UNIT–I: Transducers

INTODUCTION
A device which converts a physical quantity into the proportional electrical signal is called a
transducer. The electrical signal produced may be a voltage, current or frequency. A transducer
uses many effects to produce such conversion. The process of transforming signal from one
form to other is called transduction. A transducer is also called pick up. The transduction
element transforms the output of the sensor to an electrical output, as shown in the Fig.

A transducer will have basically two main components. They are

1. Sensing Element
The physical quantity or its rate of change is sensed and responded to by this part of the transistor.

2. Transduction Element
The output of the sensing element is passed on to the transduction element. This element is
responsible for converting the non-electrical signal into its proportional electrical signal.

There may be cases when the transduction element performs the action of both transduction and
sensing. The best example of such a transducer is a thermocouple. A thermocouple is used to
generate a voltage corresponding to the heat that is generated at the junction of two dissimilar
metals.

Classification of Transducers:

The Classification of Transducers is done in many ways. Some of the criteria for the
classification are based on their area of application, Method of energy conversion, Nature of
output signal, According to Electrical principles involved, Electrical parameter used, principle
of operation, & Typical applications.
The transducers can be classified broadly
i. On the basis of transduction form used
ii. As primary and secondary transducers
iii. As active and passive transducers
iv. As transducers and inverse transducers.
Broadly one such generalization is concerned with energy considerations wherein they are
classified as active & Passive transducers. A component whose output energy is supplied
entirely by its input signal (physical quantity under measurement) is commonly called a
„passive transducer‟. In other words the passive transducers derive the power required for
transduction from an auxiliary source. Active transducers are those which do not require an
auxiliary power source to produce their output. They are

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also known as self generating type since they produce their own voltage or current output.
Some of the passive transducers ( electrical transducers), their electrical parameter (resistance,
capacitance, etc), principle of operation and applications are listed below.

Resistive Transducers
1. Resistance Strain Gauge – The change in value of resistance of metal semi-conductor due
to elongation or compression is known by the measurement of torque, displacement or
force.
2. Resistance Thermometer – The change in resistance of metal wire due to the change in
temperature known by the measurement of temperature.
3. Resistance Hygrometer – The change in the resistance of conductive strip due to the
change of moisture content is known by the value of its corresponding humidity.
4. Hot Wire Meter – The change in resistance of a heating element due to convection
cooling of a flow of gas is known by its corresponding gas flow or pressure.
5. Photoconductive Cell – The change in resistance of a cell due to a corresponding change
in light flux is known by its corresponding light intensity.
6. Thermistor – The change in resistance of a semi-conductor that has a negative co-
efficient of resistance is known by its corresponding measure of temperature.
7. Potentiometer Type – The change in resistance of a potentiometer reading due to the
movement of the slider as a part of an external force applied is known by its
corresponding pressure or displacement.

Capacitance Transducers:

1. Variable capacitance pressure gage -

Principle of operation: Distance between two parallel plates is varied by an externally
applied force Applications: Measurement of Displacement, pressure
2. Capacitor microphone
Principle of operation: Sound pressure varies the capacitance between a fixed plate and a
movable diaphragm. Applications: Speech, music, noise
3. Dielectric gauge
Principle of operation: Variation in capacitance by changes in the dielectric.
Applications: Liquid level, thickness

Inductance Transducers:

1. Magnetic circuit transducer

Principle of operation: Self inductance or mutual inductance of ac-excited coil is
varied by changes in the magnetic circuit. Applications: Pressure, displacement
2. Reluctance pickup
Principle of operation: Reluctance of the magnetic circuit is varied by changing the
position of the iron core of a coil. Applications: Pressure, displacement, vibration,
position
3. Differential transformer
Principle of operation: The differential voltage of two secondary windings of a
transformer is varied by positioning the magnetic core through an externally applied

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 force. Applications: Pressure, force, displacement, position
4. Eddy current gage
Principle of operation: Inductance of a coil is varied by the proximity of an eddy
current plate. Applications: Displacement, thickness

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 5. Magnetostriction gauge
Principle of operation: Magnetic properties are varied by pressure and stress.
Applications: Force, pressure, sound

Voltage and current Transducers:

1. Hall effect pickup

Principle of operation: A potential difference is generated across a semiconductor plate
(germanium) when magnetic flux interacts with an applied current. Applications:
Magnetic flux, current
2. Ionization chamber
Principle of operation: Electron flow induced by ionization of gas due to radioactive
radiation. Applications: Particle counting, radiation
3. Photoemissive cell
Principle of operation: Electron emission due to incident radiation on photoemissive
surface. Applications: Light and radiation
4. Photomultiplier tube
Principle of operation: Secondary electron emission due to incident
radiation on photosensitive cathode. Applications: Light and radiation,
photo-sensitive relays

Self-Generating Transducers (No External Power) – Active Transducers

They do not require an external power, and produce an analog voltage or current when
stimulated by some physical form of energy.

1. Thermocouple and thermopile

Principle of operation: An emf is generated across the junction of two dissimilar
metals or semiconductors when that junction is heated. Applications: Temperature,
heat flow, radiation.
2. Moving-coil generator
Principle of operation: Motion of a coil in a magnetic field generates a voltage.
Applications: Velocity. Vibration
3. Piezoelectric pickup
An emf is generated when an external force is applied to certain crystalline materials,
such as quartz Sound, vibration. acceleration, pressure changes
4. Photovoltaic cell
Principle of operation: A voltage is generated in a semi-conductor junction device
when radiant energy stimulates the cell Applications: Light meter, solar cell

Primary Transducers and Secondary Transducers- Bourden tube acting as a primary detecter
senses the pressure and converts the pressure into a displacement of its free end.The
displacement of the free end moves the core of a linear variable differential transformer(LVDT)
which produces an output voltage.

