Measurement and Instrumentation

EE-252
(3-0-0-6)

L-1-5 Shared on 10th Jan (Intro, Static Characteristics…)

Disclaimer: Some of the figures have been taken from various books, internet, PDFs etc. The instructor thanks all the authors
and acknowledged the respective inventors and creators of the documents

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 Analog Data
Fundamental of Signal
Meters Transducers Acquisition
Measurement Systems conditioning
Systems

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Fundamental of Measurement Systems. 8L
Fundamentals of measurement systems; Static and dynamic characteristics of measuring
instruments; Measurement uncertainty; Loading effect

Analog Meters. 8L

Measurement of resistance, capacitance and inductance: DC and AC bridge instruments;

Measurement of power, energy, frequency and phase;

Transducers 8L

Measurement of physical quantities: temperature, pressure, flow, force, strain;

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Signal conditioning:. 8L

instrumentation amplifier, filters, shielding and grounding; A/D and D/A converters

Data Acquisition Systems 8L

Digital meters; Analog and Digital oscilloscopes; Signal analyzers: wave, network, harmonic
distortion, spectrum and logic analyzers; Programmable logic controller; Virtual
instrumentation.

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Texts
1. E. O. Deobelin, Measurement Systems - Application and Design. Tata McGraw-
Hill, 2003.
2. M. M. S. Anand, Electronic Instruments and Instrumentation Technology.
Prentice-Hall of India, 2009.
3. D. A. Bell, Electronic Instrumentation and Measurements. Oxford University Press
India, 2013.

References
1. R. P. Areny and T. G. Webster, Sensors and Signal Conditioning. Wiley-
Interscience, 2012.
2. R. A. Witte, Electronic Test Instruments. Pearson Education, 2011.
3. C. F. Coombs, Electronic Instruments Handbook. McGraw-Hill, 2000.
4. B. G. Liptak, Instrument Engineers' Handbook: Process Measurement and
Analysis. CRC Press, 2012.

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The final course grade will be determined from students' performance in Mid-End Semester Examinations, and
Quizzes/ Assessments.
To pass the course, a student must obtain a passing grade in each component.
The weightage of each of these components will be as follows:

Assignment (Only One) (Before 20th March) 10 Marks

Quiz (One-to-one Either with a TA or with the tutor) 10 Marks

Mid-Semester Exam 30 marks
End-Semester Exam 50 marks

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1. All portions in the course are interlinked. Therefore, there is no segregation between courses

before and after mid-semester.

2. Minimum expectation from you is that you will not use earphones, headphones etc. in the class

and irrespective of it is on/off it will be in your bag/pocket

3. No proxy in attendance. If we find it, a biometric system will be brought immediately.

4. No Bunk (not possible!) at least no mass bunk

5. Exam Pattern………. Very easy exam……………..No pre-decided pattern…………

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Measurement: the act or process of measuring.

Measure: to discover the exact size or amount of something.

➢Comparison between quantity (whose magnitude is unknown) and a predefined Standard

Another way to define this

➢measurement is the process by which one can convert physical parameters to meaningful numbers.

➢ The measuring process is one in which the property of an object or system under consideration is
compared to an accepted standard unit, a standard defined for that particular property.

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In order that the results of the measurement are meaningful, there are two basic
requirements: -

(a) the standard used for comparison purposes must be accurately defined and should be
commonly accepted, and

(b) the apparatus used and the method adopted must be provable.

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Why study measurement systems
◦ Everyday usage
◦ Engineering and consumer applications
◦ For example, concurrent engineering: Functionality and Manufacturability

Automobile manufacturing and functions

◦ Prototype design and mass manufacturing
◦ Feedback mechanism at every stage require measurements of various parameters
◦ During operation, driver receives vehicle information such as speed, engine RPM,
Fuel level, location (GPS).
◦ Internal sensors: Accelerometer, brake-cylinder pressure sensor, MEMS, etc.

