Electrical and Electronic Measurements (EC2302)

Chapter 1: Introduction To Instrumentation and

Measurement
Lecture 2

By
Prof. Santos Kumar Das

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Outlines
◼ Standard of measurement
◼ Standard Bodies
◼ Calibration
◼ Application of measurement and instrumentation
◼ Static and Dynamic Characteristics of Instruments

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Standard of measurement
◼ As a physical representation of a unit of measurement
◼ It is used for obtaining the values of the physical
properties of other equipment by comparison
methods; e.g.
 The fundamental unit of mass in the SI system is
the kilogram, defined as the mass of a cubic
decimeter of water at its temperature of maximum
density of 4°C.

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Standard Bodies
◼ International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
◼ International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
◼ American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
◼ Standards Council of Canada ( SCC)
◼ British Standards (BS)

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Calibration
◼ Calibration consists of comparing the output of the instrument
or sensor under test against the output of an instrument of
known accuracy (higher accuracy) when the same input (the
measured quantity is applied to both instrument)
◼ The procedure is carried out for a range of inputs covering the
whole measurement range of the instrument or sensor Ensures
that the measuring accuracy of all instruments and sensors
used in a measurement system is known over the whole
measurement range, provided that the calibrated instruments
and sensors are used in environmental conditions that are the
same as those under which they were calibrated

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Calibration (Cont…)
◼ Calibration involve a comparison of an instrument with either:
 A primary standard
 A secondary standard
 A known input
 Example:

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Calibration (Cont…)
◼ The method and apparatus for performing measurement
instrumentation calibrations vary widely.
◼ A rule that should be followed is that the calibration standard
should be at least 10 times as accurate as the instrument being
calibrated.
◼ By holding some inputs constant, varying others and recording
the output(s) develop the desired static input output relations.
Many trial and runs are needed.

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Calibration (Cont…)
◼ Sensor Calibration Process

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Calibration (Cont…)
◼ Sensor Calibration Process Setup

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Application of measurement and instrumentation
◼ Home
 Thermometer
 Barometer
 Watch
◼ Road vehicles
 speedometer
 fuel gauge
◼ Industry
 Automation
 Process control
 Boiler control

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Static and Dynamic Characteristics of Instruments
◼ Static characteristics
The set of criteria defined for the instruments, which are used to
measure the quantities which are slowly varying with time or mostly
constant, i.e., do not vary with time, is called ‘static characteristics’.
◼ The various static characteristics are:
 Accuracy
 Precision
 Sensitivity
 Linearity

 Reproducibility
 Repeatability
 Resolution
 Threshold
 Drift
 Stability
 Tolerance
 Range or span
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Static and Dynamic Characteristics of Instruments
◼ Accuracy
 It is the degree of closeness with which the reading approaches the true
value of the quantity to be measured.
 Accuracy = (True Value – Measured)/(True Value)
 The accuracy can be expressed in following ways:
◼ Point accuracy:

 Such an accuracy is specified at only one particular point of

scale. It does not give any information about the accuracy at
any other point on the scale.
◼ Accuracy as percentage of scale span:

 When an instrument as uniform scale, its accuracy may be

expressed in terms of scale range.
◼ 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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Static and Dynamic Characteristics of Instruments
◼ Precision:
 It is the measure of reproducibility i.e., given a fixed value of a
quantity, precision is a measure of the degree of agreement within a
group of measurements. The precision is composed of two
characteristics:
◼ Conformity:

 Consider a resistor having true value as 2385692 , which is

being measured by an ohmmeter. But the reader can read
consistently, a value as 2.4 M due to the nonavailability of
proper scale. The error created due to the limitation of the scale
reading is a precision error.
◼ Number of significant figures:

 The precision of the measurement is obtained from the number

of significant figures, in which the reading is expressed. The
significant figures convey the actual information about the
magnitude & the measurement precision of the quantity.

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Static and Dynamic Characteristics of Instruments
◼ Sensitivity:
 The sensitivity denotes the smallest change in the measured variable to which the
instrument responds. It is defined as the ratio of the changes in the output of an
instrument to a change in the value of the quantity to be measured.

 Output 
Sensitivity =  
 Input  Q _ Point

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