Analog Transducers-These transducers convert the input quantity into an analog output which is a
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 continuous function of time. ◦ Strain Gauge ◦ LVDT ◦ Thermocouple ◦ Thermistor
Digital Transducers-These transducers convert the input quantity into an electrical output which
is in the form of pulses. ◦ Glass Scale can be read optically by means of a light source,an optical
system and photocells

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 Transducers and Inverse Transducers- -A Transducer can be broadly defined as a device which
converts a non-electrical quantity into an electrical quantity. Ex:-Resistive,inductive and
capacitive transducers -An inverse transducer is defined as a device which converts an electrical
quantity into a non-electrical quantity. Ex:-Piezoelectric crystals

Advantages of Electrical transducers

Mostly quantities to be measured are non-electrical such as temperature, pressure, displacement,
humidity, fluid flow, speed etc., but these quantities cannot be measured directly. Hence such
quantities are required to be sensed and changed into some other form for easy measurement.
Electrical quantities such as current, voltage, resistance, inductance and capacitance etc. can be
conveniently measured, transferred and stored, and, therefore, for measurement of the non-
electrical quantities these are to be converted into electrical quantities first and ten measured. The
function of converting non-electrical quantity into electrical one is accomplished by a device
called the electrical transducer.
Basically an electrical transducer is a sensing device by which a physical, mechanical or optical
quantity to be measured is transformed directly, with a suitable mechanism, into an electrical
signal (current, voltage and frequency). The production of these signals is based upon electrical
effects which may be resistive, inductive, capacitive etc. in nature. The input versus output
energy relationship takes a definite reproducible function. The output to input and the output to
time behavior is predictable to a known degree of accuracy, sensitivity and response, within the
specified environmental conditions. Electrical transducers have numerous advantages. Modern
digital computers have made use of electrical transducers absolutely essential.
Electrical transducers suffer due to some draw-backs too, such as low reliability in comparison to
that of mechanical transducers due to the ageing and drift of the active components and
comparative high cost of electrical transducers and associated signal conditioners. In some cases
the accuracy and resolution attainable are not as high as in mechanical transducers.
Some of the advantages are:
1. Electrical amplification and attenuation can be done easily and that to with a static device.
2. The effect of friction is minimized.
3. The electric or electronic system can be controlled with a very small electric power.
4. The electric power can be easily used, transmitted and process for the purpose of
measurement.

Factor to be considered while selecting transducer:

It should have high input impedance and low output impedance, to avoid
loading effect. It should have good resolution over is entire selected range.
It must be highly sensitive to desired signal and insensitive to unwanted
signal. Preferably small in size.
It should be able to work n corrosive environment.
It should be able to withstand pressure, shocks,
vibrations etc.. It must have high degree of accuracy and
repeatability.
Selected transducer must be free from errors.
The transducer circuit should have overload protection so that it will withstand overloads.

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 Requirements of a good transducers

• Smaller in size and weight.

• High sensitivity.

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 • Ability to withstand environmental conditions.
• Low cost.

RESISTIVE TRANSDUSERS

Resistance of an electrical conductor is given by,

R=ρl/A

Where ,

R = Resistance in „Ω‟

Ρ = Resistivity of the conductor (Ω -

cm) l = Length of the conductor in

cm.

A = Cross-sectional area of the metal conductor in cm2

It is clear from the equation that, the electrical resistance can be varied by varying,
(i) Length

(ii) Cross-sectional area and

(iii) Resistivity or combination of these.

Principle:-
A change in resistance of a circuit due to the displacement of an object is the
measure of displacement of that object ,method of changing the resistance and the resulting
devices are summarized in the following

Method of changing resistance-

Length - Resistance can be changed varying the length of the conductor,(linear and rotary).

Dimensions - When a metal conductor is subjected to mechanical strain, change in

dimensions of the conductor occurs, that changes the resistance of the conductor.

Resistivity -
When a metal conductor is subjected to a change in temperature and change in resistivity occurs
which changes resistance of the conductor.

Resulting device:-
Resistance potentiometers or sliding contact devices displacements ,Electrical resistance

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 strain gauges.Thermistor and RTD

Use:- The resistive transducer used for the measurement of linear and angular, and
used for the temperature mechanical strain measurement.

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 How Potentiometer works
A potentiometer is a resistive sensor used to measure linear displacements as well as rotary
motion. In a potentiometer an electrically conductive wiper slides across a fixed resistive
element. A voltage is applied across the resistive element. Thus a voltage divider circuit is
formed. The output voltage(Vout) is measured as shown in the figure below. The output voltage
is proportional to the distance travelled.

There are two types of potentiometer, linear and rotary potentiometer. The linear potentiometer
has a slide or wiper. The rotary potentiometer can be a single turn or multi turn.

The important parameters while selecting a potentiometer are

•Operating temperature
•Shock and vibration
•Humidity
•Contamination and seals

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 •life cycle
•dither

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 Types of Potentiometer:
Wire‐Wound type potentiometer
• The resistance range between 10Ω and 10M Ω
• The resistance increase in a stepwise manner.
• It is possible to construct potentiometers with 100 –200 turns per cm length (The
resolution range between 0.1 to 0.05 mm).
• Linear potentiometers are available in many lengths up to 1m.
• Helical potentiometers are commercially available with 50 to 60 turns (The angular
displacement is between 18000 – 21600 degree)
• Potentiometer life exceed 1 million cycles.
Thin film type potentiometer
• Higher resolution.
• Lower noise.
• Longer life (exceed 10 million cycles)
• Resistance of 50 to 100 Ω/mm can be obtained with conductive plastic film.
• Commercially available resolution is 0.001 mm.

Some of the advantages of the potentiometer are

•Easy to use
•low cost
•High amplitude output
•Proven technology
•Easily available

Some of the disadvantages of the potentiometer are

•Since the wiper is sliding across the resistive element there is a possibility of friction and
wear. Hence the number of operating cycles are limited.
•Limited bandwidth
• Inertial loading

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 Some of the applications of the potentiometer are
•Linear displacement measurement
•Rotary displacement measurement
•Volume control
•Brightness control
•Liquid level measurements using float

Strain Gauge

Strain gage is one of the most popular types of transducer. It has got a wide range of
applications. It can be used for measurement of force, torque, pressure, acceleration and many
other parameters. The basic principle of operation of a strain gage is simple: when strain is
applied to a thin metallic wire, its dimension changes, thus changing the resistance of the wire.
Let us first investigate what are the factors, responsible for the change in resistance.

