MCT 3332

Instrumentation and
Measurements

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TODAYS CONTENTS

To study engineering without books is to

sail an uncharted sea, while to study
engineering only from books is not to go
to sea at all Osler

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TODAYS CONTENTS

Introduction to Instrumentation and

Measurement

Errors in Measurement

Statistical methods to analyse errors

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SIGNIFICANCE OF MEASUREMENT

The primary objective in any measurement system is to

establish the value or the tendency of some variable.

Measurement provides quantitative information on the

actual state of the physical variables and processes that
otherwise could only be estimated.

Significant Results of Measurements are

Fundamental data for research, design and development,
Basic input data for control of processes and operations,
Data for safe and economic performance of systems.

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 DEFINITION
Instrument? - Sensors and Transducers
a device that transforms a physical variable of
interest (the measurand) into a form that is suitable
for recording (the measurement)

Measurement?
to employ a standard system of units by which the
measurement from one instrument can be
compared with the measurement of another

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 EXAMPLE
Basic
Measurand - Length

Measurement - meter

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 A GENERALIZED MODEL OF A SIMPLE
INSTRUMENT.

Measurement,
M is the
observable
output.

Sensor
= instrument - converts the physical
variable input, X into a signal variable
output, S.
Signal variables, S
- can be manipulated, can be
displayed, recorded, or used as an
input signal to some secondary
systems 7
PRINCIPLES OF MEASUREMENT
What s inside
this??

The input to the measurement system is the true or actual

value

The output from the measurement system is the measured

value 8
GENERAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
Detector-transducer or
sensor stage
Intermediate or signal
conditioning stage
Terminating, Output or
readout stage
Feedback control stage
(optional)

These stages form the bridge between the input to the

measurement system and the system output, a quantity that is
used to infer the value of the physical variable measured.
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The relationship between the input information and the system
output is established by a calibration. How about weighing
machine example
COMPONENTS OF A GENERAL
MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Detector-transducer or sensor stage

Intermediate or signal conditioning stage

Terminating or readout stage

Feedback control stage

Vehicle Auto - Cruise Example

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 AUTO CRUISE CONTROL
Automatic cruise control is an excellent example of a
feedback control system found in many modern vehicles.

The purpose of the cruise control system is to maintain a

constant vehicle speed despite external disturbances,
such as changes in wind or road grade.

This is accomplished by measuring the vehicle speed,

comparing it to the desired or reference speed, and
automatically adjusting the throttle according to a control
law.

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AUTO CRUISE CONTROL

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COMPONENTS OF A GENERAL
MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Detector-transducer or sensor stage:

The physical variable to be measured is detected.

Signal is transformed into more usable form.
Insensitive to every other possible input. 13

Minimize loading error.

COMPONENTS OF A GENERAL
MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Intermediate or signal conditioning stage:

The transduced signal is modified by one or more

basic operations, such as amplification, filtering, 14
differentiation, integrating or averaging, etc.
COMPONENTS OF A GENERAL
MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Terminating or readout stage:

Acts to indicate, record or control the variable being measured.

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Output may be analog or digital.
COMPONENTS OF A GENERAL
MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Feedback control stage:

In those measurement systems involved in process control,

feedback
control stage contains a controller that interprets the 16

measured signal
and makes a decision regarding the control of the process.
INDUSTRY EXAMPLE - DEW
POINT/MOISTUTRE ANALYZER
A dew point analyzer measures the amount of moisture present in
a gas to determine the theoretical temperature at which the
moisture in the gas will condense (the saturation point).

Although dew point is related to the temperature and the pressure

of the gas, the dew point of a gas remains the same regardless of
the actual temperature of the gas. For example, a gas at room
temperature (70F, or 21.1C) with a dew point of 40F (4.4C) will
cause condensation if it is cooled to a temperature below 40F.

