Instrumentation

The scientific and technological progress of any nation depends on its

ability to measure, calculate and finally, estimate the unknown. Also
the success of an engineer or technician is judged by his ability to
measure precisely and correctly interpret the circuit performance.
What are the three elements of
Instrumentation
Most of the measurement systems contain three main functional
elements
1. Primary sensing element
2. Variable conversion element
3. Data presentation element
Purpose of instrumentation

The main purpose of instrumentation system used for making

measurements is to give the user a numerical value corresponding to
the variable being measured

Measurement and control of process variables that include pressure,

temperature, humidity flow , force , and speed.
Three ways of making measurements:

Mechanical means- like measuring gas pressure by pressure gauge

Electrical means- like measuring potential difference with an

electrical voltmeter

Electronic means- which is a very sensitive way of detecting the

measured quantity because of amplification provided by the active
electron device
Analog instruments – deflection type with scale and movable pointer

Digital instruments- use logic circuits and techniques, display is in

numerical reading ( LED or LCD )

Advantage of digital over analog

easy readability
better resolution

automatic polarity and zeroing

Function of Instruments

Indicating Instruments – indicates the instantaneous value of quantity

being measured, at the time it is being measured.

Recording Instruments – provide a graphic record of the variations in

the quantity being measured

Controlling instruments- control the quantity being measured with the

help of information feedback to them by monitoring devices

Advantages of Electronic instruments

1. Since electronic instruments can amplify the input signal, they posses
very high sensitivity

2. Their input impedance is increased which means less loading effect

when making measurements

3. They have greater speed, faster response and flexibility

4. They can monitor remote signals

Essentials of Electronic Instrument

Transducer – It is the first sensing element and is required only when

measuring a non-electrical physical quantity (temperature, pressure)
into electrical signal

Signal Modifier – It is the second element and its function is to make

the incoming signal suitable for application to the indicating device.
Indicating device – either Deflection type or Digital readout
Measurement Standards

International Standards – defined by international agreement and are

maintained at the International Bureau of Weights and Measurement.

Primary Standards- These are maintained at national standards

laboratories in each country. They are not available for use outside
these laboratories.Their principal function is to calibrate and verify the
secondary standards used in the industry.
Secondary Standards- These are the basic reference standards used by
industrial laboratories and are maintained by the particular industry to
which they belong. They are periodically sent to the national laboratory
for calibration against primary standards

Working Standards- These are the main tools of a measurement

laboratory and are used to check and calibrate the instrument used in the
laboratory
Basic Meter Movement
D’ Arsonval Meter movement

consist of a permanent horse shoe magnet , cylinder shaped soft iron

core around which moves a coil of fine wire wound on a light metal
frame. The metal frame is mounted in jewel bearings, a light pointer
attached to the moving coil moves up-scale as the coil rotates when
current passes through it. The rotating coil is prevented from continuous
rotation by a spring which provides restoring torque.
Principle of operation

Works on the motor principle and is a current-responding device. The

deflection of the pointer is directly proportional to the amount of
current passing through the coil.
Characteristic of Moving Coil Meter
Movement
Full Scale Deflection (Im)
It is the current needed to deflect the pointer all the way to the
right last mark on the calibrated scale.
Internal Resistance (Rm)
It is the dc ohmic resistance of the wire of the moving coil
Sensitivity (S)
It is also known as the current sensitivity or sensitivity factor
S = 1 / Im ohm /volt
For example, the sensitivity of a 50 microA meter movement is

S = 1 / 50 microA ohm/volt

= 20,000 ohm /volt

= 20 Kohm/volt

Simply means that that a full –scale deflection of 50 microA is

produced whenever 20,000 ohms of resistance present in the meter
circuit for each volt of applied voltage
Variations of Basic Meter Movement

The basic moving coil system can be converted into an instrument to

measure dc as well as ac quantities like current, voltage and resistance.

Without modification it can carry a maximum current of Im can

withstand a maximum dc voltage v= Im Rm

DC Instruments
It can be made into a dc ammeter, milliammeter or micrometer by

adding a suitable shunt resistor R sh in parallel with it.

It can be changed into a dc voltmeter by connecting a multiplier

resistor R mult in series with it.

It can be converted into an ohmmeter with the help of a battery and a

series resistor R.
Converting basic meter to DC ammeter
The Ratio I/Im is known as the multiplying power or multiplying factor

of the shunt. It means that a shunt allows the meter to measure

current I which is n times larger than Im
Incidentally the resistance of the shunted meter is
Rm // Rsh = Rm Rsh / Rm + Rsh
much less than Rm or Rsh
Example
It is required to convert a 5 mA meter with 20 ohms internal resistance
Into a 5 A ammeter. Calculate
a. the value of shunt resistance required
b. multiplying factor of the shunt
here I=5A, Ish= 5 ma = 0.005 , Rm = 20 ohms
a. Rsh = [Im / ( I –Ish) ] Rm
= [0.005/ ( 5- .005) ] 20 = 0.02 ohms
b. n = I /Ish = 5 / 0.005 = 1000
Note : Rsh = Rm /(n-1) = 20/(1000-1) =0.02 ohms