ELEC418 – Instrumentation

Chapter 1:
Introduction to instrumentation
and measurements
Dr. Amal ABDEL RAZZAC

Lebanese University - Fall 2023/2024 1

A skilled instrument engineer, having knowledge of all the instruments
that are available for measuring the quantity in question, will be able
to evaluate the possible list of instruments in terms of their
characteristics, performances and cost-efficiency and thus choose the
most appropriate instrument.

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Content
1. Significance of measurements and instrumentation

2. Reference measurement units

3. Measurement system design

4. Instrument characteristics

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Significance of measurements and instrumentation

‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t control it’

▪ Measurement is a process of obtaining the magnitude of a physical
quantity relative to an agreed standard by using appropriate
instrument.

▪ Instrumentation is a collection of instruments used to:

▪ measure physical quantities,
▪ record the variation of the output over a defined period of time
▪ monitor and control process variables
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Content
1. Significance of measurements and instrumentation

2. Reference measurement units

3. Measurement system design

4. Instrument characteristics

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Standard measurement Units
▪ Performing a measurement means comparing an unknown physical
quantity with a quantity of the same type taken as reference using an
instrument.
▪ The value of a measurand (i.e. the measured parameter) is the ratio of its
magnitude compared with that of a standard.

▪ Agreed set of standard units

▪ International System of Units (SI)
▪ Imperial System of Units

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Base Units in SI

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Derived SI
units
Expressed in
terms of the
fundamental
base units

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 Derived SI units

Expressed in
terms of the
fundamental
base units

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Content
1. Significance of measurements and instrumentation

2. Reference measurement units

3. Measurement system design

4. Instrument characteristics

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Elements of a measurement system
▪ Input: A measuring
system exists to
provide information
about the physical
value of some variable
being measured.

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Elements of a measurement system
▪ Primary sensor: gives an
output that is a function
of the measurand.

▪ One or more secondary

sensors are needed to
allow the correction of
the measurements
provided by the primary
sensor if the
characteristics of this
latter are affected by the
environmental conditions
in which it is operating.

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Elements of a measurement system
▪ Conversion elements are
needed where the output
variable of a primary sensor
is in an inconvenient form
and has to be converted to
a more convenient form.
▪ Example displacement-
measuring to a change
in voltage.

▪ In some cases, the primary

sensor and conversion
element are combined, and
the combination is known
as a transducer

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Elements of a measurement system
• Signal processing elements
exist to improve the quality
of the output of a
measurement system in
some way:
• Amplification
• filter out induced noise
• Modulated
• Converted to digital
signal
• etc.

• In some devices, signal

processing is incorporated
into a transducer, which is
then known as a
transmitter.

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Elements of a measurement system
▪ Some measurement
systems have one or
two other
components:
▪ firstly to transmit
the signal to some
remote point and
▪ secondly to display
or record the signal
if it is not fed
automatically into a
feedback control
system.

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Content
1. Significance of measurements and instrumentation

2. Reference measurement units

3. Measurement system design

4. Instrument characteristics

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Choosing appropriate measuring instruments
Check for:

▪ The required specification of the instrument characteristics, especially

parameters like the desired rangeability, measurement accuracy, resolution,
sensitivity, and dynamic performance

▪ The environmental conditions that the instrument will be subjected to, as some
conditions will immediately either eliminate the possibility of using certain types
of instruments or else will create a requirement for expensive protection of the
instruments

▪ Its durability, maintenance requirements, and purchase cost.

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Range, Span, Full-scale and Rangeability
▪ Range of an instrument: refers to the minimum and maximum values it is designed to measure
accurately → [𝑀min , 𝑀max ]
▪ It defines the limits within which the instrument can provide reliable and precise
measurements.

▪ Span of an instrument: is the difference between the maximum and minimum values within its
defined range → Span: 𝑀max − 𝑀min
▪ It represents the total measurement interval covered by the instrument.

▪ Full Scale of an instrument: is the maximum value it can measure within its range →FS: 𝑀max

▪ Rangeability: also known as turndown ratio, refers to the ratio between the maximum and
𝑀
minimum values that an instrument can accurately measure → Rangeability= max
𝑀min
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Static characteristics of measuring instruments
▪ The characteristics that are concerned only with the steady state
reading to which the instrument settles

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Static characteristics of measuring instruments (1/4)
▪ Accuracy: a measure of how close the output reading of the
instrument is to the correct value

▪ Sensitivity (𝑺 ): a measure of the change in the output (∆𝑂) that

occurs when the quantity being measured changes by a given
amount ∆𝐼
∆𝑂
𝑆=
∆𝐼
▪ we assume that the input-output characteristic of the
instrument is approximately linear in the measured range

▪ The repeatability and the reproducibility are alternative ways to

describe the precision of the instrument:
▪ Precision: a measure of the degree to which successive
measurements differ from one another (i.e. the spread of
readings).
▪ It is a term that describes an instrument’s degree of
freedom from random errors.
▪ This spread is referred to as repeatability If a large
number of readings are taken of the same quantity and
the measurement conditions are held constant (same
measurement conditions, same instrument and observer,
same location, and same conditions of use)
▪ and as reproducibility when different observers, using the
same instrument, measure the same input under the Lebanese University - Fall 2023/2024 20
same conditions
Precision vs Accuracy

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Static characteristics of measuring instruments (2/4)
Drift: a measure of the change in certain static instrument
characteristics when ambient conditions (temperature,
pressure, etc) change

▪ Zero drift or bias describes the effect in which the zero

reading of an instrument (the output when there is no
input) is modified by a change in ambient conditions. →
This causes a constant error that exists over the full
range of measurement of the instrument
▪ Zero drift coefficient =
zero drift
change in ambient condition parameter

▪ Sensitivity drift (also known as scale factor drift)

defines the amount by which an instrument’s sensitivity
of measurement varies as ambient conditions change.
▪ Sensitivity drift coefficient =
sensitivity drift
change in ambient condition parameter
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 Drift

▪ Nominal characteristic are

calibrations and specifications
indicated by the manufacturer
of the device and valid under
the controlled and indicated
ambient conditions.

