Unit 2

Transducers
 Definition
• Transducer is a device which converts energy
in one form to another form
• It is a device which provides useful output in
response to specific measurand
• The measurand may be physical quantity,
property or condition which is measured.
• The two major functions of transducer are
• To measure / To sense
• To convert the measure and value to a useful
output
Transducer function
• Measurement
While selecting a transducer for any specific
measurand, the following criteria should be
considered
• Type of measurand
• Number of measurements
• Sensing element
• Transduction element
• Range of measurement
• Conversion
• The conversion involves presentation of
measured value in a specific format to the
user
• For example, some transducers involve
conversion of ac output from transducer
element to dc output
• Some transducers convert analog signal to
digital signal so that they can be interfaced to
computer directly
• Characteristics of transducers
• A transducer is normally used to sense the
specific measurand and to respond only to
that
• However, in some cases, measurand may even
be calculated by their relationship to the
measurand sensed by the transducer
• For example, pressure transducer measures
pressure, displacement transducer measures
displacement, acceleration transducer
measures acceleration
• However, displacement transducers can be used to
measure position
• Displacement transducers can be used to measure
velocity
• Acceleration transducers can be used to measure
velocity
• The higher and lower limits of the measurand
value form the range of transducer
• The range may be uni-directional, bi-directional or
expanded
• The algebraic difference between the limits of the
transducer is called the span of the transducer
• For example, the span of -2 +10g
accelerometer is 12g.
• Electrical characteristics
• Transducers normally produce analog output
in the form of current, voltage ratio, voltage
amplitude or variation of other parameters
such as capacitance, inductance etc.,
• The transducer with in-built rectifier to
convert ac to dc voltage output will present
ripple in the output
• If the transducer has integral amplifier, the
amplifier characteristics such as noise, gain
instability and recovery time are reflected at
the output.
• Static Characteristics
• Accuracy – It is defined as the difference
between the indicated measurand value and
the true value. It is expressed in percentage of
full scale output (%FSO)
• Precision is defined as closeness with which
measurements are distributed about their
mean value. It is referred to as the degree of
agreement on a set or group of measurements
• Repeatability is defined as the ability of the
transducer to reproduce output relation and
same measured value, when it is applied
consecutively under the same conditions in
the same direction.
• Linearity is defined as the closeness of a
transducer calibration curve to specify a
straight line.
• Resolution – The output of transducer
normally changes in small discrete steps when
the measurand is varied over the range.