INSTRUMENTATION

Submitted by-
DEBARAJ KAKATI
ECE-12/16
DUIET
OSCILLOSCOPE
An oscilloscope is a laboratory instrument commonly used to display and
analyze the waveform of electronic signals. In effect, the device draws a
graph of the instantaneous signal voltage as a function of time.
 Working Principle
• 1. Cathode Ray Tube (CRT):CRT Produces a sharply focused beam of electrons, accelerated
to a very high velocity. This electron beam travels from the electron gun to the screen.
The electron gun consists of filament, cathode, control grid, accelerating anodes and
focusing anode. While travelling to the screen, electron beams passes between a set of
vertical deflecting plates and a set of horizontal deflection plates. Voltages applied to
these plates can move the beam in vertical and horizontal plane respectively. The electron
beam then strikes the fluorescent material (phosphor) deposited on the screen with
sufficient energy to cause the screen to light up in a small spot.
• 2. Vertical Amplifier: The input signal is applied to the vertical amplifier. The gain of this
amplifier can be controlled by VOLT/DIV knob. Output of this amplifier is applied to the
delay line.
• 3. Delay Line: The delay Line retards the arrival of the input waveform at the vertical
deflection plates until the trigger and time base circuits start the sweep of the beam. The
delay line produces a delay of 0.25 microsecond so that the leading edge of the input
waveform can be viewed even though it was used to trigger the sweep.
• 4.Trigger (Sync.) Circuit: A sample of the input waveform is fed to a trigger circuit which
produces a trigger pulse at some selected point on the input waveform. This trigger pulse
is used to start the time base generator which then starts the horizontal sweep of CRT
spot from left hand side of the screen.
• 5. Time base (Sweep) Generator: This produces a saw-tooth waveform that is used as horizontal
deflection voltage of CRT. The rate of rise of a positive going part of the saw tooth waveform is
controlled by TIME/DIV knob. The saw tooth voltage is fed to the horizontal amplifier if the
switch is in the INTERNAL position. If the switch is in EXT. position, an external horizontal input
can be applied to the horizontal amplifier.
• 6. Horizontal Amplifier: This amplifies the saw-tooth voltage. As it includes a phase inverter two
outputs are produced. Positive going saw tooth and negative going saw tooth are applied to
right – hand and left – hand horizontal deflection plates of CRT.
• 7. Blanking Circuit: The blanking circuit is necessary to eliminate the retrace that would occur
when the spot on CRT screen moves from right side to left side” This retrace can cause confusion
if it is not eliminate. The blanking voltage is produced by sweep generator. Hence a high
negative voltage is applied to the control grid during retrace period or a high positive voltage is
applied to the cathode in CRT.
When a saw tooth voltage is applied to horizontal plates and an input signal is applied
to vertical plates, display of vertical input signal is obtained on the screen as a function of time.
• 8. Power Supply: A high voltage section is used to operate CRT and a low voltage section is used
to supply electronic circuit of the oscilloscope.
Limitations

1.Oscilloscopes cost many times more than other types of electronic measuring instruments.
2. As there is no storage memory available, it can only analyze signal in real time.
3.It can not analyze high frequency sharp rise time transients.
4.It requires some amount of training to use it.
 Digital MultiMeter(DMM)
• A digital multimeter (DMM) is a test tool used to measure two or more electrical values—
principally voltage (volts), current (amps) and resistance (ohms) and gives out the result
on a LCD screen. It is a standard diagnostic tool for technicians in the electrical/electronic
industries.

Fig: Block Diagram of DMM

Working Principle

The current is converted to voltage by passing it through low shunt

resistance. The a.c. quantities are converted to d.c. by employing
various rectifier and filtering circuits. While for the resistance
measurements the meter consists of a precision low current source
that is applied across the unknown resistance while gives d.c.
voltage. All the quantities are digitized using analog to digital
converter and displayed in the digital form on the display. The
basic building blocks of digital multimeter are several AID
converters, counting circuitry and an attenuation circuit. Generally
dual slope integration type ADC is preferred in the multimeters.
The single attenuator circuit is used for both a.c. and d.c.
measurements in many commercial multimeters.
Limitations

1.The LCD display depends on a battery or external power

source. When the battery is low, the display will be dim,
making it difficult to read.
2.There is a voltage limitation. If it is increased beyond the
limit, the meter will be damaged.
3.It is more expensive than the analog type.
4.It should be used as per manufacturer specified
measurement range and as per category rating. Failing to
do this will case damage to the equipment and also cause
personal injury.
Data Acquisition System(DAS)
Data acquisition is a process of automatically obtaining data
from one or more sensors or transducers directly into the
computer system. A sensor is a device that responds to a
physical change and outputs an electrical signal and a
transducer is a device that converts energy from one form to
another. E.g. a thermocouple generates an emf due to two
dissimilar metal joined at the it’s junction. The emf generated
is a low level voltage. When this voltage is sent to a wire it is
called a voltage signal. A transducer can be used to convert
the low level voltage signal to a high level voltage signal.
A simple system consists of:-
1.Transducer
2.Data Acquisition Hardware (DAQ)
3.Computer
Once the sensor outputs a signal that can be transmitted
to a wire there are still cases when there could be a
mismatch in terms of type and range of signal and type
and range of data acquisition hardware. e.g:-
i)Some transducer might be designed to generate a
current signal as output but our data acquisition hardware
could have been designed to take a voltage signal as
input.
ii)A transducer might be designed to give output voltage
in the range of 50-100mV but our data acquisition
hardware accepts the input voltage signal in the range of
0-10V.
Signal conditioning may be required to adjust the signal
type and range of the output signal to align with the
requirements of the data acquisition system. Once
mismatches between transducers and data acquisition
hardware are removed, data can be collected. Data
acquisition system.
 Fig:-Block diagram of DAS