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• Primary Sensor: produces output in function of measurand, e.g. liquid-in-glass
thermometer, a thermocouple, and a strain gauge
• Variable conversion elements: Conversion of sensor output into useful signal format, Bridge circuits
• Signal processing: Signal quality improvement, Amplifiers.
• Signal transmission: Electrical or optical
• Signal presentation or recording
• Display

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Required specification of the instrument characteristics
Environmental conditions
Loading effect
Durability and Maintainability
Constancy of performance
Cost
Cost and Performance are strongly correlated
Assessment criteria = (Total purchase cost + Maintenance cost)/
Expected life

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➢Syllabus
➢Measurement Definition
➢Basic Process flow of a electronic device
➢Elements of a measurement System
➢Requirement of Measurement

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The methods of measurement may be broadly classified into two categories :

Direct and

Indirect

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❑Direct Methods

• In these methods, the. unknown quantity (also called the measurand) is directly compared
against standard

• The result is expressed as a numerical number and a unit.

•Measurement of Length of cloth with Scale

•Measurement of Resistance by Ohms Meter

•Measurement of Length using Vernier Caliper

•Measurement of Voltage using Voltmeter and many more……………..

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❑ Indirect Methods Example:
•Measurement of Volume by measuring Mass and Density
• Indirect measurement is (Volume=Mass/Density)
measuring other quantities and •Measurement of Speed by measuring Distance and Time
required value is determined by (Speed=Distance/Time)
mathematical relationship. • Measurement of Temperature by using RTD or
Thermocouple
• We need it because • Output of ‘RTD’ and ‘Thermocouple’ is in ‘Ohm’ and
measurement by direct methods ‘millivolt’ respectively.
is not always possible, feasible, • This is converted into temperature by respective standard
and practicable. conversion tables.

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 Classification of Instruments

1. Absolute Instruments
2. Secondary Instruments

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Absolute Instruments

• These instruments give the magnitude

of the quantity under measurement in
terms of the physical constants of the
instrument.

• The examples of this class of

instruments are Tangent Galvanometer
and Rayleigh's Current Balance.

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Tangent Galvanometer
• A tangent galvanometer is used for the measurement of electric current.

• It works by using a compass needle to compare a magnetic field generated by the unknown current to

the magnetic field of the Earth.

• It gets its name from its operating principle, the tangent law of magnetism, which states that the

tangent of the angle a compass needle makes is proportional to the ratio of the strengths of the two

perpendicular magnetic fields.

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 Tangent Galvanometer
horizontal
component BH

or I = K tan θ, where K is called the Reduction

Factor of the tangent galvanometer

• where I is the current in amperes, n is the number of turns of the coil

and r is the radius of the coil.

• The current in the coil causes the compass needle to rotate by an

angle θ

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Secondary Instruments

• These instruments are so constructed that the

quantity being measured can only be measured
by observing the output indicated by the
instrument.

• These instruments are calibrated by comparison

with an absolute instrument or another
secondary instrument which has already been Examples – Voltmeter,
calibrated against an absolute instrument ammeter etc

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Active and Passive Instruments:

Active Instruments:

➢ Use an external power source to amplify or manipulate the

signal being measured.

➢ The quantity being measured adapts to the magnitude of

the external power source.

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Passive Instruments

➢ Passive instruments do not require an external power

source to measure a quantity.

➢ They work by directly measuring the signal passing

through them.

➢ Common examples of passive instruments include Passive Instrument example

Gauges, Voltmeters, and Ammeters etc.

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depending upon the way they present the result of measurements

Null-Type and

Deflection-Type Instruments

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Deflection Type :

• the deflection of the instrument provides a basis for

determining the quantity under measurement

• The measured quantity produces some physical effect

which deflects or produces a mechanical
displacement of the moving system of the instrument.

• An opposing effect (which is directly related to the

deflection) is built in the instrument which tries to
oppose the deflection or the mechanical
displacement of the moving system.

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Null-Type

• In a null type of instrument, a zero or null indication leads to the determination

of the magnitude of the measured quantity.

• In contrast to the deflection-type of instruments, a null-type instrument attempts

to maintain the deflection at zero by suitable application of an effect opposing
that generated by the measured quantity.

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 Example
• Basic potentiometer arrangement
in the figure on the side

• Unknown emf is being measured

• The slide wire of the

potentiometer has been calibrated
with a standard emf source.

