defines the minimum and maximum values of
a quantity that the instrument is designed to
measure
Linearity
• It is normally desirable that the output
reading of an instrument is linearly
proportional to the quantity being measured
Tolerance
• Closely related to accuracy and defines the
maximum error that is to be expected in some
value
• It is not strictly a static characteristic of
measuring instruments but accuracy of some
instruments is sometimes quoted as a tolerance
figure
• Tolerance describes the maximum deviation of a
manufactured component from some specified
value
Sensitivity of measurement
• A measure of the change in instrument output
that occurs when the quantity being
measured changes by a given amount
• Sensitivity is the ratio of Scale deflection to
value of measurand producing deflection
Threshold
• Input to an instrument is gradually increased
from zero
• Input has to reach a certain minimum level
before the change in the instrument output
reading is of a large enough magnitude to be
detectable
• This minimum level of input is known as the
threshold of the instrument
• Manufacturers specify threshold for
instruments variably
• Some quote absolute values, whereas others
quote threshold as a percentage of full-scale
readings
• As an illustration, a car speedometer typically
has a threshold of about 15 km/h
• This means that, if the vehicle starts from rest
and accelerates, no output reading is
observed on the speedometer until the speed
reaches 15 km/h
Resolution
• When an instrument is showing a particular
output reading, there is a lower limit on the
magnitude of the change in the input measured
quantity that produces an observable change in
the instrument output
• Resolution is sometimes specified as an absolute
value and sometimes as a percentage of f.s.
deflection
• Resolution of an instrument is influenced by how
finely its output scale is divided into subdivisions
• Using a car speedometer as an example again,
this has subdivisions of typically 20 km/h

• This means that when the needle is between


the scale markings, we cannot estimate speed
more accurately than to the nearest 5 km/h

• This figure of 5 km/h thus represents the


resolution of the instrument
Sensitivity to disturbance
• As variations occur in the ambient
temperature etc., certain static instrument
characteristics change
• The sensitivity to disturbance is a measure of
the magnitude of this change
• Such environmental changes affect
instruments in two main ways, known as zero
drift and sensitivity drift
• Zero drift is sometimes known as bias
• Zero drift or bias describes the effect where
the zero reading of an instrument is modified
by a change in ambient conditions

• This causes a constant error that exists over


the full range of measurement of the
instrument

• The mechanical form of bathroom scale is an


example of an instrument that is prone to bias
Sensitivity drift (scale factor drift)
• Defines the amount by which an instrument’s
sensitivity of measurement varies as ambient
conditions change
• Quantified by sensitivity drift coefficients that
define how much drift there is for a unit
change in each environmental parameter that
the instrument characteristics are sensitive to
• Many components within an instrument are
affected by environmental fluctuations

• For example temperature changes

• For instance, the modulus of elasticity of a


spring is temperature dependent
Hysteresis effects
Hysteresis is the difference between the readings of
the same variable(eg pressure) reported when the
value is increasing as compared to decreasing
Dead space
Dead space is defined as the range of different
input values over which there is no change in
output value.
Any instrument that exhibits hysteresis also
displays dead space
Is it similar to threshold????
• Dynamic characteristics (refer to the book)

End of lecture iii

You might also like