Instrumenta*on

Chris Carr
Monday 26th November 2012
with thanks to

Patrick Brown

for many of the magnetometer slides

PG Instrumenta*on Lectures 2012

Monday 26th 10:00 - 11:30
1. General principles and prac-ce for instrumenta-on
2. Design for the space environment

Monday 26th 14:00 - 15:30
3. Magne-c Field Instruments

Wednesday 5th December
Tutorial Session (Juliet)
See handout

The Scien*c Method

The Scien*c Method

General principles and Prac*ce for

Instrumenta*on
General Design Considera*ons
Linear Systems

Transfer Func*on
Series systems and feedback

Characterisa*on

Sta*c Response, Frequency Response and Transient Response

Calibra*on

Digi*sa*on

Digital Signals
Aliasing

Feedback

Reason for using

Fourier

Bandwidth considera*ons

Noise

Sources and Characteris*cs

5

Fluxgate Magnetometer Instrument for the

ESA/CNSA Double Star Mission

Design
Considera*ons

Measurement Range
Resolu*on
Frequency Response
Noise
Calibrated accuracy
Stability (over *me and temperature)
Mass, power, telemetry
Reliability
Thermal and mechanical stresses
Radia*on
Cost
Schedule
Poli*cs!
7

Block Diagram Generic Instrument

Sensor o`en kept apart from the rest of the instrument

Reduce interference
Because the environment is hos*le for the electronics
For user convenience

Sensor signal is usually small/weak

Transmission line
Preserves the signal shape and strength
Prevents interference from outside signals

Converts from a voltage

to a sequence of
numbers

We can do much more

sophis*cated signal
processing in the digital
domain

Condi*oning Electronics
Boosts the signal (amplica*on)
Removes unwanted signals (ltering)

Desired characteris*cs of our

func*onal elements
Predictable input/output rela*onship (Transfer Func-on)
for example
B to volts for a sensor
volts to volts for a lter, or amplier
volts to number for Analogue to Digital Converter

Linear input/output response

Allows Fourier and related techniques to be applied

Isola-on between blocks

Each block does not inuence connected elements (no loading)
Low output impedance and high input impedance

Bolton: Mechatronics

10

Desired characteris*cs of our

func*onal elements
Predictable input/output rela*onship (Transfer Func-on)
for example
Linear input/output response
Isola-on between blocks
Physical
Quan*ty

High Zin

volts

Low Zout

Filtering,
Amplica*on

High Zin

volts

Low Zout

More usually ADC

and storage

High Zin

Low Zout

The sensor shall not load the quan*ty to be measured

11

 Linear Systems and the Transfer Func*on

System transfer func*on is Laplace-domain representa*on of the input/
output rela*onship

X(s)
L{x(t)}
G(s) =
=
Y (s)
L{y(t)}
Integral Laplace Transform
Z 1
L{f (t)} = F (s) =
f (t)e
s=

+ j!

st

dt

Note similarity to Fourier Transform however

Is single-sided (t from zero to innity)
Transforms to a func*on of the complex variable s
The Laplace transform has no direct physical
meaning
12

Generally required congura*ons:

Systems in series and with feedback

X(s)
= G1 (s)G2 (s)G3 (s)
Y (s)

X(s)
G(s)
=
Y (s)
1 + G(s)H(s)

Bolton: Mechatronics

13

U*lity of the Transfer Func*on

Predict output x for any arbitrary input y
or vice-versa

x(t) = L

{G(s) Y (s)}

14

Linearity requires func*onal blocks to be

Linear Time-Invariant
Governed by an nth-order linear ordinary dieren*al
equa*on of the form

dx
d2 x
dn x
a0 x + a1
+ a 2 2 . . . a n n = b0 y
dt
dt
dt
y(t) is the input (forcing func-on)
x(t) is the output (response func-on)

Most prac*cal system elements can be modeled as zero, rst

or second-order LTI

15

Zero-order System
a 0 x = b0 y
No *me-dependence
Output responds instantly to input