• The null detector is a current

galvanometer whose deflection is Note
proportional to the unbalanced As soon as the two are equal, there is no current
emf i.e., the difference between through the galvanometer and therefore it shows zero
the emf Eab across portion a-b of deflection thereby indicating null conditions.
slide wire and the unknown emf Therefore, the unknown emf Ex is equal to Eab , which
Ex. is directly indicated by the calibrated scale placed
alongside the slide wire

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 Null-Type

• In contrast to deflection-type of instruments, a Null-type instrument attempts to maintain

the deflection at zero by suitable application of an effect opposing that generated by the
measured quantity.

• Therefore, for the operation of a null type of instrument, the following are required :
(a) the effect produced by the measured quantity;

(b) the opposing effect, whose value is accurately known. This is necessary in order to
determine the numerical value of the measured quantity accurately

(c) a detector, which detects the null conditions i.e., a device that indicates zero deflection
(balance conditions) when the effect produced by the measured quantity is equal to the
effect produced by the opposing quantity.
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Analogue and Digital Instruments

Analogue Instrument example

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Indicating Instruments and Instruments with a Signal Output

Indicating Instruments: Audio or visual indication of the magnitude of the physical quantity
measured

Instruments with a Signal Output: Used commonly as part of automatic control systems

Then you have other instruments also like

Smart and Non-smart Instruments some of you might be interesting to read about those as well!

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Required specification of the instrument characteristics
Environmental conditions
Loading effect
Durability and Maintainability
Constancy of performance
Cost
Cost and Performance are strongly correlated
Assessment criteria = (Total purchase cost + Maintenance cost)/
Expected life

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Characteristics of an instrument system:

two distinct characteristics :

a. Dynamic characteristics
b. Static characteristics

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Dynamic characteristics

➢ many measurements are concerned with rapidly varying quantities and, therefore, for such
cases, the dynamic relations that exist between the output and the input must be examined

Static characteristics

➢ static characteristics of a measurement system are, in general, those that must be

considered when the system or instrument is used to measure a condition not varying with
time.

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 ➢Methods of measurement may be broadly classified into two categories :
❖ Direct and Indirect
Classification of Instruments

1. Absolute Instruments
2. Secondary Instruments

Active and Passive Instruments:

Null-Type and Deflection-Type Instruments
Analogue and Digital Instruments
Characteristics of instruments :
a. Dynamic characteristics
b. Static characteristics
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▪Accuracy ▪ Hysteresis
▪Precision ▪Dead-space
▪Tolerance
▪Range or span
▪Linearity
▪Sensitivity to measurement
▪Sensitivity to disturbance
▪Threshold
▪Resolution

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 • It must be stated that there are many definitions of the
characteristics we have seen on the last slide, and in
some cases the definitions are sometime unrelatable.

• Care has been taken to select the most generally

accepted definitions so as to avoid confusion.

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 • In ordinary usage, the distinction between the words
"Accuracy" and "Precision" is usually very vague.

• In fact, even the dictionaries invariably link the

definition of one with the other.

• But as far as the field of measurements is concerned,

there is a difference between the two terms as they
have sharp differences in meanings.

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Accuracy and Inaccuracy (Measurement Uncertainty):

◦ Accuracy of an instrument is a measure of how close the output reading of the instrument
is to the correct/true value

◦ More often, accuracy is quoted in terms of inaccuracy or measurement uncertainty

◦ Measurement uncertainty quantifies the departure of measured value from true value;
usually expressed as a percentage of Full-scale (f.s.) reading.

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•Accuracy has to do with how "right" your answer is.
•Precision has to do with how consistent your answer is.

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Accuracy
Accuracy and Inaccuracy (Measurement Uncertainty):

◦ Three ways to express it :

(a) Point Accuracy

(b) Accuracy as "Percentage of Scale Range

(c) Accuracy as "Percentage of True Value“

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Point Accuracy

◦ This is the accuracy of the instrument only at one point on its scale.

◦ The specification of this accuracy does not give any information about the
accuracy at other points on the scale or

◦ in other words, does not give any information about the general accuracy of
the instrument.

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Accuracy as "Percentage of Full Scale Range
➢ When an instrument has uniform scale, its accuracy may be expressed in terms of
scale range.

Example ❖ the accuracy of a thermometer having a range of 500°C may be expressed as ± 0.5
percent of full-scale range.