• The computer needs to know which signal to measure, how

often to take readings , how many readings to collect or
how long to continue reading the signal. This is known as
configuring the data acquisition process and is done before
collecting the data.
Logic Probe and Logic analyzer

• The logic probe or digital tester is normally a low cost handheld

probe contained within a pen-like tube with indicator lights to show
the state of the line being probed.
• Typically logic probes are used to test digital circuits like those using
TTL or CMOS logic. They often have three indicator lights on the
body to indicate the state of the line. As such logic probes are very
basic forms of digital testers, only able to test the state of a single
line, but they can be useful in many applications.
• The logic probe is normally powered by the circuit under test - there
are normally leads with crocodile / alligator clips that can be
attached to the ground and supply of the circuit under test.
A logic probe is restricted in the number of measurements it can make when
compared to other test instruments, but it can nevertheless be used for a variety of
digital measurements:
•Logic high state: The logic probe / digital logic tester is able to detect lines that
are at the digital or logic high state. The logic probe will indicate this typically with
an LED which is often coloured red.
•Logic low: The logic probe also is able to indicate a logic or digital low. A
common indication is with the use of a green coloured LED.
•Digital pulses: The logic probe may incorporate some form of pulse detection
circuitry. When the line is active and being pulsed a third color, possibly amber will
be indicated. The logic probe may well incorporate circuitry to detect very short
pulses and in this way indicate when the line is active. Sometimes the length of the
pulses may be indicated by the brightness of the LED.
•Line tri-stated: Some logic probes may also be able to detect when a line has
been put into a tristate option. This is when the output device has its output
turned off and no real logical state is defined. Many logic probes are able to
indicate this state and they may do this by having all indicators turned off.
Limitations

1. Very rough measurement: The nature of the logic probe means

that only an indication of the presence of a logic signal can be
detected. It is not replacement for a test instrument such as an
oscilloscope.
2. Poor display: A logic probe only uses a few LEDs to indicate the
nature of the logic signal. As a result, little information can be
displayed about the nature of the logic signal that is detected.
FREQUENCY COUNTER

A frequency counter is an electronic

instrument, or component of one, that is
used for measuring frequency. Frequency
counters usually measure the number of
cycles of oscillation, or pulses per second
in a periodic electronic signal. Such an
instrument is sometimes referred to as a
cymometer.
Working of Frequency Counter

 The signal which has been applied as an input to

the frequency-counter for frequency
measurement is first split into a Pulse string.
 The pulses are given a clock speed of one pulse
per unit cycle.
 Thereafter, the number of pulses which are
applied in a definite interval of time are counted
with the help of an electronic-counter.
 As the pulses sent directly represent the cycles
of an unidentified signal, the numeric reading
shown by the electronic-counter gives the value
of the unidentified signal.
Limitations

1.Unable to see the waveform.

2.There's no guarantee the frequency counter is counting the right thing.
SPECTRUM ANALYZER

A spectrum analyzer is a device that displays signal

amplitude as it varies by signal frequency.
The frequency appears on the horizontal axis, and the
amplitude is displayed on the vertical axis.
The primary use is to measure the power of the spectrum of
known and unknown signals.
BLOCK DIAGRAM OF SPECTRUM ANALYZER
WORKING PRINCIPLE OF SPECTRUM ANALYZER

Spectrum analyzer can be divided into two types: real-time

analyzer and sweep analyzer.
• Real time spectrum analyzer: The principle of operation is to
convert the analog signal to digital signal, then add it to the
digital filter. An orthogonal digital local oscillator controlled
by a central processor generates a digital local oscillator
signal which varies according to the sine law and varies
according to the cosine law.
Orthogonal digital local oscillator is a sweep oscillator,
when the frequency and the frequency of the measured
signal at the same time there is output, after the integration
of the results obtained for the oscilloscope display spectrum
graphics.
LIMITATIONS OF SPECTRUM ANALYZER

1.Swept type can detect only CW signals without any phase information.
2.FFT analyzer can not work in higher RF frequencies due to limitations on sampling rate of
ADC (Analog to Digital Converter). More it will have limitations on bandwidth supported by
the spectrum analyzer.
PROGRAMMABLE LOGIC CONTROLLER

PLC is a digital computer designer for multiple

inputs and output arrangements, extended
temperature ranges, immunity to electrical noise,
and resistance to vibration and impact. A PLC is an
example of a real time system.
Block diagram of PLC
Major components of a common PLC

POWER SUPPLY
Provides the voltage required to run the primary PLC components.
I/O Modules
Provides signal conversion and isolation between the internal logic levels and signals
inside the PLC and the field’s high level signal.
PROCESSOR
Provides intelligence to command and governs activities of the entire PLC systems.
PROGRAMMING DEVICE
Used to enter the desired program that will determine the sequence of operation and
control of process equipment or driven machine.
 PLC operation sequence

1. Self test: Testing of its own hardware and software for faults.
2. Input scan: If there are no problems ,PLC will copy all the inputs and
copy their values into memory.
3. Logic solve/scan: Using inputs, the ladder logic problem is solved
once and outputs are updated.
4. Output scan: While solving logic the output values are updated
only in memory when ladder scan is done , the outputs will be
updated using temporary values in memory.
Disadvantages of PLC

 PLC design are proprietary it means that software of one manufacturer can’t be used in
combination with parts of other manufacturer.
 Limited design and cost option.
 Fixed circuit operations.
 PLC manufacturers offers only closed architectures.