Gage Factor
Let us consider a long straight metallic wire of length l circular cross section with diameter d
(fig). When this wire is subjected to a force applied at the two ends, a strain will be generated
and as a result, the

dimension will change (l changing to , d changing to and A changing to

). For the time being, we are considering that all the changes are in positive
direction. Now the resistance of the wire:

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 Fig:Change of Resistance with strain

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 Thus, the Gage Factor of metallic strain gages varies in the range 1.8 to 2.6. However, the
semiconductor type strain gages have a very large Gage Factor, in the range of 100-150. This is
attained due to dominant piezo-resistance property of semiconductors. The commercially
available strain gages have certain fixed resistance values, such as, 120Ω, 350 Ω, 1000 Ω, etc.
The manufacturer also specifies the Gage Factor and the maximum gage current to avoid self-
heating (normally in the range 15 mA to 100 mA).
The choice of material for a metallic strain gage should depend on several factors. The material
should have low temperature coefficient of resistance. It should also have low coefficient for
thermal expansion. Judging from all these factors, only few alloys qualify for a commercial
metallic strain gage. They are:
Advance (55% Cu, 45% Ni): Gage Factor between 2.0 to 2.2
Nichrome (80% Ni, 20% Co): Gage Factor between 2.2 to 2.5

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 Apart from these two, Isoelastic -another trademarked alloy with Gage Factor around 3.5 is also
in use. Semiconductor type strain gages, though having large Gage Factor, find limited use,
because of their high sensitivity and nonlinear characteristics.

Metallic Strain Gage

Most of the strain gages are metallic type. They can be of two types: unbonded and bonded. The
unbonded strain gage is normally used for measuring strain (or displacement) between a fixed
and a moving structure by fixing four metallic wires in such a way, so that two are in
compression and two are in tension, as shown in fig. 6 (a). On the other hand, in the bonded
strain gage, the element is fixed on a backing material, which is permanently fixed over a
structure, whose strain has to be measured, with adhesive. Most commonly used bonded strain
gages are metal foil type. The construction of such a strain gage is shown in fig. 6(b). The metal
foil type strain gage is manufactured by photo-etching technique. Here the thin strips of the foil
are the active elements of the strain gage, while the thick ones are for providing electrical
connections. Because of large area of the thick portion, their resistance is small and they do not
contribute to any change in resistance due to strain, but increase the heat dissipation area. Also it
is easier to connect the lead wires with the strain gage. The strain gage in fig. 6(b) can measure
strain in one direction only. But if we want to measure the strain in two or more directions at the
same point, strain gage rosette, which is manufactured by stacking multiple strain gages in
different directions, is used. Fig. 7 shows a three-
0 element strain gage rosette stacked at 45 .

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 The backing material, over which the strain gage is fabricated and which is fixed with the strain
measuring structure has to satisfy several important properties. Firstly, it should have high
mechanical strength; it should also have high dielectric strength. But the most important it should
have is that it should be non-hygroscopic, otherwise, absorption of moisture will cause bulging
and generate local strain. The backing materials normally used are impregnated paper, fibre
glass, etc. The bonding material used for fixing the strain gage permanently to the structure
should also be non- hygroscopic. Epoxy and Cellulose are the bonding materials normally used.

Semiconductor type Strain Gage

Semiconductor type strain gage is made of a thin wire of silicon, typically 0.005 inch to 0.0005
inch, and length 0.05 inch to 0.5 inch. They can be of two types: p-type and n-type. In the former
the resistance increases with positive strain, while, in the later the resistance decreases with
temperature. The construction and the typical characteristics of a semiconductor strain gage are
shown in fig.8.
MEMS pressure sensors is now a days becoming increasingly popular for measurement of
pressure. It is made of a small silicon diagram with four piezo-resistive strain gages mounted on
it. It has an in- built signal conditioning circuits and delivers measurable output voltage
corresponding to the pressure applied. Low weight and small size of the sensor make it suitable
for measurement of pressure in specific applications.

Thermistors:
Basically thermistor is a contraction of a word 'thermal resistors', The resistors depending on
temperature are thermal resistors. Thus resistance thermometers are also thermistors having
positive -temperature coefficients. But generally the resistors having negative temperature
coefficients (NTC) are called thermistors. The resistance of a thermistor decreases as
temperature increases. The NTC of thermistors can be as large as few percent per degree celcius
change in temperature. Thus the
thermistors are very sensitive and can detect very small changes in temperature too.

Construction of thermistor:
Thermistors are composed of a sintered mixture of metallic oxides, such as manganese, nickel,
cobalt, copper, iron, and uranium. Their resistances at ambient temperature may range from
100 n to 100 ill. Thermistors are available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes as shown in the
Fig. Smallest in size are the beads with a diameter of 0.15 mm to 1.25 mm. Beads may be
sealed in the tips of solid glass rods to form probes. Disks and washers are made by pressing

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 thermistor materia~ under high pressure into Hat cylindrical shapes. Washers can be placed in
series or in parallel to increase power dissipation rating.

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 Thermistors are well suited for precision temperature measurement, temperature control, and
temperature compensation, because of their. very large change in resistance with temperature.
They are widely
used for measurements in the temperature range -1000 C to +2000 C. The measurement of the
change in resistance with temperature is carried out with a Wheatstone bridge.