Characterised by Sta-c Sensi-vity Ks =

Examples: Poten*ometer, ideal amplier

b0
a0

Rare in reality, but many devices can be approximated as zero-order

16

First-order System
dx
a0 x + a1
= b0 y
dt
dx
b0
= 0 ! Ks =
dt
a0

For the sta*c case

Exponen*al *me dependence
a1
characterised by -me constant = a0

Examples: First-order lter (e.g. RC), many sensors (e.g. any temperature
sensor), many instruments (e.g. magnetometer)

17

Second-order System
dx
d2 x
a0 x + a1
+ a 2 2 = b0 y
dt
dt

Sta*c response

dx
b0
= 0 ! Ks =
dt
a0

Natural frequency !0 =
Damping ra*o

a0
a2

a1
= p
2 a0 a2

Examples:
2nd order lter,
many mechanical, electrical
and mechatronic systems
18

Frequency Response for the

Second-order System Bolton: Mechatronics
Recover Frequency Response
from Transfer Func*on by sejng
=0
X(s)
= G(s) ! G(j!)
Y (s)
Bode Plot is log-log plot of G(j)
For high-damping (>1) second-
order system tends to rst-order
behaviour

19

Proper*es of LTI Systems

1. Frequency
Preserva*on

0 cos(0 + 0 )

Linear

0 cos(0 + 0 )

Time Invariant

2. Superposi*on

0 cos(0 + 0 )
+
1 cos(1 + 1 )
+

System
Linear
Time Invariant
System

0 cos(0 + 0 )
+

1 cos(1 + 1 )
+

If elements are LTI then system will be LTI

Fourier and Laplace methods are applicable
Linear system will not distort signal
Non-linearity will result in genera*on of new frequencies or Harmonic Distor-on

Instrumenters goal is to ensure a linear design

20

System Characterisa*on
Conclude that we may fully characterise a system by
measuring its
1. Transient Response
(typically step-input y(t)=u(t))
2. Sta-c Response
(a`er transients decayed, typically for large t)
3. Frequency Response
(response to sinusoidal input swept over some range of input
frequencies)

21

First order transient response

E.g. temperature sensor
suddenly placed in
hot liquid
Exponen*al response
Can measure the -me-
constant and sta-c sensi-vity
Also derive bandwidth
1
!c =

22

Cluster Magnetometer Frequency Response

Bode Plot (Magnitude part only)
Bandwidth is dened as response from DC to c
-3dB

Bandwidth ~20Hz

23

Sta*c Response:
Devia*on from the ideal
Oset

All may introduce non-linear eects resul*ng

in artefacts in the data especially harmonic
distor*on
Oset may be subtracted
Non-linearity and hysteresis more pernicious

Hysteresis

Non-Linearity
24

Sta*c Response Measurement

Comparison with
reference measurement
Best es*mate of True Value
Usually from a higher quality
instrument

Quan*fy

Sta*c Sensi*vity
Linearity
Zero oset
Hysteresis

Doebelin: Measurment Systems

25

Calibra*on Hierarchy
Primary Standard
Interna*onally Recognised

Secondary Standard e.g. NPL

Accuracy *** Cost

Ter*ary Standard e.g.

Specialist Calibra*on
Lab
Accuracy ** Cost

In-House Calibra*on Lab e.g. in

industry or university
Accuracy * Cost

Ter*ary Standard e.g.

Specialist Calibra*on
Lab
Accuracy ** Cost

Secondary Standard
Other Na*onal

Ter*ary
Standard

Ter*ary Standard
Other Na*onal

26

Calibra*on is used to es*mate Systema*c Error

Truth Reference Measurement

Bias Systema*c Error
Precision Std Devia*on of distribu*on
27

Precision is not the same as Accuracy

28

Uncontrolled External Input

Temperature-dependent sta*c-sensi*vity and oset

Other environmental considera*ons
Pressure, accelera*on, vibra*on, illumina*on
Dri`, ageing (electronic systems)
Wear (mechanical systems)

29

Calibra*on Principle
Compare against reference
measurement with other
input factors controlled /
constant
Cover parameter space
Control external factors such as
temperature

30

Calibra*on Principle
Helmholtz coils null Earths
eld and apply test B
Temperature-controlled Box
houses Magnetometer under
test
Reference magnetometer
mounted outside box

31

Sampling and Digi*sa*on

Is a 2-stage process
Is not just a phenomenon of the digital age
All laboratory data is
1. Sampled (measurement taken every minute)
2. Digi*sed (number wriven in a lab-book)

32

Electronic Digi*ser
1.
2.

