GENERALIZED MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

A Seminar Report
Submitted by

BIHARI KUMAR
in partial fulfillment for the award of the degree

of

B.TECH,7th SEMESTER
IN

APPLIED ELECTRONICS & INSTRUMENTATION ENGINEERING

Under the esteemed guidance of

Mrs.RANJITA ROUT (Assistant Professor)

DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED ELECTRONICS & INSTRUMENTATION ENGINEERING

GANDHI INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY,GUNUPUR

GUNUPUR, ODISHA- 765022

YEAR
2016-2020
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e-mail: gandhi_giet@yahoo.com visit us at www.giet.org

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project entitled “GENERALIZED

MEASUREMENT SYSTEM” is the bonafide work carried out by BIHARI
KUMAR,1601210414 students of B.TECH, GANDHI INSTITUTE OF
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY ,GUNUPUR during the academic year 2019-
2020 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of APPLIED
ELECTRONICS ANDINSTRUMENTATION ENGINEERING.

Mrs. RANJITA ROUT Mr. SUBHRAJIT PRADHAN

Assistant Professor,AEIE Head Of The Department,AEIE
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project entitled “GENERALIZED MEASUREMENT SYSTEM” submitted
for the B.Tech Degree is my original work and the project has not formed the basis for the award of
any degree, associateship, fellowship or any other similar titles.

Signature of the Student:

Place:

Da
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The success and final outcome of this project required a lot of guidance and assistance from
many people and I am extremely privileged to have got this all along the completion of
my Seminar Report. All that I have done is only due to such supervision and assistance
and I would not forget to thank them.
I respect and thank Mr.SUBHRAJIT PRADHAN (HOD) for providing me an opportunity to
do the Seminar Report work and giving me the support and guidance which made me to
complete the Seminar Report duly. I am extremely thankful to him for providing such a
nice support and guidance.
I owe my deep gratitude to our Seminar guide Mrs.RANJITA ROUT (Asst.Professor) who took
keen interest on our Seminar Report work and guided us all along, till the completion of
our Semionar Report work.
I am thankful to and fortunate enough to get constant encouragement, support and guidance
from our class teacher who helped me in successfully completing the project work.Also
I would like to thank my friends for timely support.

NAME: BIHARI KUMAR (16AEI015)

Regd.No. : 1601210414
 ABSTRACT

Several measurement systems are in use today . Bofore measuring a

physical quantity,it is necessary to understand the working principle
of the measurement system used.
A measuring system exists to provide information about the physical
value of some variable being measured. In simple cases, the system
can consist of only a single unit that gives an output reading or signal
according to the magnitude of the unknown variable applied to
it. However, in more complex measurement situations, a measuring
system consists of several separate elements.
It helps to understand how a measurement system works.
 CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE NO.

Declaration by the Student ………………………………………..I
Certificate by the Guide…………………………………………..II
Acknowledgement…………………………………………………..III
Abstract……………………………………………………………….IV

INTRODUCTION-------------------------------------------------------------
FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS------------------------------------------------9
.PRIMARY SENSING ELEMENT------------------------------------------9
.VARIABLE CONVERSION ELEMENT--------------------------------11
VARIABLE MANIPULATION ELEMENT----------------------------12
1. V. DATA TRANSMISSION ELEMENT -----------------------------------17
2. VII.DATA PROCESSING ELEMENT--------------------------------------20
3. VIII.DATA PRESENTATION ELEMENT---------------------------------21
4. IX.CONCLUSION--------------------------------------------------------------22
5. IX.REFRENCES----------------------------------------------------------------22
 INTRODUCTION

Scientists, engineers and other humans use a vast range of instruments to perform their
measurements. These instruments may range from simple objects such as ruler scales and
stopwatches to electron microscopes and particle accelerators used by scientists and
engineers.

An instrument is as a device or a system which is designed to maintain a functional

relationship between prescribed properties of physical variables being measured. It provides
the means of communication to a human observer or the operator of a machine or
equipment. The above stated functional relationship remains valid, only as long as the static
calibration of system remains constant. The performance of an instrument of a measurement
system is usually described in terms of a set of its static and dynamic characteristics.

FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF A MEASUREMENT SYSTEM:

To understand a measuring instrument/system, it is important to have a systematic
organization and analysis of measurement systems. The operation of a measuring instrument
or a system could be described in a generalized manner in terms of functional elements. Each
functional element is made up of a component or groups of components which perform
required and definite steps in the measurement. The functional elements do not provide the
intricate details of the physical aspects of a specific instrument or a system. These may be
taken as basic elements, whose scope is determined by their functioning rather than their
construction.

The main functional elements of a measurement system are:

i) Primary sensing element

ii) Variable conversion element
iii) Variable manipulation element
iv) Signal conditioning element
v) Data transmission element
vi) a presentation element
 PRIMARY SENSING ELEMENTS

The quantity or the variable which is being measured makes its first contact with the
primary sensing element of a measurement system. The measurement is thus first detected
by primary sensor or detector. The measurement is then immediately converted into an
analogous electrical signal. This is done by a transducer. Though a transducer in general, is
defined as a device which converts energy from one form to another. But in measurement
systems, this definition is limited in scope. A transducer is defined as a device which
converts a physical quantity into an electrical quantity. The output of the sensor and
detector element employed for measuring a quantity could be in different analogous form.
This output is then converted into an electrical signal by a transducer. This is true of most of
the cases but is not true for all. In many cases, the physical quantity is directly converted
into an electrical quantity by a detector transducer. The first stage of a measurement
system is known as a detector transducer stage

VARIABLE CONVERSION ELEMENTS

 The output signal of the variable sensing element may be any kind. It could be a
mechanical or electrical signal. It may be a deflection of elastic member or some electrical
parameter, such as, voltage, frequency etc. Sometimes, the output from the sensor is not
suited to the measurement system. For the instrument to perform the desired function, it
may be necessary to convert this output signal from the sensor to some other suitable form
while preserving the information content of the original signal. For example, suppose the
output from the sensing element is in the form of very small displacement which is difficult
to measure mechanically, it is converted in to corresponding electrical signal with the help of
transducer called stain gauge for further processing. Also if the output at one stage is
analogue form and the next stage of the system accepts input signal only in digital form. In
such cases, we will have to use as Analogue /Digital converter.

In many instruments variable conversion element is not required. Some

instruments/measuring systems may require more than one element.

VARIABLE MANIPULATION ELEMENTS

Variable manipulation means a change in numerical value of the signal. The

function of a variable manipulation element is to manipulate the signal presented to this
element while preserving the original nature of the signal. For example, a voltage amplifier
acts as a variable manipulation element. The amplifier accepts a small voltage signal as input
and produces an output signal which is also voltage but of greater magnitude. The variable
manipulation element could be either placed after the variable conversion element or it
may precede the variable conversion element.

SIGNAL CONDITIONING ELEMENTS

The output signal of transducers contains information which is further processed by the
system. Many transducers develop usually a voltage or some other kind of electrical signal
and quite often the signal developed is of very low voltages, may be of the order of mV and
some even micro V. This signal could be contaminated by unwanted signals like noise due to
an extraneous source which may interfere with the original output signal. Another problem
is that the signal could also be distorted by processing equipment itself. If the signal after
being sensed contains unwanted contamination or distortion, there is a need to remove the
interfering noise / sources before its transmission to next stage. Otherwise we may get highly
distorted results which are far from its true value.

The solution to these problems is to prevent or remove the signal contamination or distortion.
The operations performed on the signal, to remove the signal contamination or distortion, is
called Signal Conditioning. The term signal conditioning includes many other functions in
addition to variable conversion and variable manipulation. Many signal conditioning
processes may be linear, such as, amplification, attenuation, integration, differentiation,
addition and subtraction. Some may be non-linear processes, such as, modulation, filtering,
clipping, etc. The signal conditioning processes are performed on the signal to bring it to the
desired form for further transmission to next stage in the system. The element that performs
this function in any instrument or instrumentation system is known as Signal Conditioning
Element.