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Example 1
This table shows the output measurements of a
voltmeter under two sets of conditions:
One use in an environment kept at 20℃, which is
the temperature at which it was calibrated;
The other use in an environment at 50℃

a. Determine the zero drift when it is used in

the 50℃ environment, assuming that the
measurement values when it was used in the
20℃ environment are correct.
b. calculate the zero drift coefficient.

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Example 2
A spring balance is calibrated in an environment at 20℃ and has the following deflection/load
characteristic.

It is then used in an environment at 30℃ and the following deflection/load characteristic

is measured.

Determine the zero drift and sensitivity drift per degrees Celsius change in ambient temperature.

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Static characteristics of measuring instruments (3/4)
Dead zone (Dead space): the range of input values over
which there is no change in output value

▪ Threshold: the input will have to reach a certain level

before the instrument starts to show an output.

▪ Hysteresis: is the non-coincidence between the output

values when the input is increased from a minimum value
to a maximum value and when it is decreased from this
maximum value towards the minimum level
▪ Any instrument that exhibits hysteresis also displays
dead space (see next slide)

▪ Resolution: the smallest change in the input (∆𝑰) that can

be detected by the instrument and lead to a change in the
output.
▪ Resolution can be expressed in percentage
∆𝑰
× 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝑰𝒎𝒂𝒙 − 𝑰𝒎𝒊𝒏
Small resolution is better
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Examples
▪ Example 3:
An analogue ammeter has a linear scale of 50 divisions.
Its full-scale reading is 10 A and half scale division can be read
What is the resolution of the instruments?

▪ Example 4:
The dead-zone in a pyrometer (remote-sensing thermometer) is
0.125% of the span. The instrument is calibrated from 800 to 1800℃.
What temperature change must occur before it is detected?

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Static characteristics of measuring instruments
▪ Gross error (human errors)

▪ Systematic error
– Instrumental error
– Environmental error

▪ Random error

To see next chapter

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Dynamic characteristics of a measuring instrument
▪ The dynamic characteristics of a measuring instrument describe its
behavior between the time a measured quantity changes value and
when the instrument output attains a steady value in response.

▪ The response of the instrument to input value can be:

▪ Zero-order instrument: 𝑂 = 𝑘 𝐼 (O:output, I: input, k: proportionality coefficient)
𝑡
−𝜏
▪ First-order instrument: 𝑂 = 𝑘𝐼 𝑒 (solution of a first order differential equation,
𝜏 is the time taken for the output quantity to reach 63% of its final value)
▪ Second-order instrument: solution of a second order differential equation

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Zero-order instrument

𝑂=𝑘𝐼

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First-order instrument

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Second-order instrument

• 𝜀: damping constant

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Instruments Types
▪ Instruments can be subdivided into separate classes according to
several criteria.
▪ Active and passive instruments

▪ Null-type and deflection-type instruments

▪ Analog and digital instruments

▪ Indicating instruments and instruments with a signal output

▪ Smart and nonsmart instruments

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Instruments Types
Active and passive instruments
▪ In passive instrument the output is entirely produced by
the quantity being measured without any auxiliary source
of energy.

▪ In active instruments the quantity being measured

modulates (adapts) the magnitude of some external
energy source which in turn produces the measurement
output.

▪ The measurement resolution is better for active

instruments (by adjustment of the modulated power
signal)

▪ Passive instruments are less complex and cheaper

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 Instruments Types
Null-type and deflection-type instruments
▪ In deflection-type instruments, the measured physical quantity produces a
deflection physical effect on some parts of the instruments (mechanical
displacement for example)

▪ Null-type instruments attempt to maintain balance (keep the deflection at zero) by

appropriately applying a known effect opposite to that produced by the measured
amount

▪ The accuracy of the null-type instruments is better.

▪ Deflection type instruments are easier to use and have high dynamic response
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Instruments Types
Analog and digital instruments
▪ An analog instrument, the output can have an infinite number of values within the
range that the instrument is designed to measure (the possible output values are
continuous variables)

▪ A digital instrument has an output with only a finite number of potential values
(discrete).

▪ Digital devices can be interfaced directly to the control computer.

▪ Analog instruments must be interfaced to the microcomputer by an analog-to-

digital (A/D) converter
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 Instruments Types
Indicating instruments and instruments with a signal
output
▪ The former only give an audio or visual indication of the magnitude of
the physical quantity measured (eg. analog thermometer)

▪ The latter give an output in the form of a measurement signal whose

magnitude is proportional to the measured quantity (eg. digital
temperature sensor with serial peripheral interface (SPI)). Analog thermometer

▪ One major drawback with indicating devices is that human intervention is required to read
and record a measurement. This process is particularly prone to human errors.

▪ Instruments that have a signal-type output are commonly used as part of automatic control
systems or even can be recorded without human intervention.
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Instruments Types
Smart and nonsmart instruments
▪ The advent of the microprocessor has created a new division in instruments
between those that incorporate a microprocessor (smart) and those that do not.

▪ Intelligent devices than can do many operations during the measurements

(correction , etc) and after the measurements

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