Sample & Hold circuit

(regular sampling)
Analogue to Digital Converter
(linear approxima*on)

33

Quan*sa*on
Sampling quan*ses *me into a set of discrete values
Want regularly spaced samples (sampling *me Ts)
Variability or noise on Ts is known as jiPer
Stable clock signal
(e.g. square-wave)
will ensure regular,
low-jiver sampling

Digi-sa-on quan*ses
the con*nuous analogue
quan*ty (usually a voltage)
as a discrete number
Introduces an error
to the digi*sed signal
Quan-sa-on Error

34

 Quan*sa*on error will be

over a long series of input
values uniformly
distributed between the
resolu*on of the digi*ser
Quan*sa*on adds noise
RMS noise added is

q
NRM S = p
12
35

Nyquist Theorem
A signal can only be properly sampled if it has frequency
components below half the sample rate
Wagon-Wheel Eect
This is Aliasing

36

Aliasing

37

Frequency-domain
Characteris*cs of
the Digi*sed Signal
Fs (!)

!s

1
1 X
F (! + n!s ) (5.3)
Ts n= 1

2
= 2fs
Ts

This shows that the spectrum of the sampled

signal is the same as the original signal, but reProper
Sampling

peated infinitely
along
the frequency
axis. FigNyquist)
ure 5.3 gives (obeys
a graphical
illustration of this.
Panels (a) and (b) show
the original signal and
its spectrum.Improper
We can see
that the signal is limSampling
ited to a band of frequencies below the Nyquist
(aliasing)
frequency, so we should be able to sample it
properly. In fact, we are sampling comfortably
above this at about 3 times the highest frequency in the analogue signal. Note that this
signal and its spectrum is highly stylised; real
signals rarely have such neatly compact spectra, as we shall see later, however it illustrates
38
Figure 5.3: Sampled Signals in the Frequency Domain (from Smith, www.dspguide.com)
a principle here.

Avoid Aliasing
High design priority

An*-alias lter
Filters the analogue signal
Removes frequencies higher than the Nyquist limit

39

Feedback
Many sensors are non-linear over the
input range we need
However approximately linear over a
limited range
We can use Nega*ve Feedback to
operate the sensor only in the
linear regime
Will see how this is applied to
Magnetometers using
magne-c feedback
Approximately
linear range
40

Feedback: a Frac*on B of the output is fed-back

to the input

If B is posi*ve then we have posi-ve feedback. This is usually Unstable

41

Example: Climate Feedback

42

If B is nega*ve then we have nega-ve feedback.

This is usually Stable

The output acts so as to reduce the input

A
1
G=

for BA
The Gain of the system is reduced
1 + BA
B
This is also called Closed Loop Opera-on
Behaviour of the Feedback path becomes dominant

1
43

Example: Mechanical Governor

Maintain constant speed (independent of load)

44

Fourier Representa*on of Signals

Mul*plica*on in the *me domain -> Convolu*on in the frequency domain

A signal which is nite in *me is theore*cally innite in frequency
45
Real signals have large bandwidths

Discussion ques*on:
f(t)
2

1.5

4.5

7.5

How much does it cost to build an instrument to generate this

waveform?

