Human body as a sensor

The human body serves as one of the best examples of a complex system
that contains a wide variety of sensors capable of sensitively and selectively
detecting a wide variety of quantities or measurands.

The human eye can detect both small and large objects that may be
stationary or in motion. The eye may also detect very minute variations in color or
shape. Light goes through the pupil is directed by eye lens which points the light at
the nerve cells in the back of eye. These cells send the signal through optic nerve to
the brain. The human vision system does, however,have a finite dynamic range,
which is determined by the visible part of theelectromagnetic spectrum, namely,
from wavelengths of 4,100 Å (violet) to 6,600 Å (red).

The human ear is an example of a very sensitive sensor with a limited

dynamic range. Vibrations of the ear drum are carried through different parts to
fluid filled structure called cochlea. When this fluid vibrates it send signals to brain
through auditory nerve. The frequency range for the ear is limited to 20 Hz to20
kHz.

The human nose represents one of the most sensitive and selective sensors in
the human body. The nose is capable of differentiating minute differences in odor
such as may occur in different types of food. The nerve endings in the upper nasal
passage send the signals to the brain. The limits of sensitivity of the nose are in the
low parts per billion (ppb)to the parts per million (ppm) level in air for a target gas.

tongue has taste buds that can detect the differences in levels of sweetness,
sourness, and saltiness. Taste buds are comprised of cells called gustatory receptor
cells. They send a signal to brain through nerve system.

Touch sensor is usually associated with the hand, but can in fact be located
anywhere in the body. This sensor enables one to determine such physical features
as an object’s size, shape, roughness, and weight.

The sensors within the human body, particularly the five principal sensors,
can be looked upon as real-time control systems. It is essential that these control
systems communicate accurately and effectively so the humanbody can avoid
dangers and perform satisfactorily.
 A sensor is a device that detects changes in its surroundings, like light,
temperature, motion, or pressure, and turns them into signals for measurement or
control.

Types of sensors

Sensing systems can be classified into two main types: active and passive
sensors.

What are Active Sensors?

Active sensors emit energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation towards

the target and measure the reflected or scattered energy. The energy can be in the
form of microwaves, radio waves, or laser beams. Active sensors generate their
own energy and emit it towards the target, and then measure the energy that is
reflected or scattered back.

Active sensors are used in various remote sensing applications, such as:

 RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) for detecting objects and their positions.
 LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) for detecting the distance between the
sensor and the target using laser beams.
 SONAR (Sound Navigation and Ranging) for detecting underwater objects and
their positions.
Advantages of Active Sensors

 Active sensors can penetrate clouds and smoke to detect the target.
 Active sensors can be used to detect objects hidden behind other objects.
 Active sensors can operate at any time of day or night.
 Active sensors can generate 3D images of the target.

 Disadvantages of Active Sensors

 Active sensors require a high energy source to generate the energy required to
detect the target.
 Active sensors can be affected by external factors such as weather conditions and
atmospheric interference.
 Active sensors can be expensive to operate.

What are Passive Sensors?

Passive sensors do not emit energy towards the target but measure the
natural energy that is reflected or emitted by the target. The energy can be in the
form of visible light, infrared radiation, or thermal radiation. Passive sensors
measure the energy that is naturally emitted or reflected by the target.

Passive sensors are used in various remote sensing applications, such as:

 Cameras for capturing visible light.

 Infrared sensors for detecting heat signatures.
 Multispectral sensors for capturing images in different spectral bands.
Advantages of Passive Sensors
 Passive sensors do not require a high energy source to detect the target.
 Passive sensors can be less expensive to operate.
 Passive sensors are not affected by weather conditions or atmospheric interference.
 Passive sensors can capture images with high spatial resolution.
 Passive sensors can provide accurate information about the natural energy emitted
or reflected by the target.
Disadvantages of Passive Sensors

 Passive sensors cannot penetrate clouds or smoke to detect the target.

 Passive sensors cannot be used to detect objects hidden behind other objects.
 Passive sensors are limited to the amount of natural energy emitted or reflected by
the target.

Difference Between Active Sensor And Passive Sensor

Parameters Active Sensor Passive Sensor

Definition An active sensor requires external A passive sensor is one that does
power not require external power

Emission of signals Emit signals into the environment Do not emit signals; detect existing
signals.

External energy source Requires an external energy source Does not require an external
for active components energy source

Operation Actively generate and emit signals, Depends on ambient energy or

then analyze the response or signals and measure variations
reflection without emitting signals

Range Can have a longer range due to May have a limited range based on
actively emitted signals ambient signals.

