Principles of Measuring Instruments

Presenter: Dr. Kenedy Aliila Greyson

Email: kenedyaliila@yahoo.com
Mobile: +255-654 149 540
• Enabling Outcomes
– Describe operation principles of measuring
instruments

Measurements and Instrumentations 2

 Introduction to Measurements

The Basis of Measurement

• Obtaining accurate, reliable and cost effective
measurements depends on the instrument, the user and
the mathematical treatment of the measured results.
Thus, what matters?
– Proper selection,
– use of instruments and
– interpretation of measurement are the
responsibilities of the user.

Measurements and Instrumentations 3

• Almost all families of test and measuring instruments
give the user a set of values of a parameter that is of
interest to the user.
• A person’s basic ability to make an intelligent
selection and to use the instrument properly is greatly
increased by an understanding of the basic theory of
operation and the capabilities and limitations of the
instrument families

Measurements and Instrumentations 4

• Each physical quantity has a quantity symbol (e.g. m
for mass) that represents it in equations, and a unit
symbol (e.g. kg for kilogram) to indicate its SI unit of
measure.
• Note that the quantity symbol is printed in italic
whereas the unit symbol is printed in upright type.

Measurements and Instrumentations 5

 Control
And
feedback

Power
Sensor source
Perceptible
Primary Variable Signal output
Output
Measurand Sensing Conversion processing display
element element

Calibration Data Data

signal storage transmission

Radiation,
electric current,
or other applied
energy

Figure Generalized instrumentation system

Measurements and Instrumentations 6

• Figure presents a generalized model of a simple
instrument.
– The physical process to be measured is in the left
of the figure and the measurand is represented by
an observable physical variable X.

• Note that the observable variable X need not

necessarily be the measurand but simply related to
the measurand in some known way.

Measurements and Instrumentations 7

• For example, the mass of an object is often measured
by the process of weighing, where the measurand is
the mass but the physical measurement variable is the
downward force the mass exerts in the Earth’s
gravitational field.

Measurements and Instrumentations 8

Base units
• Seven base units
1. Length (l). metre (m)
2. Mass (m). kilogram (kg)
3. Time (t ). second (s)
4. Electric current (i). ampere (A)
5. Temperature (T ). kelvin (K),
6. Luminous intensity (I ). candela (cd)
7. Amount of substance (Q). mole (mol)

Measurements and Instrumentations 9

Important SI derived units
Quantity Unit name Unit symbol

• Force newton, N
• Energy joule, J
• Power watt, W
• Electric charge coulomb, C
• Electric potential difference and EMF volt, V
• Electric resistance ohm, 
• Electric capacitance farad, F
• Electric inductance henry, H
• Magnetic flux weber, Wb

Measurements and Instrumentations 10

• The key functional element of the instrument model
shown in Figure is the sensor, which has the function
of converting the physical variable input into a signal
variable output.
• Signal variables can be manipulated in electrical or
mechanical circuit.
• In electrical circuits, voltage is a common signal
variable.
• The signal output from the sensor can be displayed,
recorded, or used as an input signal to some
secondary device or system.

Measurements and Instrumentations 11

• In a basic instrument, the signal is transmitted to a
display or recording device where the measurement
can be read by a human observer.
• The observed output is the measurement M.
• There are many types of display devices, ranging
from simple scales and dial gages to sophisticated
computer display systems.

Measurements and Instrumentations 12

• If the signal output from the sensor is small, it is
sometimes necessary to amplify the output.
• The amplified output can then be transmitted to the
display device or recorded, depending on the
particular measurement application.
• Sometimes, it is necessary to provide a digital signal
output so that it can interface with a computer-based
data acquisition or communications system.
• The analog output of the sensor is converted by an
ADC.

Measurements and Instrumentations 13

Passive and Active Sensors
• Sensors are often transducers in that they are devices
that convert input energy of one form into output
energy of another form.
• Sensors are categorized into two broad classes:
passive and active.
• Passive sensors do not add energy as part of the
measurement process.
– Example of a passive sensor are thermocouple -
temperature into a voltage signal, pressure gage -
pressure force into a displacement, etc.