46

Answer
A mathema*cally perfect voltage output is not possible
Bandwidth roughly cost
We will always lose some frequencies and corrupt the signal
Engineering: The Art of Compromise

Fidelity bandwidth but

Noise bandwidth and
Bandwidth costs money
Etc

We must analyse all the trade-os when designing the

instrument
47

Noise
Is usually the limi*ng factor in our measurement ability
Comes from

The sensor (physics of the measurement)

The electronics
Digi*sa*on
Interference

We will consider
1. Thermal Noise
2. Shot Noise
3. Flicker Noise (1/f)
48

Sources of noise in experimental data

Total noise in measurement
Intrinsic Noise
Sensor
physics
E.g.
Barkhausen
noise from
magne*c
materials

Sensor
electronics

Thermal noise

Shot noise

Extrinsic Noise

Measurement
noise

Quan*sa*on
noise

Flicker or
1/ noise

Sensor
Pickup
Environmental
Interference
e.g. magne*c
sources

Electronic
Interference
Conduc*ve
pickup
through
power/signal
wires

Radia*ve
pickup by
Magne*c eld
(induc*ve) or
Electric Field
(capaci*ve)
49

Noise comes from stochas*c processes

Can only be described sta*s*cally
Amplitude probability func*on
Normal (Gaussian) for shot, thermal, icker
Uniform (at) for quan*sa*on noise

Power Spectrum
Flat (white) for thermal, shot
1/ (pink)
for icker

50

Thermal Noise

Random thermal mo*on of conduc*on electrons

Any resistance allows the material to support an electric eld
resul*ng in noise voltage
Model as ideal (noiseless) resistor
in series with
ideal (zero-resistance) voltage source
RMS noise voltage measured across any
resistance R with a meter bandwidth B is
p

VNRM S =

4RkB T B

Reduce thermal noise by

Reducing measurement bandwidth

Reduce temperature

51

Shot Noise
Sta*s*cal uctua*on in number of charge carriers crossing a poten*al
barrier

Prevalent in semiconductor or electron tube devices

Seen as noise in the current signal from the device
Due to quan*sa*on of charge, so only observed with small currents
Not present wires or resis*ve devices where long-range E-eld interac*ons act
to smooth the charge-carrier sta*s*cs

RMS current noise on a DC current I measured with bandwidth B

INRM S =

2eIB

52

Flicker or 1/ noise
A fundamental property of
measurement
Ubiquitous
Source generally unknown
Technology dependent
1
Power /
f
Z f2
1
fh
Pf 1 . . . f 2 = k
df = k ln
f
fl
f1

53

Composite Noise Power Spectrum

Consequences and Mi*ga*on

Noise is a func*on of physical parameters such as temperature,

resistance, current but always bandwidth
Reducing bandwidth reduces total noise measured
Use ltering
Recall though that bandwidth reduc*on impacts signal delity
Consider more sophis*cated techniques such as phase sensi*ve
detec*on

54

2. Design for the Space Environment

Accommoda*on
Mechanical Stresses
Thermal Stresses
Radia*on
Reliability/Redundancy

55

Fluxgate Magnetometer Instrument:

Imperial College, IGeP Braunschweig, IWF Graz, NASA-GSFC

Radia*on hard
Hi-Rel
Dual-redundant bus
architecture
Fault-tolerant by
design
12-years con*nuous
opera*on
(4 instruments)
No degrada*on

56

 Instrument
Accommoda*on
on the
Satellite Pla|orm
Sensor
Boom-mounted
Removed from magne*c
sources on the pla|orm
But thermally challenging
and exposed to radia*on

Electronics Box
Pla|orm-mounted
Benign thermal/radia*on
environment

57

Sensor and Electronics

Accommoda*on

58

Mechanical Stress
Test design for
Sta*c load
10s g

Random load
General strength test

Sinusoidal load
Search for resonances

Acous*c load
Exhaust reec*on from pad

Shock test
Stage separa*on,
especially upper-stage
pyro-separa*on from satellite

Mission-specic test levels

59

Thermal Stress

1361 Wm-2 at 1RE

x10 at Mercury (BepiColombo) or Solar Orbiter perihelion
Local cooling by conduc*on and radia*on only
Conversely, shadowed
structure down to 100K
Rota*on or eclipses
results in extreme thermal
cycling
Poten*al for cracking or
deforma*on
Material selec*on to match
thermal expansion coes
Electronics and solder joints
par*cularly vulnerable