Inductive Transducer

Inductive transducers work on the principle of inductance change due to any appreciable
change in the quantity to be measured i.e. measured. For example, LVDT, a kind of inductive
transducers, measures displacement in terms of voltage difference between its two secondary
voltages. Secondary voltages are nothing but the result of induction due to the flux change in the
secondary coil with the displacement of the iron bar. Anyway LVDT is discussed here briefly to
explain the principle of inductive transducer. LVDT will be explained in other article in more
detail. For the time being let‟s focus on basic introduction of inductive transducers. Now first
our motive is to find how the inductive transducers can be made to work. This can be done by
changing the flux with the help of measured and this changing flux obviously changes the
inductance and this inductance change can be calibrated in terms of measured. Hence inductive
transducers use one of the following principles for its working.
1. Change of self inductance
2. Change of mutual inductance
3. Production of eddy current

Change of Self Inductance of Inductive Transducer

We know very well that self inductance of a coil is given by Where, N = number of
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 turns.

R = reluctance of the magnetic circuit. Also we know that reluctance R is given by

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 where μ = effective permeability of the medium in and around the coil.

Where, G = A/l and called geometric form factor. A = area of cross-section of

coil. l = length of the coil. So, we can vary self inductance by

 Change in number of turns, N,

 Changing geometric configuration, G,
 Changing permeability
For the sake of understanding we can say that if the displacement is to be measured by the
inductive transducers, it should change any of the above parameter for causing in the change
in self inductance.
Change of Mutual Inductance of Inductive Transducer
Here transducers, which work on change of mutual inductance principle, use multiple coils. We
use here two coils for the sake of understanding. Both coils have their self inductance as well. So
let‟s denote their self inductance by L1 and L2. Mutual inductance between these two coils is given
by

Thus mutual inductance can be changed by varying self inductance or by

varying coefficient of coupling, K. The methods of changing self inductance we already
discussed. Now coefficient of coupling depends on the distance and orientation between two
coils. Thus for the measurement of displacement we can fix one coil and make other movable
which moves with the source whose displacement is to be measured. With the change in distance
in displacement coefficient of coupling changes and it causes the change in mutual inductance.
This change in mutual inductance can be calibrated with the displacement and measurement can
be done.

Production of Eddy Current of Inductive Transducer

We know that when a conducting plate is placed near a coil carrying alternating current, a
circulating current is induced in the plate called “EDDY CURRENT”. This principle is used in
such type of inductive transducers. Actually what happens? When a coil is placed near to coil
carrying alternating current, a circulating current is induced in it which in turn produces its own
flux which try to reduce the flux of the coil carrying the current and hence inductance of the coil
changes. Nearer the plate is to the coil, higher will be eddy current and higher is the reduction in
inductance and vice versa. Thus inductance of coil varied with the variation of distance between
coil and plate. Thus the movement of the plate can be calibrated in terms of inductance change to
measure the quantity like displacement.

Real Life Application of Inductive Transducer

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 Inductive transducers find application in proximity sensors which are used for position
measurement, dynamic motion measurement, touch pads etc. Particularly inductive transducer
is used for the detection of type of metal, finding missing parts or counting the number of
objects.

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 Linear variable differential transformer (LVDT)

When an externally applied force moves the core to the left-hand position, more magnetic flux
links the left-hand coil than the righthand coil. The emf induced in the left-hand coil, ES], is
therefore larger than the induced emf of the right-hand [oil, Es2' The magnitude of the output
voltage is then equal to the difference between the two secondary voltages and it is in phase
with the voltage of the left-hand
coil.

Construction of LVDT
Main Features of Construction are as,

 The transformer consists of a primary winding P and two secondary winding S1 and S2
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 wound on a cylindrical former(which is hollow in nature and will contain core).

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  Both the secondary windings have equal number of turns and are identically placed on the
either side of primary winding
 The primary winding is connected to an AC source which produces a flux in the air gap and
voltages are induced in secondary windings.
 A movable soft iron core is placed inside the former and displacement to be measured is
connected to the iron core.
 The iron core is generally of high permeability which helps in reducing harmonics
and high sensitivity of LVDT.
 The LVDT is placed inside a stainless steel housing because it will provide
electrostatic and electromagnetic shielding.
 The both the secondary windings are connected in such a way that resulted output is the
difference of the voltages of two windings.

Principle of Operation and Working

As the primary is connected to an AC source so alternating current and voltages are produced in
the secondary of the LVDT. The output in secondary S1 is e1 and in the secondary S2 is e2. So the
differential output is, eout = e1 - e2 This equation explains the principle of Operation of LVDT.

Now three cases arise according to the locations of core which explains the working of LVDT are
discussed below as,

 CASE I When the core is at null position (for no displacement) When the core is at null
position then the flux linking with both the secondary windings is equal so the induced emf
is equal in both the windings. So for no displacement the value of output eout is zero as e1
and e2 both are equal. So it shows that no displacement took place.
 CASE II When the core is moved to upward of null position (For displacement to the
upward of reference point) In the this case the flux linking with secondary winding S 1 is

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 more as compared to flux linking with S2. Due to this e1 will be more as that of e2. Due to
this output voltage eout is positive.

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  CASE III When the core is moved to downward of Null position (for displacement to the
downward of reference point) In this case magnitude of e2 will be more as that of e1. Due to
this output eout will be negative and shows the output to downward of reference point.

Output VS Core Displacement A linear curve shows that output voltage varies
linearly with displacement of core.

Some important points about magnitude and sign of voltage induced in LVDT

 The amount of change in voltage either negative or positive is proportional to the

amount of movement of core and indicates amount of linear motion.
 By noting the output voltage increasing or decreasing the direction of motion can be
determined
 The output voltage of an LVDT is linear function of core displacement .