Measurements and Instrumentations 14

• Active sensors add energy to the measurement
environment as part of the measurement process.
– An example of an active sensor is a radar or sonar
system, where the distance to some object is
measured by actively sending out a radio (radar) or
acoustic (sonar) wave to reflect off of some object
and measure its range from the sensor.

Measurements and Instrumentations 15

Calibration of a Sensor
• The relationship between the physical measurement
variable input and the signal variable (output) for a
specific sensor is known as the calibration of the
sensor.
• Typically, a sensor (or an entire instrument system) is
calibrated by providing a known physical input to the
system and recording the output.
• Sensitivity of the device is determined by the slope of
the calibration curve.

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FIGURE Calibration curve example.

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• The calibration curve becomes less sensitive until it
reaches a limiting value of the output signal.
• This behavior is referred to as saturation, and the
sensor cannot be used for measurements greater than
its saturation value.
• In some cases, the sensor will not respond to very
small values of the physical input variable.
• The difference between the smallest and largest
physical inputs that can reliably be measured by an
instrument determines the dynamic range of the
device.

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Accuracy and Error
• The accuracy of an instrument is defined as the
difference between the true value of the measurand
and the measured value indicated by the instrument.
• Typically, the true value is defined in reference to
some absolute or agreed upon standard.
• For any particular measurement there will be some
error due to systematic (bias ) and random (noise)
error sources.

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• The combination
of systematic and
random error can
be visualized by
considering the
analogy of the
target shown in
Figure.

Measurements and Instrumentations 20

• The total error in each shot results from both
systematic and random errors.
• The size of the grouping is determined by
random error sources and is a measure of the
precision of the shooting.

Measurements and Instrumentations 21

Systematic Error Sources (Bias)
• There are a variety of factors that can result in
systematic measurement errors.
• One class of cause factors are those that change the
input–output response of a sensor resulting in
miscalibration.
• The modifying inputs and interfering inputs can result
in sensor miscalibration.
• For example, if temperature is a modifying input,
using the sensor at a temperature other than the
calibrated temperature will result in a systematic
error.

Measurements and Instrumentations 22

• In many cases, if the systematic error source is
known, it can be corrected for by the use of
compensation methods.
• Other factors that can also cause a change in sensor
calibration resulting in systematic errors are:
– Aging of the components will change the sensor
response and hence the calibration.
– Damage of the sensor can also change the
calibration.
• In order to prevent these systematic errors, sensors
should be periodically recalibrated.

Measurements and Instrumentations 23

• Systematic errors can also be introduced if the
measurement process itself changes the intended
measurand.
• This issue, defined as invasiveness, is a key concern
in many measurement problems.
• An extreme example of invasiveness would be to use
a large warm thermometer to measure the temperature
of a small volume of cold fluid.
• Heat would be transferred from the thermometer and
would warm the fluid, resulting in an inaccurate
measurement.

Measurements and Instrumentations 24

• Systematic errors or bias can also be introduced by
human observers when reading the measurement.
• A common example of observer bias error is parallax
error.
• This is the error that results when an observer reads a
dial from a non-normal angle.

Measurements and Instrumentations 25

Random Error Sources (Noise)
• The random error sources define the precision of the
measurement.
• If a measurement with true random error is repeated a
large number of times, it will exhibit a Gaussian
distribution.
• The Gaussian distribution is centered on the true
value (presuming no systematic errors), so the mean
or average of all the measurements will yield a good
estimate of the true value.

Measurements and Instrumentations 26

FIGURE Example of a Gaussian distribution.

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• The precision of the measurement is normally
quantified by the standard deviation (σ) that indicates
the width of the Gaussian distribution.
• The smaller the standard deviation, the more precise
the measurement.
• For many applications, it is common to refer to the 2σ
value when reporting the precision of a measurement.

Measurements and Instrumentations 28

• There are a variety of sources of randomness that can
degrade the precision of the measurement -starting
with the repeatability of the measurand itself.
– For example, if the height of a rough surface is to
be measured, the measured value will depend on
the exact location at which the measurement is
taken.
• Repeated measurements will reflect the randomness
of the surface roughness.

Measurements and Instrumentations 29

• Random error generating noise can also be introduced
at each stage in the measurement process, as shown
schematically in Figure.