Applications Used in applications where control Commonly used when detecting

over emitted signals is necessary. existing signals is sufficient.

Examples Radar systems, LiDAR, active Alcohol thermometer , Thermostat

SONAR. in a car ,Infrared sensors, cameras.
The Sensor as Part of a Measurement System
When the sensor is used in a stand-alone measuring device, the desired
output is usually in the form of a digital readout.For example, in the case of the
Taguchi sensor, the signal conditioner is used to translate a measured current to a
digital readout.

If the sensor is used in optimizing the performance of a particular system as

shown.it is one element of a larger system. In this case the sensor output is fed to
an appropriate signal conditioner, which modifies the signal in a form suitable to
interface to the feedback control system.This feedback control system then
appropriately modifies one or more sub systems in the system under study so that
an “optimized” measurand may be produced.
Characteristics of sensors
aging- After repeated use of a sensor over a long period of time some
degradation in the sensor signature occurs. This might be due to the
accumulation of trace impurities or imperfections in the sensing
element. This degradation, the time for which varies from one type of
sensor to another, is commonly referred to as aging.

The response and recovery time- The response time is the time it
takes the sensor to reach 90% of its steady-state value after the
introduction of the measurand. The recovery time is the time that it
takes the sensor to be within 10% of the value it had before exposure
to the measurand.

selectivity- The sensor should respond only to the measurand of

interest and not respond to any other measurand. If a sensor
responds to measurands other than the target, then various signal
processing techniques need to be employed in the signal conditioner
in order to eliminate nontarget measurand signals.

stability - Once the sensor has reached its saturation value, it

should maintain that value until the measurand has been removed.

size, weight, and cost -Three other properties also need to be

considered in the realization of a sensor: namely, size, weight, and
cost. The location of a sensor, either isolated or within another
system, determines the limits on the size and weight of the sensor.
For example, sensors associated with spacecraft and guided missiles
have very small size and weight limitations.
piezoelectric effect.

A piezoelectric substance is one that produces an electric charge when a

mechanical stress is applied (the substance is squeezed or stretched).
This is known as piezoelectric effect .
Conversely, a mechanical deformation (the substance shrinks or
expands) is produced when an electric field is applied. This is known as
inverse piezoelectric effect.
Piezoelectric Mechanical Force Sensor

In a force sensor a piezoelectric sensor (plate) is placed in an

enclosure (cell) in order to form a mechanically rigid cell. A basic
piezoelectric force sensor cell is illustrated in Figure. The cell contains
the piezoelectric plate and two hardened steel cylinders. The
piezoelectric plate is mechanically connected to the internal cylinder,
which is opened to a force and free to move. A change in force causes a
mechanical change in the piezoelectric plate, which results in a
generation of electric charge or voltage. The charge or voltage is
transferred out of the cell using a shielded connector.
Piezoelectric Pressure Sensor

A basic piezoelectric pressure sensor cell is illustrated in Figure

.The piezoelectric plate is mechanically connected to a pressure sensing
diaphragm that acts as a force summing device and creates a stress in
the plate. The diaphragm, in turn, is exposed to a gas pressure that acts
through a perforated cap. The cap protects the sensor against dust,
mechanical damage, and other hostile environmental conditions. A
change in pressure causes a mechanical change in the piezoelectric plate,
which results in a generation of electric charge or voltage, which is then
transferred out of the cell using a shielded connector.
 Metal based Thermometer –
The resistance of a conductor changes when its temperature is
changed. This property is used for measurement of temperature. The Resistance
Thermometer uses the change in electrical resistance of conductor to determine the
temperature. It is referred to as a temperature sensor. When manufactured
carefully, these devices offer an excellent combination of sensitivity, range and
reproducibility.

The requirements of a conductor material to be used in these thermometers are:

1. The change in resistance of material per unit change in temperature must be as

large as possible.

2. Another desirable characteristics for a sensing element is a linear change in

resistance with change in temperature.

3. When the measured temperature is subjected to rapid variations, the speed with
which a resistive element responds to changes in temperature is important.

4. The material used should also have a stable characteristics, that is, either
its resistance or its temperature coefficient of resistance should not undergo
permanent change with use or age.

The electrical resistance of many metals (eg copper, silver, aluminium,

platinum) increases approximately linearly with absolute temperature and this
feature makes them useful as temperature sensors. The resistance of a wire of the
material is measured by passing a current through it and measuring the voltage
across it with a suitable voltmeter. The reading is converted to temperature using a
calibration equation.
Platinum, Nickel and Copper are the metals most commonly used to
measure temperature. Although platinum is expensive, platinum can be drawn into
very thin wires of high purity. The wires can be less than .05 mm in diameter and
the purity greater than 99.99%.
The thermal expansion of platinum is also well matched to insulating
substrates such as silica, alumina, and sapphire. This results in minimum strain at
the platinum-substrate interface, hence minimizing the possibility of the film
disadhering with increasing temperatures.