Advantages of LVDT
 High Range - The LVDTs have a very high range for measurement of displacement.they
can used for measurement of displacements ranging from 1.25mm to 250mm
 No Frictional Losses - As the core moves inside a hollow former so there is no loss of
displacement input as frictional loss so it makes LVDT as very accurate device.
 High Input and High Sensitivity - The output of LVDT is so high that it doesn‟t
need any amplification.the transducer posseses a high sensitivity which is typically
about 40V/mm.
 Low Hysteresis - LVDTs show a low hysteresis and hence repeatability is excellent
under all conditions
 Low Power Consumption - The power is about 1W which is very as compared to other

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 transducers.
 Direct Conversion to Electrical Signals - They convert the linear displacement to
electrical voltage which are easy to process

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 Disadvantages of LVDT
 LVDT is sensitive to stray magnetic fields so they always require a setup to protect them
from stray magnetic fields.
 They are affected by vibrations and temperature.
It is concluded that they are advantageous as compared than any other inductive transducers.
Applications of LVDT
1. They are used in applications where displacements ranging from fraction of mm to few cm
are to be measured. The LVDT acting as a primary Transducer converts the displacement
to electrical signal directly.
2. They can also acts as the secondary transducers. E.g. the Bourbon tube which acts as a
primary transducer and covert pressure into linear displacement.then LVDT coverts this
displacement into electrical signal which after calibration gives the ideas of the pressure
of fluid.
Capacitive Transducers
A capacitor consists of two conductors (plates) that are electrically isolated from one another by
a nonconductor (dielectric). When the two conductors are at different potentials (voltages), the
system is capable of storing an electric charge. The storage capability of a capacitor is measured
in farads.The principle of operation of capacitive transducers is based upon the equation for
capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor as shown in Fig.

Where, A = Overlapping area of plates; m2,

d = Distance between two plates; m,
 = Permittivity (dielectric constant); F/m.

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 Fig. Parallel plate capacitor

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 The capacitance is measured with a bridge circuits. The output impedance Z of a capacitive
transducer is:
Z = 1/2πfC
Where: Z = Impedance
f = frequency, 50 Hz.
C = capacitance
In general, the output impedance of a capacitive transducer is high. This fact calls for a careful
design of the output circuitry. The capacitive transducers work on the principle of change in
capacitance of the capacitor. This change in capacitance could be caused by change in
overlapping area A of the plates, change in the distance d between the plates and change in
dielectric constant .
In most of the cases the above changes are caused by the physical variables, such as,
displacement, force or pressure. Variation in capacitance is also there when the dielectric
medium between the plates changes, as in the case of measurement of liquid or gas levels.
Therefore, the capacitive transducers are commonly used for measurement of linear
displacement, by employing the following effects as shown in Fig a and fig b.
i) Change in capacitance due to change in overlapping area of plates.
ii) Change in capacitance due to change in distance between the two plates.
iii) Change in capacitance due to change in dielectric between the two plates

Fig.a Variable capacitive transducer varies; (a) area of overlap, (b) distance between
plates, (c) amount of dielectric between plates

Fig.b Differential capacitive transducer varies capacitance ratio by changing: (a) area of
overlap, (b) distance between plates, (c) dielectric between plates

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 As may be seen in Fig b, all of the differential devices have three wire connections rather than
two: one wire for each of the end plates and one for the common plate. As the capacitance
between one of the endplates and the common plate changes, the capacitance between the other
end plate and the common plate also changes in the opposite direction.
a) Transducers Using Change in Area of Plates
Examining the equation for capacitance, it is found that the capacitance is directly proportional
to the area, A of the plates. Thus, the capacitance changes linearly with change in area of plates.
Hence this type of capacitive transducer is useful for measurement of moderate to large
displacements say from 1 mm to several cm. The area changes linearly with displacement and
also the capacitance.
For a parallel plate capacitor, the capacitance is:

Where, l = length of overlapping part of plates; m, and

w = width of overlapping part of plates; m.

The sensitivity is constant and therefore there is linear relationship between capacitance and
displacement.
This type of a capacitive transducer is suitable for measurement of linear displacement ranging
from 1 to 10 cm. The accuracy is as high as 0.005%.
b) Transducers Using Change in Distance between Plates
Fig. 17.2(b) shows the basic form of a capacitive transducer employing change in distance
between the two plates to cause the change in capacitance. One plate is fixed and the
displacement to be measured is applied to the other plate which is movable. Since, the
capacitance, C, varies inversely as the distance d, between the plates the response of this
transducer is not linear. Thus this transducer is useful only for measurement of extremely small
displacements.

Thus the sensitivity of this type of transducer is not constant but varies over the range of the
transducer. The relationship between variations of capacitance with variation of distance between
plates is hyperbolic and is only approximately linear over a small range of displacement. The
linearity can be closely approximated by use of a piece of dielectric material like mica having a
high dielectric constant, such as, a thin piece of mica.

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 c) Transducers Using Change in dielectric constant between Plates
If the area (A) of and the distance (d) between the plates of a capacitor remain constant,
capacitance will vary only as a function of the dielectric constant () of the substance filling the
gap between the plates. If the space between the plates of a capacitor is filled with an insulator,
the capacitance of the capacitor will change compared to the situation in which there is vacuum
between the plates. The change in the capacitance is caused by a change in the electric field
between the plates.

The value of dielectric constant is initially set by design in the choice of dielectric material used
to make the capacitor. Many factors will cause the  to change, and this change in  will vary for
different materials. The major factors that will cause a change in  are moisture, voltage,
frequency, and temperature. The dielectric constant of a process material can change due to
variations in temperature, moisture, humidity, material bulk density, and particle size etc. The 
in the basic formula is the effective dielectric constant of the total space between the electrodes.
This space may consist of the dielectric material, air, and even moisture, if present. The figure
shows that how in a capacitor the position of the dielectric is varied to vary the capacitance.
Physical variables, such as, displacement, force or pressure can cause the movement of dielectric
material in the capacitor plates, resulting in changes in the effective dielectric constant, which in
turn will change the capacitance.

Fig. Change in capacitance due to movement of dielectric between plates

The major advantages of capacitive transducers are that they require extremely small forces to
operate them and hence are very useful for use in small systems. They are extremely sensitive
and require small power to operate them. Owing to their good frequency response they are very
useful for dynamic studies.
The disadvantages of capacitive transducers include their non-linear behaviour on account of
edge effects and the effects of stray capacitances especially when the transducers have a low
value of capacitance. Therefore guard rings must be used to eliminate this effect. The metallic
parts of the capacitive transducers must be insulated from each other. In order to reduce the
effects of stray capacitances, the frames must be earthed.