60

Radia*on
Electron, proton and heavy-ion eects

Total Dose Effects in MOS Gate Oxides

Primarily CMOS and bipolar

transistor eects
1. Total dose eects

Holes are trapped

at interface between
gate oxide and channel

Galactic Cosmic Rays

+

+ +

Holes are trapped at oxide-silicon interface

track of electron-hole pairs along
Changes gate threshold voltage
their path
+
+

Two types of traps: hole traps

- + and interface traps
Effects of Displacement
inSemiconductors
Charge collectedDamage
in p-n junctions

+ +
High-energy
par*cles
cause
a basic
cell to
- Minority can
carrier
lifetime
isstorage
degraded
++
p-substrate
change
state
- Reduces
ofabipolar
Transient eects
sgain
uch
s (SEU)transistors
+
Also affects optical detectors and some types of light-emitting diodes
memory bit-ips
Effects become important for proton fluences above 10 p/cm
Mobility and carrier concentration are also affected
Latch-up
Only important for high fluences
Note the longer path length for strikes at angle
Catastrophic
g
ate
r
upture
Particles Producing Displacement Damage

2008 Detector Workshop

Incident
particle

Protons
(all energies)
3. Displacement
D
amage
Electrons with energies above 150 keV

Extremely energetic particles

2kRad LEO
Source
Drain
Produced by inter-galactic acceleration
n+
n+
20-100kRad polar Earth
orbit
They occur everywhere in space
Incoming
(Cluster)
particle pairs within the gate
Ionization produces electron-hole
Displacement
Damage
GCR particles
produce an intense
1MRad at Jupiter
Charge ~ Z2

10

+-

-+

2. Single event eects

Electron-hole pairs
from ionization in gate oxide

VG

2008 Detector Workshop

37

Crystal lajce
corrup*on
Neutrons
(from on-board power sources)
Op*cs and optoelectronics
specially vulnerable
61

2008 Detector Workshop

Johnstone/NASA-JPL
22

Reliability
Hi-Rel or established reliability
components
Highest level of fabrica*on
scru*ny and tes*ng
Burn-in to avoid infant
mortality
Special processes for reliability
and radia*on-hardness
Circuit design prac*ce to mi*gate
single-point failures
Formal methodologies:
Worst-case analysis
De-ra*ng
Failure Modes Eects and Cri*cality
Analysis (FMECA)
62

Redundancy

Cluster FGM
Instrument Block
Diagram

FGM
OUTBOARD
SENSOR

FGM
INBOARD
SENSOR

FGM-OB
ELECTRONICS

FGM-IB
ELECTRONICS

DUAL
MULTIPLEXER
& ADC

DPU-2

DUAL
POWER
MANAGEMENT
UNIT

PRIME REDUNDANT

NASA/GSFC

bus #1

INTERFACE
#2
INTERFACE
#1

COMMAND &
DATA
INTERFACE
(REDUNDANT)

POWER
INTERFACES

IWF GRAZ

DPU-1

bus #2

INTERNAL
POWER
DISTRIBUTION

DUAL
POWER
SUPPLY
UNIT

MSA

TU-BS

INTEREXPERIMENT
LINK

ICSTM

COMMAND &
DATA
INTERFACE
(PRIME)

63

3. Magne*c Field Instruments

Block Diagram for Spacecra` Mounted Instrument

Magnetometers: requirements for space science
Proton magnetometers
Op*cally pumped magnetometers (Helium and related)
Induc*ve magnetometers
Rota*ng coil
AC Search-Coil type
DC Fluxgate type

Magnetoresis*ve magnetometers
Calibra*on and magne*c cleanliness
64

Generic Spacecraft-Mounted Instrument

Instrument

Instrument

Analogue

Digital

Spacecraft

65

Requirements on a DC magnetometer for

space science

Three B field components

Bandwidth typically DC to 30Hz
Wide dynamic range typically 0.01nT 50,000nT
High fidelity (low noise, linear, stable offsets)
Low resources (mass, power, telemetry)
Robust (radiation, thermal environment, vibration, shock and static load)
Sensors fitted to a boom away from S/C magnetic disturbance
Sensor Technology

