APPLIED ELECTRONICS

GM/MN/MR/GE 162

INSTRUMENTATION

AMA BADUBA ASIEDU-ASANTE MSC,BSC,MIEEE,MIET, MIMS

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
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LECTURE OBJECTIVES
■ Understand the Characteristics of Instrumentation
■ Know Functional Element of Instrument
■ Be able to distinguish between Analogue and Digital Instruments
■ Must know that systematic and random errors affect the accuracy and
precision of measuring instruments.
■ Must also know that measurement errors can be eliminated by proper
calibration of the instrument.

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 INTRODUCTION
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■ The field of instrumentation includes the science and art of measurement,

control, and process manipulation
■ Tests and measurements are important in designing, evaluating, maintaining
and servicing electrical circuits and equipment

Physical Measurement Signal

Variable Variable Measurement
x s M
Measurand Sensor

Physical Process Simple Instrument Model Display

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 Characteristics of Instrumentation systems
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■ Instrument is a device that transforms a physical variable of interest (the

measurand) into a form that is suitable for recording (the measurement).
■ It is common to employ a standard system of units by which the
measurement from one instrument can be compared with the measurement of
another.
■ The observable variable X need not necessarily be the measurand but simply
related to the measurand in some known way

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KN
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■ Sensor has the function of converting the physical variable input into a
signal variable output.
■ Signal variables are they that can be manipulated in a transmission system,
such as an electrical or mechanical circuit.
■ The observed output is the measurement M.
■ There are many types of display devices, ranging from simple scales to
sophisticated computer display systems.
■ The output signal can also be used directly by some larger system of which
the instrument is a part, or may be used as the input signal of a closed loop
control system.

Mar-17 5
 Introduction to Analogue and Digital
Instruments
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■ A measuring instrument is a device that shows the extent or amount or

quantity or degree of a physical quantity.
■ There are two types of measuring instruments namely, analogue instruments
and digital instruments

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A deflecting or operating device. A mechanical force is produced by the
current or voltage which causes the pointer to deflect from its zero position.

A controlling device. This controls the deflecting device and ensures that the
deflection shown on the meter is always the same for a given measured
quantity. There are two main types—spring control and gravity control.

A damping device. The damping force ensures that the pointer comes to rest
in its final position quickly and without undue oscillation.

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A Scale: A standard by which the measured is compared with. It is also an
indication of the level of change recorded. There are basically two types of
scale—linear and non-linear.

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Digital/Electronic Instruments
■ Electronic measuring instruments have advantages
– In that they have a much higher input resistance
– Can handle a much wider range of frequency
– higher accuracy and resolution,
– no observational or parallax errors
– constant on all ranges.

■ Instruments for AC measurements are generally calibrated with a

sinusoidal alternating waveform to indicate Root Mean Square (RMS)
values when a sinusoidal signal is applied to the instrument
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Error, Accuracy and Precision
■ Accuracy is the extent to which the average of many measurements
made by the instrument agrees with the true value or standard being
measured
■ The difference between the average and the true value is the error,
or inaccuracy, and is the extent to which the instrument is out of
calibration
■ The degree to which an instrument will consistently produce equal
measurements is called “precision

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Sources Of Measurement Error
■ A measurement error is the difference between the measured value of
a magnitude and its true value
■ All measurement errors are due to either random errors or systematic
errors.

■ Human Factors
■ An operator can get different results measuring the same product with
the same measuring system because of slight differences in technique
from one measurement to the next

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Sources Of Measurement Error –Cont’d
■ Random Error
– Random errors are fluctuations in the
measured data due to the precision limitations
of the measurement device.
– Random errors usually result from the user’s
inability to take the same measurement in
exactly the same way to get exactly the same
number.
– Random error is caused by any factors that
randomly affect measurement of the variable
across the sample

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Sources Of Measurement Error –Cont’d
■ Systematic Error
– Systematic errors, by contrast, are
reproducible inaccuracies that are
consistently in the same direction.

– Systematic errors are often due to a

problem that persists throughout the
entire measurement.