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• Random interfering inputs will result in noise from
the measurement environment N1 that are introduced
before the sensor, as shown in the figure. An example
is background noise received by a microphone.
• Sensor noise N2 can also be introduced within the
sensor.
– An example of this would be thermal noise within
a sensitive transducer, such as an infrared sensor.
– Random motion of electrons, due to temperature,
appear as voltage signals, which are apparently due
to the high sensitivity of the device.
• For very sensitive measurements with transducers of
this type (e.g., infrared detectors), it is common to
cool the detector to minimize this noise source.
Measurements and Instrumentations 31
• Noise N3 can also be introduced in the transmission
path between the transducer and the amplifier.
• It is important to note that the noise will be amplified
along with the signal as it passes through the
amplifier in Figure.
• As a consequence, the figure of merit when analyzing
noise is not the level of the combined noise sources,
but the signal to noise ratio (SNR), defined as the
ratio of the signal power to the power in the
combined noise sources.
• It is common to report SNR in decibel units.

Measurements and Instrumentations 32

Estimation
• With the use of computational power, it is often
possible to improve the accuracy of a poor quality
measurement through the use of estimation
techniques.
• These methods range from simple averaging or low-
pass filtering to cancel out random fluctuating errors
to more sophisticated techniques such as Wiener or
Kalman filtering and model-based estimation
techniques.

Measurements and Instrumentations 33

• The increasing capability and lowering cost of
computation makes it increasingly attractive to use
lower performance sensors with more sophisticated
estimation techniques in many applications.

Measurements and Instrumentations 34

Operational Modes of Instrumentation

• Null Instrument
• A null instrument uses
the null method for
measurement.
• In this method, the
instrument exerts an
influence on the measured
system so as to oppose the
effect of the measurand.

Measurements and Instrumentations 35

• The influence and the measurand are balanced until
they are equal but opposite in value, yielding a null
measurement.
– Typically, this is accomplished by some type of
feedback operation that allows the comparison of
the measurand against a known standard value.

Figure: Deadweight
pressure gauge.

Measurements and Instrumentations 36

• A null instrument offers certain intrinsic advantages
over other modes of operation (e.g., see deflection
instruments).
• By balancing the unknown input against a known
standard input, the null method minimizes interaction
between the measuring system and the measurand.
– As each input comes from a separate source, the
significance of any measuring influence on the
measurand by the measurement process is reduced.

Measurements and Instrumentations 37

• A disadvantage of null instruments is that an iterative
balancing operation requires more time to execute
than simply measuring sensor input.
• Thus, this method might not offer the fastest
measurement possible when high-speed
measurements are required.
• However, the user should weigh achievable accuracy
against needed speed of measurement when
considering operational modes.
• Further, the design of the comparator and balance
loop can become involved such that highly accurate
devices are generally not the lowest cost measuring
alternative. Measurements and Instrumentations 38
Deflection Instrument
• A deflection instrument uses the deflection method
for measurement.
• A deflection instrument is influenced by the
measurand so as to bring about a proportional
response within the instrument.
• This response is an output reading that is a deflection
or a deviation from the initial condition of the
instrument.

Measurements and Instrumentations 39

• The magnitude of the deflection of the prime element
brings about a deflection in the output scale that is
designed to be proportional in magnitude to the value
of the measurand.

Measurements and Instrumentations 40

Analog and Digital Sensors
• Analog sensors provide a signal that is continuous in
both its magnitude and its temporal (time) or spatial
(space) content.

Measurements and Instrumentations 41

• Digital sensor: are sensors that output a signal
that is discrete (non-continuous) in time and/or
magnitude.

Measurements and Instrumentations 42

Input Impedance
• In the ideal sense, the very act of measurement should
not alter the value of the measured signal.
• Any such alteration is a loading error.
• Loading errors can occur at any junction along the
signal chain but can be minimized by impedance
matching of the source with the measuring
instrument.
• The measuring instrument input impedance controls
the energy that is drawn from the source, or measured
system, by a measuring instrument.

Measurements and Instrumentations 43

• The power loss through the measuring instrument is
estimated by
P=E2/Z2

where Z2 is the input impedance of the

measuring instrument, and E is the source
voltage potential being measured.
• Thus, to minimize the power loss, the input
impedance should be large.
• A general rule is for the input impedance to be at least
100 times the source impedance to reduce the loading
error to 1%.