DATA PRESENTATION ELEMENT

The function of data presentation element is to convey the information about the
quantity under measurement to the personnel handling the instrument or the system for
monitoring, control, or analysis purposes. The information conveyed must be in a convenient
form. In case data is to be monitored, visual display devices are needed. These devices may
be analogue or digital indicating instruments like ammeters, voltmeters, etc. In case the data
is to be recorded, recorders like magnetic tapes, high speed camera and T.V. equipment;
storage type C.R.T., printers, analogue and digital computers may be used. For control and
analysis purpose computers and the control elements are used. The final stage in a
measurement system is known as terminating stage.

Figure 2.1 below presents the block diagram of functional elements of a generalized
measuring system / instrument. One must understand the difference between functional
elements and the physical elements of measuring system. Functional element indicates only
the function to be performed. Physical elements are the actual components or parts of the
system. One physical element can perform more than one function. Similarly one function
could be performed by more than one physical element. This is more suitably illustrated in
the example of a measuring instrument described below.
 Fig. 2.1 Block diagram of functional elements of a measurement system /
instrument

Functional Elements of a Bourdon Pressure Gauge

An example of a measurement system, consider the simple Bourdon tube pressure gauge
as shown in Fig. 2.2. This gauge offers a good example of a measurement system. In this case,
the Bourdon tube acts as the primary sensing element and a variable conversion element. It
senses the input quantity (pressure in this case). On account of the pressure the closed end
of the Bourdon tube is displaced. Thus, the pressure is converted into a small displacement.
The closed end of the Bourdon tube is connected through mechanical linkage to a sector-
pinion gearing arrangement. The gearing arrangement amplifies the small displacement and
makes the pointer to rotate through a large angle. The mechanical linkage thus acts as a data
transmission element while the gearing arrangement acts as a data manipulation element.
The dial scale on the gauge body plays the function of data presentation element and conveys
the information about the quantity being measured. The information conveyed by this device
is in analogue form.
 Fig. 2.2 Bourdon Pressure gauge, the pressure measuring instrument
2.4 Functional Elements of a Clinical Thermometer
As another example of a measurement system, let us consider the simple clinical
thermometer shown in Fig. 2.3. In this case, the thermometer bulb containing mercury acts
as the primary sensing element as well as a variable conversion element. It senses the input
quantity, the temperature. On account of the increase in temperature the mercury in bulb
expands and its volume is increased. The temperature signal is converted into volume
displacement. As the mercury expands it move through the capillary tube in the thermometer
stem, integrated to the bulb. The cross section area of the capillary being constant, the
volume signal is thus converted into linear distance signal. The capillary thus has the role of
signal manipulation and data transportation elements. The final data presentation stage
consists of the scale on the thermometer stem, which is calibrated to give the indication of
the temperature signal applied to the thermometer bulb. A restriction bend is provided in the
clinical thermometers at the junction of the bulb and the capillary, which does not allow the
back flow of mercury to the bulb once it has expanded to the capillary. Thus the restriction in
the capillary acts as the data storage function of the instrument.
 Fig. 2.3 Clinical thermometer, the temperature measuring
instrument
If the measurement is done to control a parameter / process then a control device is
integrated at the final measurement stage. In such cases, it is necessary to apply some
feedback to the input signal to accomplish the control objectives. The control stage compares
the signal representing the measured variable provided by the measurement system with a
reference signal of the same form. This reference signal has a value to which the measured
signal should be controlled. If the measured signal agrees with the reference value, the
controller does nothing. However, if there is a difference between the measured value and
the reference value, an error signal is generated. Thus, the controller sends a signal to a device
which acts to alter the value of the measured signal.

Suppose the measured variable is flow of a liquid, then the control device is a motorized valve
placed in the flow system. The measurement system measures the flow rate. In case the
measured flow rate is too low than the desired preset flow rate, then the controller would
make the valve to open more, thereby increasing the flow rate. If on the other hand, the flow
rate is too high, the valve is closed to the require position. The operation of closing or opening
of valve will cease when the output flow rate is equal to preset value of flow rate.