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Reducing Measurement Error
■ Test your instruments
■ Train personnel on appropriate instrument usage procedures
■ Double check results against some standard or expected values
■ Finally, one of the best things you can do to deal with measurement
errors, especially systematic errors, is to use multiple measures of the
same construct.

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The Moving Coil Instrument
RUTH AND EX

■ A moving-coil instrument operates on the motor principle

■ When a conductor carrying current is placed in a magnetic field, a

force F is exerted on the conductor, given by F = BIL

– If the flux density B is made constant (by using permanent

magnets)
– the conductor is a fixed length (say, a coil) L
– then the force will depend only on the current flowing in the
conductor I

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The Moving Coil Instrument – Cont’d
RUTH AND EX

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MC Instrument Series & Shunt Resistance
Calculations
■ Ammeter Shunt Resistance Calculations

The moving coil instrument (MC) can be made

into a ammeter by connecting a Resistor in
parallel with it. This resistor is usually called a
SHUNT resistor

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MC Instrument Shunt Resistance
Calculations
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Rs = Shunt Resistance
Rm = internal resistance of MC
Is = current through shunt resistor
Im =current through MC needed for energization
I =current to be measured
Vs = Voltage across shunt resistor
Vm= voltage across MC coil

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 MC Instrument Shunt Resistance Calculations
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Applying Kirchhoff’s law

I=I +I ⟹ I =I−I

Since Rs is parallel to MC, Vs = Vm

Hence = ⟹ I−I =

= and = +
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MC Instrument Series Calculations
■ Voltmeter Series Resistance Calculations

Conversely, for the moving coil instrument to be used as an

voltmeter, it is connected in series with a MULTIPLIER resistor

Vm

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MC Instrument Series Calculations –Cont’d
R = Series Resistance
Rm = internal resistance of MC
Im =current through MC needed for energization
V = Voltage to be measured
Vm= voltage across MC coil
Vr =voltage across series resistance
Vm

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MC Instrument Series Calculations –Cont’d
= − = I R since MC and R experience same current

Dividing through by Vm = R I Vm

V−V I R V−V I R
= ⟹ = V
V

Therefore,
V−V
= ⟹ −1=
V

V R
= +1
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 Example Question
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A moving coil ammeter has a fixed shunt of 0.02Ω with coil

circuit resistance of 1kΩ that needs a potential of 0.5V across
it for full scale deflection.
I. What total current does this correspond to?
II. Calculate the value of shunt resistance to give a full scale
deflection when total current is 10A and 75A

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Solution
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i. Total current = ,
.
= = 0.0005 = 0.5 / 0.02 = 25A
= 25 + 0.0005 = .

i. When total current is 10A, I = 10 − 0.0005 = 9.9995A

I ×R 0.5
R = = = .
I 9.9995

When total current is 75A, I = 75 − 0.0005 = 74.9995A

.
R = = . 7Ω
.

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Summary
■ Instrumentation systems
– the measurand
– Instrument
– Sensor
■ Possible Measurement Variables
■ Analogue and Digital Instruments
– Essential Features of Analogue Instruments
■ deflecting or operating device
■ controlling device
■ damping device.
■ Scale:
Mar-17 – Digital/Electronic Instruments 25
KN
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Summary
■ Accuracy is the extent to which the average of many measurements
made by the instrument agrees with the true value or standard being
measured
■ The difference between the average and the true value is the error, or
inaccuracy,
■ The degree to which an instrument will consistently produce equal
measurements is called “precision
■ Sources of error
– Human Factors
– Random Error
– Systematic Error
Mar-17 26
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Summary
■ The Moving Coil Instrument
– A moving-coil instrument operates on the motor principle

■ MC Instrument Series & Shunt Resistance Calculations

– The moving coil instrument (MC) can be made into a
voltmeter by connecting a Resistor in series with it. This
resistor is usually called a MULTIPLIER
– Conversely, for the moving coil instrument to be used as an
ammeter, it is connected in parallel with a SHUNT resistor

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