Measurements and Instrumentations 44

FIGURE An equivalent circuit is formed by applying a
measuring instrument to the output terminals of an instrument.

• The potential actually sensed by device 2 will be

Measurements and Instrumentations 45

• The difference between the actual potential E1 at the
output terminals of device 1 and the measured
potential E2 is a loading error brought on by the input
impedance of measuring device 2.
• It is clear that a high input impedance Z2 relative to Z1
minimizes this error.

Measurements and Instrumentations 46

 Characteristics of measurement
systems
• To choose the instrument, most suited to a particular
measurement application, we have to know the
system characteristics.
• The performance characteristics may be broadly
divided into two groups, namely ‘static’ and
‘dynamic’ characteristics.

Measurements and Instrumentations 47

Static characteristics
• the performance criteria for the measurement of
quantities that remain constant, or vary only quite
slowly.
Dynamic characteristics
• the relationship between the system input and output
when the measured quantity (measurand) is varying
rapidly.

Measurements and Instrumentations 48

Static characteristics of instruments
• Choice of instrument depends on the following
parameters: accuracy, sensitivity, linearity and the
reaction to ambient temperature changes, etc.
• These attributes are collectively known as the static
characteristics of instruments, and are given in the
data sheet for a particular instrument.
• Due allowance must be made for variations in the
characteristics when the instrument is used in other
conditions.

Measurements and Instrumentations 49

Accuracy and inaccuracy (measurement uncertainty)
• The accuracy of an instrument is a measure of how
close the output reading of the instrument is to the
correct value.
• In practice, it is more usual to quote the inaccuracy
figure rather than the accuracy figure for an
instrument.
• Inaccuracy is the extent to which a reading might be
wrong, and is often quoted as a percentage of the full-
scale (f.s.) reading of an instrument.

Measurements and Instrumentations 50

• If, for example, a pressure gauge of range 0–10 bar
has a quoted inaccuracy of ±1.0% f.s., then the
maximum error to be expected in any reading is 0.1
bar.
– This means that when the instrument is reading 1.0
bar, the possible error is 10% of this value.
• Thus, if we were measuring pressures with expected
values between 0 and 1 bar, we would not use an
instrument with a range of 0–10 bar.
• The term measurement uncertainty is frequently used
in place of inaccuracy.

Measurements and Instrumentations 51

Precision/repeatability/reproducibility
• Precision is a term that describes an instrument’s
degree of freedom from random errors.
• If a large number of readings are taken of the same
quantity by a high precision instrument, then the
spread of readings will be very small.
– Note that, high precision does not imply anything about
measurement accuracy.
• Low accuracy measurements from a high precision
instrument are normally caused by a bias in the
measurements, which is removable by recalibration.

Measurements and Instrumentations 52

• Repeatability: describes the closeness of output
readings when the same input is applied repetitively
over a short period of time, with the same
measurement conditions, same instrument and
observer, same location and same conditions of use
maintained throughout.
• Reproducibility: describes the closeness of output
readings for the same input when there are changes in
the method of measurement, observer, measuring
instrument, location, conditions of use and time of
measurement.
– Both terms thus describe the spread of output readings for
the same input.
Measurements and Instrumentations 53
• Figure illustrates this more
clearly.
o The figure shows the
results of tests on three
industrial robots that were
programmed to place
components at a particular
point on a table.
Measurements and Instrumentations 54
Tolerance
• Tolerance defines the maximum error that is to be
expected in some value.
• Tolerance describes the maximum deviation of a
manufactured component from some specified value.
– For instance, one resistor chosen at random from a batch
having a nominal value 1000W and tolerance 5% might
have an actual value anywhere between 950W and 1050 W.

Measurements and Instrumentations 55

Range or span
• The range or span of an instrument defines the
minimum and maximum values of a quantity that the
instrument is designed to measure.

Linearity
• It is normally desirable that the output reading of an
instrument is linearly proportional to the quantity
being measured.

Measurements and Instrumentations 56

 • The non-linearity is then defined as the maximum
deviation of any of the output readings marked X
from this straight line.
• Non-linearity is usually expressed as a percentage of
full-scale reading.