This can be seen in the summer when the ambient temperature in

the evenings drops below the dew point temperature of the air,
causing water droplets to form on any surface that cools to a point
below the dew point temperature. Knowing the dew point of a gas
in a heat treating environment can be beneficial in either
determining the carbon potential of the gas, or determining the
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purity level of the incoming process gases.
INDUSTRY EXAMPLE - DEW
POINT/MOISTUTRE ANALYZER

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INDUSTRY EXAMPLE - HYDROSTATIC
TEST

A hydrostatic test is a way in which pressure vessels such as

pipelines, plumbing, gas cylinders, boilers and fuel tanks can be
tested for strength and leaks. The test involves filling the vessel or
pipe system with a liquid, usually water, which may be dyed to aid
in visual leak detection, and pressurization of the vessel to the
specified test pressure.

Pressure tightness can be tested by shutting off the supply valve

and observing whether there is a pressure loss. The location of a
leak can be visually identified more easily if the water contains a
colorant.

Strength is usually tested by measuring permanent deformation of

the container. Hydrostatic testing is the most common method
employed for testing pipes and pressure vessels.
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INDUSTRY EXAMPLE - HYDROSTATIC
TEST

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 ELEMENTS IN MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Sensing element (i.e., sensor) : device in contact with the

measured process and giving output that depends on the
quantity being measured
Signal conditioning element: takes output from the sensor
and converts it to a form suitable for processing. (e.g.
amplifiers, filters)
Signal processing element: takes output from the signal
conditioner and performs analysis/transformation, etc. (e.g.
ADC, spectral analyzer) 21

Data presentation: computer display, graphs, indicator,

gauges.
TYPES OF MEASUREMENT APPLICATIONS

1. Monitoring of processes and operations

2. Control of Process and operations

3. Experimental engineering analysis

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1. Monitoring of processes and operations

measured devices is being used to keep track of some

quantities (e.g., thermometers, barometers, radars)

to indicate the process condition and the reading do not

serve any control functions in the ordinary sense.

in automotive system, speedometer, fuel gage, outdoor

temperature sensor and compass belongs to this class
of measurement applications.

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2. Control of processes and operation
measurement in feedback control systems
sensors are used to sense control variables
e.g., car speed control system, antilock braking system,
coolant temperature regulating system, air conditioning
system
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3. Experimental Engineering Analysis

All engineering design, development and

research lies on laboratory testing

Solution of engineering problems

1. Theory
2. Experimentation

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 ACCURACY AND PRECISION

Generally,

Accuracy is used to specify the maximum overall

error to be expected from a device in measuring
variable.

Precision shows the closeness of repeated set of

measurements to each other.

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ACCURACY AND PRECISION

Accuracy refers to the

quality of the result

Precision refers to the

quality of the operation
by which the result is
obtained
 In measurement, there will combinational errors due to the
errors available in the measured system and measuring
instrument.
Accuracy of a system can be estimated during calibration. If
the input value of calibration is known exactly, then it can
called the true value. The accuracy of a measurement system
refers to its ability to indicate a true value exactly. Accuracy is
related to absolute error, :

= absolute error
Yn = true/expected value
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Xn = measured value
 It is impossible to make a perfectly precise
measurement.

Accuracy can be improved up to but not beyond

the precision of the instrument by calibration.

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 Error can be expressed as a percentage

Percent error, %e= Absolute error x 100

Expected value

Yn -X n
Percent error = (100)
Yn
Yn = true/expected value
Xn = measured value 30
 Accuracy can be expressed as a percentage:

In percent accuracy, A

= 1 100

= true valueindicated value

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Example
The expected value of the voltage across a resistor is 50V;
however the measurement yields a value of 48.5V.
Calculate

a. the absolute error

b. the percent of error
c. the percent of accuracy

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 Besides Accurate, a measurement must also be
Precise
accuracy implies precision
Precision of a measurement is a quantitative or
numerical indication of the closeness in which a
repeated set of measurements of the same variable
agrees with the average of the set of measurements
Xn - Xn
Precision 1
Xn
X n the value of the n - th measurement
X n the average of the set of n measurements
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Example:
The following set of measurement was recorded in
the laboratory . Calculate the precision of the fourth
measurement

No. meas 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Meas. 98 102 101 97 100 103 98 106 107 99
Value

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Solution
First, find the average value for the set of measurement