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 Capacitive transducers can be used for measurement of both linear and angular displacements.
The capacitive transducers are highly sensitive and can be used for measurement of extremely

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 small displacements down to the order of molecular dimensions, i.e., 0.1x10-6 mm. On the other
hand, they can be used for measurement of large displacements up to about 30 m as in aeroplane
altimeters. The change in area method is used for measurement of displacements ranging from
10 to 100 mm. Capacitive transducers can be used for the measurement of force and pressure.
The force and pressure to be measured are first converted to displacement which causes a change
of capacitance. Capacitive transducers can also be used directly as pressure transducers in all
those cases where the dielectric constant of a medium changes with pressure. They can be used
for measurement of humidity in gases and moisture content in soil / food products etc.

Thermocouples
Basically thermocouple consists of two different metals which are placed in contact with each
other as shown in the diagram

First part is called the heater element because when the current will flow through this, a heat is
produced and thus the temperature will increased at the junction. At this junction an emf is
produced which is approximately proportional to the temperature difference of hot and cold
junctions.

The emf produced is a DC voltage which is directly proportional to root mean square value of
electric current. A permanent magnet moving coil instrument is connected with the second part
to read the current passing through the heater. One question must be arise in our mind that why
we have used only a permanent magnet coil instrument? Answer to this question is very easy it is
because PMMC instrument has greater accuracy and sensitivity towards the measurement of DC
value. The thermocouple type instruments employ thermocouple in their construction.
Thermocouple type instruments can be used for both ac and DC applications. Also thermocouple
type of instruments has greater accuracy in measuring the current and voltages at very high
frequency accurately.
Now we will look how the temperature difference is mathematically related to generated emf at

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 the junction in thermocouple type of instruments. Let us consider temperature of the heater
element be Ta and the temperature of cold metal be Tb.
Now it is found that the generated emf at the junction is related to temperature difference as

Where a and b are constant whose values completely depends upon the type of metal we are
using. The above equation represents parabolic function. The approximated value of a is from 40
to 50 micro volts or more per degree Celsius rise in temperature and value of constant b is very
small and can be neglected if the air gap field of permanent magnet moving coil is uniform. Thus
we can approximate the above temperature emf relation as e = a(Ta - Tb), here we have assume b
= 0. The current flowing through the heater coil produces heat as I2R where I is the root mean
square value of current, if we assume the temperature of cold junction is maintained at room
temperature then the rise in the temperature of the hot junction will be equal to temperature rise at
the junction. Hence we can write (Ta-Tb)is directly proportional to I2R or we can say (Ta - Tb) =
kI2R. Now the deflection angle x in moving coil instrument is equal to; x = Ke or x = K[a(Ta -
Tb)] hence we can write k.K.a.I2R = k1I2, where k1 is some constant.
From the above equation we see that the instrument shows the square law response.

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Construction of Thermocouple Type Instrument
Now let us look at the construction of Thermocouple type Instruments. Broadly speaking the
thermocouple type of instruments consists of two major parts which are written below: (a)
Thermo electric elements: The thermocouple type of instruments consists of thermo electric
elements which can be of four types:

1. Contact Type: It has a separate heater which is shown in the diagram.

The action of thermocouple type instruments can be explained briefly as,

 At the junction the electrical energy is being converted to thermal energy in the heater
element. A portion of the heat is transferred to the hot junction while most of the heat
energy is dissipated away.
 The heat energy which is transferred to hot junction is again converted to electrical
due to Seebeck effect. Only a portion of electrical energy is converted into mechanical
energy which is used to produce a deflecting torque. The overall efficiency of the
system is low thus the instrument consumes high power. So there is a requirement of
highly accurate and sensitive DC instrument.

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 2. Non Contact Type: In non contact type there is insulation between the heating element
and the thermocouple i.e. there no direct contact between two. Due to this these
instruments are not much sensitive as compared contact type.
3. Vacuum Thermo-elements: These types of instruments are mostly employed for the
measurement of electric current at very high frequency of the order of 100 Mega hertz or
more as these instruments retain their accuracy even at such high frequency.
Bridge Type: These bridges are manufactured on the ac ratings usually from 100 mili
amperes to 1 amperes. In this two thermocouple are connected to form a bridge which is
shown in the figure given below:

4. There is no requirement of heating element, the electric current which directly passing
through the thermocouple raises the temperature which is directly proportional to the I2R
losses. The bridge works on balanced condition at which there will be no current in the
arm ab. The connected meter will show the potential difference between the junctions a
and b.

Advantages of Thermocouple Type Instruments

Following are advantages of Thermocouple type of instruments,

1. The thermocouple type of instruments accurately indicates the root mean square value of
current and voltages irrespective of the waveform. There is a wide varieties of range of
thermocouple instruments are available in the market.
2. Thermocouple type of instruments give very accurate reading even at high frequency,
thus these types of instruments are completely free from frequency errors.
3. The measurement of quantity under these instruments is not affected by stray magnetic fields.

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 4. These instruments are known for their high sensitivity.
5. Usually for measuring the low value of current bridge type of arrangement is used i.e. ranging
from
0.5 Amperes to 20 Amperes while for measuring the higher value of current heater
element is required to retain accuracy.

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 Disadvantages of Thermocouple Type Instruments
Instead of many advantages these type of instruments posses one disadvantage, The over load
capacity of thermocouple type of instrument is small, even fuse is not able to the heater wire
because heater wire may burn out before the fuse blows out.

Synchro Position Transducer Working Principle

We know that Syncro is an inductive device which works on the principle of rotating
transformer. Here the term rotating transformer means the primary to secondary coupling can
be changed by physically changing the relative orientation of the winding. So based on this
working principle of syncro we can use it as position transducer.

