Lecture 1: Introduction To Measurement and Instrumentation

LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTION TO
MEASUREMENT AND INSTRUMENTATION

Mochamad Safarudin
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, UTeM
2010
Definition of measurement and
instrumentation
Types of measurements
Types of instruments in measurements
Review in units of measurement
Standard of measurement
Calibration
Application of measurement and instrumentation
2
Measurement
A method to obtain information regarding the
physical values of the variable.

Instrumentation
Devices used in measurement system
3
Physical quantity: variable such as pressure,
temperature, mass, length, etc.
Data: Information obtained from the
instrumentation/measurement system as a result
of the measurements made of the physical
quantities
Information: Data that has a calibrated numeric
relationship to the physical quantity.
Parameter: Physical quantity within defined
(numeric) limits.
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5
measurand Sensor, signal conditioning, display

Man, tracking control etc
Measurand: Physical quantity being measured.
Calibration: Implies that there is a numeric
relationship throughout the whole instrumentation
system and that it is directly related to an approved
national or international standard.
Test instrumentation: It is a branch of
instrumentation and most closely associated with
the task of gathering data during various
development phases encountered in engineering,
e.g. flight test instrumentation for testing and
approving aircraft.
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Terminology
Transducer: A device that converts one form of
energy to another.
Electronic transducer: It has an input or output that
is electrical in nature (e.g., voltage, current or
resistance).
Sensor: Electronic transducer that converts physical
quantity into an electrical signal.
Actuator: Electronic transducer that converts
electrical energy into mechanical energy.
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In the case of process industries and
industrial manufacturing
To improve the quality of the product
To improve the efficiency of production
To maintain the proper operation.
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To acquire data or information (hence data
acquisition) about parameters, in terms of:
putting the numerical values to the physical
quantities
making measurements otherwise inaccessible.
producing data agreeable to analysis (mostly in
electrical form)

Data Acquisition Software (DAS) data is
acquired by the instrumentation system.
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Definition of measurement and instrumentation
Calibration
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Direct comparison
Easy to do but less accurate
e.g. to measure a steel bar
Indirect comparison
Calibrated system; consists of several devices to
convert, process (amplification or filtering) and
display the output
e.g. to measure force from strain gages located in a
structure
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Stage 1: A detection-transducer or sensor-transducer, stage;
e.g. Bourdon tube
Stage 2: A signal conditioning stage; e.g. gearing, filters,
bridges
Stage 3: A terminating or readout-recording stage; e.g.
printers, oscilloscope
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General Structure of Measuring System
Calibration
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Active Instruments
the quantity being measured simply modulates (adapts to)
the magnitude of some external power source.
Passive Instruments
the instrument output is entirely produced by the quantity
being measured

Difference between active & passive instruments is the level
of measurement resolution that can be obtained.
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e.g. Float-type petrol tank level indicator
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Circuit excited
by external
power source
(battery)
The change in petrol level moves a potentiometer
arm, and the output signal consists of a proportion
of the external voltage source applied across the
two ends of the potentiometer.
The energy in the output signal comes from the
external power source: the primary transducer float
system is merely modulating the value of the
voltage from this external power source.
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e.g. Pressure-measuring device
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The pressure of the fluid is translated into a
movement of a pointer against scale.
The energy expanded in moving the pointer
is derived entirely from the change in
pressure measured: there are no other
energy inputs to the system.
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An analogue instrument gives an output
that varies continuously as the quantity
being measured; e.g. Deflection-type of
pressure gauge
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A digital instrument has an output that
varies in discrete steps and only have a
finite number of values; e.g. Revolution
counter
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Calibration
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To define physical quantities in type and
magnitude
Units of measurement may be defined as the
standard measure of each kind of physical
quantity.
Efforts were made to standardise systems of
measurement so that instrument professionals and
specialist in other disciplines could communicate
among themselves.
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Two types of units are used in science and
engineering
Fundamental units ( or quantities)
E.g. meter (length), kilogram (mass), second (time)
Derived units (or quantities); i.e. All units which
can be expressed in terms of fundamental units
E.g. The volume of a substance is proportional to its length (l),
breadth (b) and height (h), or V= l x b x h.
So, the derived unit of volume (V) is cube of meter (m
3
).
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Quantity Unit Unit Symbol

Fundamental (Basic) Units
Length Meter m
Mass Kilogram kg
Time Second s
Electric current Ampere A
Thermodynamic temperature Kelvin K
Luminous intensity Candela cd
Quantity of substance Mole mol
Supplementary Units
Plane angle Radian rad
Solid angle Steradian sr
Derived Units
Area Square meter m
2

Volume Cubic meter m
3

Velocity Meter per second m/s
Foot-pound-second (F.P.S.) used for:
Length
Mass
Time
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Calibration
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As a physical representation of a unit of
measurement
It is used for obtaining the values of the physical
properties of other equipment by comparison
methods; e.g.
The fundamental unit of mass in the SI system is
the kilogram, defined as the mass of a cubic
decimeter of water at its temperature of
maximum density of 4C.
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International Organization for
Standardization (ISO)
International Electrotechnical Commission
(IEC)
American National Standards Institute
(ANSI)
Standards Council of Canada ( SCC)
British Standards (BS)
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Calibration
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Calibration consists of comparing the output of the
instrument or sensor under test against the output of
an instrument of known accuracy (higher accuracy)
when the same input (the measured quantity is applied
to both instrument)
The procedure is carried out for a range of inputs covering
the whole measurement range of the instrument or sensor
Ensures that the measuring accuracy of all instruments and
sensors used in a measurement system is known over the
whole measurement range, provided that the calibrated
instruments and sensors are used in environmental conditions
that are the same as those under which they were calibrated

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Calibration involve a comparison
of an instrument with either:
1. A primary standard
2. A secondary standard
3. A known input
Example:
Weighing instrument
Standard weight
measurement facility
(for example: NIST)
Another weighing
instrument of higher
accuracy
Mass standard
The method and apparatus for performing
measurement instrumentation calibrations vary
widely.
A rule that should be followed is that the
calibration standard should be at least 10 times as
accurate as the instrument being calibrated.
By holding some inputs constant, varying others
and recording the output(s) develop the desired
static input-output relations. Many trial and runs
are needed.

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Calibration
Application of measurement and
instrumentation
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Home
Thermometer
Barometer
Watch
Road vehicles
speedometer
fuel gauge
Industry
Automation
Process control
Boiler control
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Performance of Static Characteristics in
Measurement and Instrumentation

End of Lecture 1
35

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