98 102 101 97 100 103 98 106 107 99

Xn
10
101.1
Xn - Xn
Precision 1
Xn
97 - 101.1
1
101.1
1 - 0.04 0.96

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An indication of the precision of
a measurement is obtained from
the number of significant figures
to which the result is expressed.
Rules regarding significant
figures when making
calculations:
1. When performing
additions/subtractions,
Add/subtract the values without
rounding the individual numbers, then
round off the sum to the correct
number of significant figures.
Example :
The voltage drop across two
resistors in a series circuit are
measured as
V1 = 6.31V V2 = 8.736V
The applied voltage is the sum of the
voltage drop.
Add the values without rounding the
individual numbers, then round off the
sum to the correct number of
significant figures.
V = 6.31V + 8.736V = 15.046 V
Therefore V = 15.05V
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2. When performing
multiplication and division
retain only as many
significant figures as the least
precise quantity contains
Example:
The current and voltage drop
in a series circuit is
measured as 0.0148A and
6.31V respectively. Using
these values of current and
the voltage drop we can
compute the value of resistor
as
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3. When dropping non significant figures, do not change the
last figure to be retained if the figures dropped equal less
than one half (1/2). The last figure retained should increase
by 1 if the figures dropped have a value equal to, or greater
than, one half. (i.e. round off)

Example
The power dissipated by each resistor is
P1 = V1I = (6.31V)(0.0148A) = 0.093W = 0.09W
And P2 = V2I = (8.736V)(0.0148A) = 0.1293W = 0.13W

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 Types of errors
Systematic Random Gross

Unknown
Instrument Environmental Observational Human faults
reasons

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 Gross Error

due to human faults during the usage of the

instrument such as
Incorrect reading

Incorrect recording of experimental data

Incorrect use of instruments

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 Systematic Error 3 types

1. Instrument
Friction in the bearing of meter movement

Incorrect spring tension

Improper calibration

Faulty instruments

Can be reduced by proper maintenance, use and

handling of instruments

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2. Environmental errors
instruments involvement to the environment
i.e, high temperature, pressure, humidity,
strong electrostatic or electromagnetic fields

3. Observational errors
Errors introduced by the observer
Parallax error introduced in reading a meter
scale and error of estimation when obtaining
a reading

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Random Errors

Errors that are due to unknown reasons and

occur even when instruments are operated under
ideal environment and all well calibrated.

Maybe taken into consideration if a high degree

of accuracy is needed.

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Statistical Analysis of error in measurement

Allows analytical determination of the uncertainty of

the final measurement result

To make statistical methods and interpolations

meaningful, a large number of measurements is
required

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1. Arithmetic mean
Most probable value of a measured variable
after a number of readings are taken .

x 1 x 2 .....x n
x
n
where
x arithmetic mean
x measured value
n number of readings

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2. Deviation
Difference between each piece of test data and the
arithmetic mean
The deviation of x1, x2,from their arithmetic mean x is
denoted by d1, d2 .dn and defined as
d1 x 1 x
d2 x 2 x
d3 x 3 x
The algebraic sum of deviations of a set of numbers from
their arithmetic mean is zero.

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3. Average deviation

d1 d2 d3 ..... dn
D
n
the average deviation is the arithmetic sum of the absolute
values of the individual deviations divided by the number of
readings.

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4. Standard deviation, S,

is the degree to which the values vary from the average

value. The standard deviation of a set of n numbers is

d 21 d 22 ....d 2n
S
n

For small number of reading (n<30), the denominator is

expressed as n-1 to obtain more accurate value for the
standard deviation

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Example:
For the following data compute,
(a) Arithmetic mean
(b) The deviation of each value
(c) The algebraic sum of the deviations
(d) The standard deviation for the data.
x1 = 50.1
x2 = 49.7
x3 = 49.6
x4 = 50.2
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Probability errors
Normal distribution error

Useful to plot a large number of readings vs the number of

times. Each reading appears in the form of the normal
distribution.

Example

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Voltage Number of
reading reading

99.7 1
99.8 4
99.9 12
100.0 19
100.1 10
100.2 3
100.3 1

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