Construction of Position Transducer:

Position transducer is one of the basic application of the Synchro. It uses dumb-bell shaped
rotor. Single phase ac supply is given to the rotor of the Synchro. This rotor is mechanically
coupled with the shaft of rotating element whose angular position is to be determined.

Position Transducer Working Principle:

We know that the stator of the synchro has three windings. These three winding of the
stator are connected in star connection. Remaining ends of each winding are taken out to
connect them with
the voltmeter as shown in the figure. When the angle of the rotor changes the output voltage i.e.
the stator voltages of each winding is given by,

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 E1 = Eom cosθ sin wt = instantaneous voltage for stator windings S1.

E1 = Eom cos(θ+120) sin wt = instantaneous voltage for stator windings S2.

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 E1 = Eom cos(θ+240) sin wt = instantaneous voltage for stator

windings S3. Where

 θ= angular position of the rotor

 Eom = peak value of voltage of each winding

 w= 2πf
 f= frequency of the rotor

 t = time in seconds.

All instantaneous voltages are sinusoidal in nature. But they give different values of voltages at
different position of rotor.

Thus using these three values of stator voltages we can easily measure the position of the rotor.
Hence Synchro can be used as a position transducer.

Applications Of Position Transducer:

1) For measuring the angle of the rotating machine like antenna platform.
2) Position transducer can be used as ratary position sensor for aircraft control surfaces

Piezoelectric transducer:

A piezoelectric quartz crystal is hexagonal prism shaped crystal, which has pyramids Jt both
ends. This is shown in the Fig. (a). The marking of co-ordinate axes are fixed for such crystals.
The axis passing through the end points of pyramids is called optic axis or z axis. The axis
passing through corners is called electrical axis or x axis while the aXIs passing through
midpoints of opposite sides is called mechanical axis or y axis. The axes are shown in the

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 Photovoltaic cell:
Fig shows structure of photovoltaic cell. It shows that cell is actually a PN-junction diode with
appropriately doped semiconductors. When photons strike on the thin p-doped upper layer, they
are absorbed by the electrons in the n-layer; which causes formation of conduction electrons and
holes. These conduction electrons and holes are separated by depletion region potential of the pn
junction. When il load is connected across the cell, the depletion region potential causes the
photocurrent to flow through the load N

Phototransistor:
The photo transistor has a light sensitive collector to base junction. A lens is used in a transistor
package to expose base to an incident light. When no light is incident, a small leakage current
flows from collector to emitter called IeEO, due to small thermal generation. This is very small
current, of the order of nA. This is called a dark current. When the base is exposed to the light,
the base current is produced
which is proportional to the light intensity. Such photoinduced base current is denoted as I)...The
resulting collector current is given by, The structure of a phototransistor is shown in the Fig. (a)
while the symbol is shown in the Fig.

To generate more base current proportional to the light, larger physical area of the base is
exposed to the light. The fig .shows the graph of base current against· the radiation flux density
measured in mW/ cm2. The Fig. (b) shows the collector characteristics of a phototransistor. As

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 light intensity increases, the base current increases exponentially. Similarly the collector
current also increases corresponding to the increase in the light intensity. A phototransistor can
be either a two lead or a three lead device. In a
three lead device, the base lead is brought out so that it can be used as a conventional BJT with
or without the light sensitivity feature. In a two lead device, the base is not electrically available
and the device use is

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 totally light dependent. The use of phototransistor as a two lead device is shown in the Fig. (a)
while the Fig. (b) shows the typical collector characteristic curves.

Each curve on the characteristic graph is related to specific light intensity. The collector current
level increases corresponding to increase in the light intensity. In most of the applications the
phototransistor is used as a two lead device. The phototransistor is not sensitive to all the light
but sensitive to light within a certain range. The graph of response against wavelength is called
spectral response. A typical spectral response is shown in the Fig.

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 UNIT-II: Signal Conditioning
What is “Signal Conditioning”?
There are many factors which may prevent a signal produced by one device or circuit from being
usable by another device or circuit, requiring some intermediate circuitry to bridge the gap. This
kind of “bridging” function is doing what I call “signal conditioning”.
Type of Signal Conditioning: Signal conditioning may be divided into 4 types:
1. Analog: analog signal in, analog signal out
2. Digital: digital signal in, digital signal out
3. Either: either kind of signal in; same type out
4. Interface: involves both analog and digital signals in some way
Signal Conditioning System:
Signal Conditioning System – The measurand, which is basically a physical quantity, is detected by
the first stage of the instrumentation or measurement system. The first stage is the
detector transducer stage. The quantity is detected and converted or transduced into an electrical
form in most cases. The output of the first stage has to be modified before it becomes usable and
sufficient to drive the signal indicating stage which is the last stage. This last stage may consist of
indicating, record-ing, displaying and data processing elements, or may consist of control elements.
In an electronic-aided measurement, the quantity to be measured is converted into an electrical
signal and then amplified or otherwise modified to operate a device which displays the numerical
value of the measured quantity. This process is illustrated for a typical case in the pictorial block
diagram shown in Fig below:

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 In the figure the measured quantity was encoded in at least three different ways. First, as a physical
or chemical quantity or property, second, as some characteristic of electrical signal, and finally as a
number. Each way in which data can be encoded is called a data domain. (Measurement data are
represented in an instrument at any instant by a physical quantity, a chemical quantity, or some
characteristic of an electrical signal. Each different characteristic or property used to represent data
is called a data domain).
Measurement of dynamic physical quantities requires faithful representation of their analog or
digital output obtained from the intermediate stage (signal conditioning stage) and this places a
severe strain on the Signal Conditioning System.
The Signal Conditioning System may be required to perform linear processes such as amplification,
attenuation, integration, differentiation, addition or subtraction. They are also required to do non-
linear processes such as modulation, demodulation, sampling, filtering, clipping and clamping,
squaring and linearising or multiplication by another function. These functions require proper
selection of components and faithful reproduction of the final output for the presentation stage.
The Signal Conditioning System or data acquisition equipment is in many cases an excitation and
amplification system for passive transducer, or an amplification system for active transducer. In
both cases, the transducer’s output is brought to the required level to make it useful for conversion,
processing, indicating and recording.
Excitation is needed only for passive transducers, because they do not generate their own voltage or
current. It is essential for passive transducers like strain guage, potentiometers, resistance
thermometers, and inductive or capactive transducers to be excited from an external source.
Active transducers such as thermocouples, piezo-electric crystal and inductive pickups etc. do not
require an external excitation because they produce their own voltages only by the application of
physical quantities. However these signals are at a low level, and require amplification
The excitation source may be ac or dc.
DC Signal Conditioning:
The strain guage (resistance transducer) constitutes one or more arm of the Wheatstone’s bridge,
which is excited by the dc source. The bridge can be balanced by using a potentiometer and can
also be calibrated to indicate the unblanced condition. The dc amplifier should have the following
characteritics.
1. Its input stage may be a balanced differential inputs giving a high CMRR.
2. It should have extremely good thermal and long term stability.
3. Easy to calibrate at low frequency.
4. Able to recover from an over load condition, unlike an ac system.
The main disadvantage of a dc amplifier is the problem of drift. Hence low frequency spurious
signals are available as data at the output and to avoid this low drift of a dc amplifier, special low
drift dc amplifiers are used.
The dc amplifiers is followed by a low-pass filter, which is used to eliminate high frequency
components or noise from the data signals.

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In order to overcome the problem of drift in the dc systems, ac systems are used.
AC Signal Conditioning:
The transducers used are of the variable resistance or variable inductance type. They are employed
between carrier frequencies of 50 kHz and 200 kHz. The carrier frequencies are much higher, at
least 5 to 10 times the signal frequencies.
The output of a transducer is applied to the bridge circuit, whose output is an amplitude modulated
carrier signal. This waveform is amplified by an ac amplifier. This amplified modulated output is
then applied to a phase sensitive demodulator, the carrier signal. This produces a dc output that
indicates the direction of the parameter change in the bridge output.
In a carrier system amplifier, frequency drift and presence of spurious signals are not much of a
problem. However it is more difficult to obtain a stable carrier oscillator than a dc stabilised source.
Active filters can be used to reject this frequency and prevent overloading of the ac amplifier. The
function of the phase sensitive detector is to filter out the carrier frequency components of the data
signal.
To summarise, dc systems are generally used for common resistance transducers (such
as potentiometers and resistance strain gauges).
AC systems are used for variable reactance transudcers and for systems where signals have to be
transmitted via long cables to connect the transducers to Signal Conditioning System.
Instrumentation Amplifier (IA) Instrumentation amplifiers a dedicate differential amplifier with
extremely high input impedance. Its gain can be precisely se by a single internal or external
resistor. The high common-mode rejection makes IA very useful in recovering small signals buried
in large common-mode offsets or noise. •IA consists of Two stages: •The fist stage: high input
impedance and gain control •The second stage: differential amplifier (change differential signal to
common to groundInstrumentation Amplifier (IA) Instrumentation amplifiers a dedicate differential
amplifier with extremely high input impedance. Its gain can be precisely se by a single internal or
external resistor. The high common-mode rejection makes IA very useful in recovering small
signals buried in large common-mode offsets or noise. •IA consists of Two stages: •The fist stage:
high input impedance and gain control •The second stage: differential amplifier (change differential

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signal to common to ground

Instrumentation amplifiers:
Instrumentation amplifiers a dedicate differential amplifier with extremely high input impedance.
Its gain can be precisely se by a single internal or external resistor. The high common-mode
rejection makes IA very useful in recovering small signals buried in large common-mode offsets or
noise.
IA consists of Two stages:
The fist stage: high input impedance and gain control
The second stage: differential amplifier (change differential signal to common to ground

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Dept. of EE Baghmundi Govt. Polytechnic
 Voltage to Current Converter:
When we confer about the connection between voltage and current, it is obvious to mention the
Ohm’s law.

We all know that when we supply a voltage as input to a circuit which comprises of a resistor, the
proportional current will commence to flow through it. So, it is clear that the resistor decides the
current flow in a voltage source circuit or it performs as a simple voltage to current converter for
a linear circuit.

Op-amp is implemented to simply convert the voltage signal to corresponding current signal. The
Op-amp used for this purpose is IC LM741. This Op-amp is designed to hold the precise amount of

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current by applying the voltage which is essential to sustain that current through out the circuit.
They are of two types that are explained in detail below.
Ground Load Voltage to Current Converter
This converter is also known as Howland Current Converter. Here, one end of the load is always
grounded. For the circuit analysis, we have to first determine the voltage, VIN and then the
relationship or the connection between the input voltage and load current can be achieved.

For that, we apply Kirchhoff’s current law at the node V1

For a non-inverting amplifier, gain is

Here, the resistor, .

Hence the voltage in the output will be

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Thus, we can conclude from the above equation that the current IL is related to the voltage, VIN and
the resistor, R.

Application of Voltage to Current Converter

 Zener diode tester
 Low AC and DC Voltmeters
 Testing LED
 Testing Diodes

Current to Voltage Converter:

A current to voltage converter will produce a voltage proportional to the given current. This circuit
is required if your measuring instrument is capable only of measuring voltages and you need to
measure the current output.
If your instrument or data acquisition module (DAQ) has a input impedance that is several orders
larger than the converting resistor, a simple resistor circuit can be used to do the conversion.
However, if the input impedance of your instrument is low compared to the converting resistor then
the following opamp circuit should be used.

To analyse the current to voltage converter by inspection,

If we apply KCL to the node at (the inverting input) and let the input current to the inverting
input be then:

Since the output is connected to through , the opamp is in a negative feedback configuration.
Thus:

And assuming that and simplifying:

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One example of such an application is using the photodiode sensor to measure light intensity. The
output of the photodiode sensor is a current which changes proportional to the light intensity.
Another advantage of the opamp circuit is that the voltage across the photodiode (current source) is
kept constant at 0V.

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