The sensitivity of measurement

is therefore the slope of the
straight line drawn on Figure.

Measurements and Instrumentations 57

Sensitivity of measurement
• The sensitivity of measurement is a measure of the
change in instrument output that occurs when the
quantity being measured changes by a given amount.
• Thus, sensitivity is the ratio:

• For example, a pressure of 2 bar produces a deflection

of 10 degrees in a pressure transducer, the sensitivity
of the instrument is 5 degrees/bar.

Measurements and Instrumentations 58

Threshold
• If the input to an instrument is gradually increased
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.
– As an illustration, a threshold of about 15 km/h means that,
if the vehicle starts from rest and accelerates, no output
reading is observed on the speedometer until the speed
reaches 15 km/h.

Measurements and Instrumentations 59

Resolution
• When an instrument is showing a particular output
reading, there is a lower limit on the magnitude of the
change in the input measured quantity that produces
an observable change in the instrument output.

– One of the major factors influencing the

resolution of an instrument is how finely its
output scale is divided into subdivisions.

Measurements and Instrumentations 60

Sensitivity to disturbance
• All calibrations and specifications of an instrument
are only valid under controlled conditions of
temperature, pressure etc.
• As variations occur in the ambient temperature etc.,
certain static instrument characteristics change, and
the sensitivity to disturbance is a measure of the
magnitude of this change.
• Such environmental changes affect instruments in
two main ways, known as zero drift and sensitivity
drift.

Measurements and Instrumentations 61

• Zero drift or bias describes the effect where the zero
reading of an instrument is modified by a change in
ambient conditions.
• This causes a constant error that exists over the full
range of measurement of the instrument.
• Sensitivity drift (also known as scale factor drift)
defines the amount by which an instrument’s
sensitivity of measurement varies as ambient
conditions change.

Measurements and Instrumentations 62

Hysteresis effects
• Figure illustrates the output characteristic of an
instrument that exhibits hysteresis.

Measurements and Instrumentations 63

• If the input measured quantity to the instrument is
steadily increased from a negative value, the output
reading varies in the manner shown in curve (a).
• If the input variable is then steadily decreased, the
output varies in the manner shown in curve (b).
• The non-coincidence between these loading and
unloading curves is known as hysteresis.
• Two quantities are defined, maximum input hysteresis
and maximum output hysteresis, as shown in Figure.

Measurements and Instrumentations 64

• Hysteresis is most commonly found in instruments
that contain springs, such as the passive pressure
gauge.
• Hysteresis can also occur in instruments that contain
electrical windings formed round an iron core, due to
magnetic hysteresis in the iron.
Dead space
• Dead space is defined as the range of different input
values over which there is no change in output value
(see hysteresis figure).

Measurements and Instrumentations 65

Dynamic characteristics of instruments
• The static characteristics of measuring instruments
are concerned only with the steady-state reading that
the instrument settles down to.
• The dynamic characteristics of a measuring
instrument describe its behavior between the time a
measured quantity changes value and the time when
the instrument output attains a steady value in
response.

where qi is the measured quantity, q0 is the output

reading and a0 . . . an, b0 are constants.
Measurements and Instrumentations 66
Zero order instrument
• If all the coefficients a1 . . . an other than a0 in
equation are assumed zero, then:

where K is a constant known as the instrument

sensitivity as defined earlier.

Measurements and Instrumentations 67

First order instrument
• If all the coefficients a2 . . . an except for a0 and a1 are
assumed zero then:

• Any instrument that behaves according to equation

is known as a first order instrument. If d/dt is
replaced by the D operator in equation, we get:

Measurements and Instrumentations 68

Defining as the static sensitivity and
as the time constant of the system, equation
becomes:

Measurements and Instrumentations 69

Second order instrument
• If all coefficients a3 . . . an other than a0, a1 and a2 in
equation are assumed zero, then we get:

• Applying the D operator again:

and rearranging

Measurements and Instrumentations 70

• It is convenient to re-express the variables a0, a1, a2
and b0 in equation in terms of three parameters K
(static sensitivity), ω (undamped natural frequency)
and ξ (damping ratio), where:

Measurements and Instrumentations 71