❖ This means that the accuracy of the thermometer when the reading is 500°C is ±
0.5% which is negligible (± 2.5 ºC.),

❖ but when the reading is 25°C, the error is as high as (500/25) (±0.5) = 10 percent

therefore specification of accuracy in this manner is

highly misleading
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Accuracy as "Percentage of True Value“

❖The best way to conceive the idea of accuracy is to specify it in terms of the true value of
the quantity being measured, .

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Precision
Precision: degree of freedom from random errors; often confused with accuracy
ANALOGY
✓ imagine a football player shooting at the goal.

✓ If the player shoots into the goal, he is said to be accurate.

✓ A football player who keeps striking the same goalpost is precise but not accurate.

✓ Therefore, a football player can be accurate without being precise if he hits the ball all over the place
but still scores.

✓ A precise player will hit the ball to the same spot repeatedly, irrespective of whether he scores or
not.

✓ A precise and accurate football player will not only aim at a single spot but also score the goal.
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Precision is composed of two characteristics :

➢A Conformity and
◦ A quantity called precision index describes the spread, or dispersion of repeated
results about some central value.

◦ High precision means a tight cluster of repeated results while low precision
indicates a broad scattering of results.

➢ Number of significant figures.

▪ Significant figures convey actual information regarding the magnitude and the
measurement precision of a quantity.

▪ The more the significant figures, the greater the precision of measurement.
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▪Accuracy ▪Threshold
▪Precision ▪Resolution
▪Reproducibility ▪ Hysteresis
▪Repeatability ▪Dead-space
▪Tolerance
▪Range or span
▪Linearity
▪Sensitivity to measurement
▪Sensitivity to disturbance

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Repeatability

Repeatability is the closeness of

measured values between repeated
measurements of the same thing, carried
out at the same conditions as follows:
1.At the same place
2.By the same person
3.By the same Method
4.On the same equipment
Input-output relationship with ± repeatability.
5.Over short period of time

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Reproducibility:

Reproducibility is the closeness of measured values between measurements of the

same thing carried out in different conditions as follows

1.At the different place

2.By the different person
3.By the different method
4.On the different equipment
5.At the different time

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Reproducibility:

Perfect reproducibility means that the instrument has no drift

❖ No drift means that with a given input the measured values do not vary
with time

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Drift may be classified into three categories :

✓Zero Drift

✓Span Drift or Sensitivity Drift

✓Zonal Drift

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 Zero Drift

➢ If the whole calibration gradually shifts

due to slippage, permanent set, or due to
undue warming up of electronic tube
circuits, zero drift sets in

➢ This can be prevented by zero setting.

The input-output characteristics with zero drift

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 Span drift or Sensitivity drift

➢ If there is proportional change in the

indication all along the upward scale,
the drift is called span drift or
sensitivity drift

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 Zonal drift

➢ In case the drift occurs only over a

portion of span of an instrument, it is
called zonal drift……………

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Tolerance: Maximum deviation of a measurement/manufactured
component from some specified value.

Range and Span: minimum and maximum values of a quantity

that the instrument is designed to measure.

Span= Xmax - Xmin

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➢It is always desirable that the
output reading of an
instrument is linearly
proportional to the quantity
being measured.

➢ Nonlinearity is then defined

as the maximum deviation of
any of the output readings
from the straight line. 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡
𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒
𝑁𝑜𝑛 𝐿𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 = x100
➢ Nonlinearity is usually 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔
expressed as a percentage of 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡
𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒
full-scale reading. 𝑁𝑜𝑛 𝐿𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 = x100
𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

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A measure of the change in instrument output that occurs when the quantity
being measured changes by a given amount

𝑆𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 =
𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

Example: the pressure of 2 bar produces a deflection of 10 degrees in a pressure

transducer. What is its sensitivity?

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 When a calibration curve is linear
as shown here, the sensitivity of
the instrument can be defined as in
slope of the calibration curve

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 sensitivity varies with
the input for a non
linear device

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➢If the input to an instrument is increased gradually from zero, the input will have to
reach a certain minimum level before the change in the instrument output reading is of
a large enough magnitude to be detectable.

➢This minimum level of input is known as the threshold of the instrument.