The length and diameter of the platinum wire used in a

thermometer are often chosen so that the resistance of the device at around 0 ºC is
100 ohms. Such a sensor is a called a PT100 sensor, and its resistance changes by
approximately 0.4 ohms per ºC. These are used to accurately measure the
temperature in nuclear reactors. PRTs are used over the temperature range −200°C
to 750°C.

Other, less popular metal resistance thermometers use copper (Cu),

iridium (Ir), or combinations of rhodium and cobalt (Rh-Co) or platinum and
cobalt (Pt-Co). The Cu thermometer is the most linear, but it has a limited
temperature range (0 to 100°C). The Ir thermometer provides an excellent match to
aluminum substrates and is normally used as a thin film in surface temperature
measurements. Rh-Co and Pt-Co are used primarily for low temperature (.5 to 30
K) applications.

Semiconductor based Thermometer –

Thermometers that use semiconductors as the sensing element
differ from metal-based thermometers in that the resistance decreases with
increasing temperature. Also, in contrast to metals, the free electron density in
semiconductors is not constant but increases with temperature. Also,
semiconductors have vacancies called holes, whose concentration also increases
with temperature.
 Semiconductors can also be doped with either donors or acceptors.
In the case of the former, the electron density increases significantly, resulting in
an n-type semiconductor, whereas in the latter, the hole density increases, resulting

in a p-type semiconductor. In the doped semiconductor the carrier concentrations

increase with temperature, resulting in a behavior similar to that observed for the
intrinsic semiconductor.
Thermometers that use semiconductors are thermally sensitive resistors,
or what is commonly called thermistors. The semiconductors used in thermistors
are not the common semiconductors such as silicon or gallium arsenide. Typically
thermistors use metal oxides or combinations of metal oxides.

Examples of metal oxides that are used in thermistors are the oxides of
tungsten manganese, nickel, cobalt, iron, copper, lithium, magnesium, and
chromium. The most stable mixed metal oxides are Mn-Ni and Mn-Ni-Co.

Thermistors typically have resistance between 10 Ω and 100 MΩ. Due to

the large resistance range, thermistors provide excellent sensitivity and are also
very stable, particularly between 100 and 300°C.

Another application for thermistors is in heat switches. Often at a

particular temperature it is necessary to switch or truncate some ongoing process.
Thermistors that exhibit large resistance changes over a very small temperature
range can be used in these applications.
Quantum sensors
Quantum sensors detect and measure the smallest changes in a wide range of
physical quantities, such as time, position, pressure, temperature, rotation,
acceleration, frequency, magnetic and electric fields and more using the smallest
amounts of energy and matter.
Technology that uses the principles of quantum mechanics to measure physical
quantities with high precision, sensitivity and analyzed data is collected at the
atomic level.
Examples: Atomic clocks, Magnetometers, Gravimeters, Gyroscopes, Acoustic
Sensors, Interferometers, and SQUIDs (Superconducting Quantum Interference
Devices), Quantum Imaging etc.

How do they differ from classical sensors?

Classical sensors are based on classical physical phenomena, such as

electromagnetic radiation or mechanical motion, and are limited by classical noise
and uncertainty.

Quantum sensors uses the principles of quantum mechanics, such as

superposition and entanglement, to achieve greater sensitivity and accuracy.

In classical theory, a body always chooses the least action path and there is only
one path.
In Quantum theory, a particle also always chooses the least action path and it
chooses multiple least action paths simultaneously.

Classical sensors unable to operate in extreme environments and Operate only in

Macro level scale.

Quantum sensors can operate in extreme environments, such as high magnetic

fields or low temperatures and operate at very small scales, such as at the level of
individual atoms or molecules, enabling applications in fields such as microscopy
and nanotechnology.

In classical computers, data is processed in a binary manner as 1 or 0. Simply put,

these 1’s and 0’s indicate the state of ON or OFF, respectively. They can also
indicate TRUE or FALSE or YES or NO. This is also known as serial processing,
which is successive in nature, i.e. one operation must complete before another one
follows.

In Quantum computers, use Qubits as their unit of data. Qubits (unlike bits), can
be a value of 1 or 0, but can also be 1 and 0 at the same time, existing in multiple
states at once. This is known as superposition, where properties are not defined
until they are measured.