➢Expressed either as absolute value or a percentage of Full-scale readings.

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 ➢ the smallest increment in input (the quantity being
measured) that can be detected with certainty by an
instrument is called its resolution

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Q1. A moving coil voltmeter has a
uniform scale with 100 divisions, 200
1 scale division = = 2V
100
the full-scale reading is 200 V and
1
1/10 of a scale division can be Resolution = scale division
10

estimated with a fair degree of 1

= x 2 = 0.2 V
10
certainty. Determine the resolution
of the instrument in volt.

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➢The non-coincidence between loading
and unloading curves is known as
hysteresis

➢Normally expressed as a percentage of

the full-scale input or output reading,
respectively

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• Hysteresis is the
maximum difference in
output when the value
is approached with an
increasing and a
decreasing analyte
concentration range.

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➢ Dead time is defined as the time required
by a measurement system to begin to
respond to a change in the measurand

➢Dead Zone is the largest change of input

quantity for which there is no output of the
instrument.

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The incapability of the system to faithfully measure, record, or control the input signal
(measurand) in undistorted form is called the loading effect.

• The ideal situation in a measurement system is that when an element is

introduced into the system the original signal should remain un-distorted

• The purpose of this element could be for signal sensing, conditioning,

transmission or detection

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➢ The loading effect of an instrument is the degree to which it impacts the electrical properties of
a circuit, such as the voltage, current, and resistance.
Example
➢ Voltmeters: When a voltmeter is connected to a circuit, it draws current to work.

➢ The voltmeter's internal resistance is in parallel with the resistance of the circuit, which
decreases the overall resistance.

➢ This results in the voltmeter reading a lower voltage than the actual value.

➢ Ammeters: The internal resistance of an ammeter alters the circuit currents

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Noise

➢ A spurious current or voltage extraneous to the current or

voltage of interest in an electrical or electronic circuit is called
Noise.

Signal-to-noise ratio (S/N)

➢ If the magnitude of the unwanted signal (noise) is small as

compared with that of the signal of interest, then signal to noise
ratio (S/N) is large and therefore the noise becomes
unimportant.
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 The noise in the output is broadly of three types :

(a) Generated noise

(b) Conducted noise

(c) Radiated noise

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Generated noise

Let’s Understand by an Example

❖ Suppose the input signals contain no noise

Source??
❖ The power supply serves as a source of
➢ One of the possible sources of
energy for the operation of amplifier.
noise is on account of internal
components of the amplifier like
❖ The output signal is amplifier gain times the
resistors, capacitors and
input signal plus a noise signal.
transistors etc

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Generated noise cont.

➢ The noise in this case is generated

inside the amplifier and therefore is
called Generated noise.

➢ The internally generated noise is on

account of components like resistors,
capacitors, transistors etc. as stated
above.

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➢ The conductive portion of a resistor consists of regularly arranged groups of atoms that
maintain the same general physical position in the conductor

➢ they are in a state of rapid vibratory motion on account of temperature and thermal effects.

➢ This vibratory motion of atoms is transferred to the conduction electrons, thereby

producing a noise component of current.

➢ Since this noise is temperature dependent, it increases with internal heating

➢ This noise is called Johnson noise

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Also known as Johnson–Nyquist noise (thermal noise, Johnson noise, or Nyquist noise

➢ first measured by John B. Johnson at Bell Labs in

1926

➢ He described his findings to Harry Nyquist, also at

Bell Labs, who was able to explain the results

➢ The amount of Johnson noise generated

by an electronic resistor depends on the
temperature it’s operating under and the
range of frequencies (bandwidth) being
applied to it

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The noise level can be calculated in voltage terms
by using a constant known as Boltzmann’s constant,
with the following equation:

Johnson's 1927 experiment showed that if

thermal noise from a resistance of R with
temperature T is bandlimited to bandwidth
Δf, then its root mean squared voltage is

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The noise power P generated in a conductor is

The noise generation system can be represented

by a voltage source of magnitude in series with
an equivalent resistance, Rn as shown

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➢ If the noise generator is connected to an
external load resistance, RL, the noise energy
will be transferred to the load.

➢ Under conditions of maximum power

transfer (RL = Rn), the noise power is
delivered to the load

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 Thank You

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