Range (T)

Suitable for space

SQUID

10-14 10

No Cryostat needed

Optically Pumped

10-14 10-4 Yes B and |B|

Fluxgate

10-10 10-4 Yes B

Nuclear Precession

10-11 10-2

Yes - |B|

Hall Effect

10-3 10-2

No

Search Coil

10-12 106

Yes for AC fields

66

Proton Precession Magnetometers

Proton rich material eg water, kerosine

Surrounded by induction coil
Large external field applied to align
proton magnetic moments
When applied field is removed abruptly,
protons will precess in phase around
ambient field
This induces a small AC signal in coil
Proportional to ambient field
Low-bandwidth instrument
Used for absolute measurement of B
A variation used on Earth-field mapping
missions eg Oested, CHAMP

Huggard 1970

67

Optically Pumped Magnetometers

Vector and Scalar Operation (on Cassini)

Vector Mode
Light from a He lamp, 1.08um
Directed into a He absorption cell
He cell atoms are in meta-stable state by RF discharge
Presence of ambient field causes Zeeman splitting
Emergent radiation is measured by IR detector
The measured absorption depends on efficiency of the
optical pumping which is a function of the magnetic field
Helmholtz coils around cell apply rotating sweep fields
Signal modulated by rotating sweep fields applied by
surrounding Helmholtz coils
Output is a sinusoid whose magnitude and phase give the
size and direction of the field

Scalar mode
AC field applied.
Absorption greatest when AC frequency = Larmor
frequency.
Larmor frequency related to |B| by fundamental constants
Result is a very accurate measure of absolute field

Smith 1975
68

Induction Magnetometers
Faraday induc*on law

Vi =
d / dt
=
d(BA) / dt
= d(NA o r (t)H (t)) / dt
Since B = o rH

Expanded

Vi = NAordH(t ) / dt + NorHdA(t ) / dt + NAoHdr (t ) / dt

Search Coil
MGMs

Rota*ng coil
MGMs

69

Fluxgate
MGMs

Search-Coil Magnetometer
Core of high magne*c
permeability wound
with coil
3 orthogonal axes
Bandwidth 100mHz to
100s kHz (typical)

70

Rotating Coil Magnetometer

Imprac*cal for space

Obsolete for Earth-eld measurement

71

Fluxgate Magnetometer

First developed by by
Aschenbrenner and Goubau
[1936]
Ripka
/ Sensors and
Actuators
A1
P.Rapid
development
during
40s
and 50s for military and
geophysical applica*ons
Fluxgate signal in Vind is second
harmonic of the excita*on
frequency Iexc

Ripka (2003)

Fig. 1. Fluxgate principle.

72

Ring-core Fluxgate

Operating Principle
Soft permeable core driven around hysteresis
loop at frequency f0
Field-proportional voltage at 2f0 induced in
sense winding
Output signal rectified, integrated and used to
drive magnetic feedback
Sensor operates as a null-detector
Closed-loop operation improves linearity

Advantages
Low noise <10pT/ Hz @1Hz
Wide dynamic range
Mature technology and robust
Relatively inexpensive

Disadvantages
Sensor mass
Power ~ 1W
Calibration drift with time and temperature
Offset, gain, angles
73

CASE A

C1

H
HD

C2

Drive (f0)

CASE A: Zero external DC eld

Half cores saturate synchronously no net
change of ux seen by sense winding

CASE B: Non-zero external DC eld
Half cores do not saturate synchronously a
net change of ux seen by sense winding

Change of ux in sense winding at the 4
crossing of the B-H infec*on points in each
drive period induced voltage at
2 x fo according to Faraday
74

CASE B

HD

Vi

2f0

Fluxgate Electronics: Open Loop

Field magnitude determined

by 2f magnitude

Measured 2f
Reference 2f

Field direction determined by

2f phase relative to reference

75

Fluxgate Electronics: Closed Loop

Rectified signal is integrated and converted to a current to back-off the ambient

field
Magnetic negative feedback
Benefits include improved linearity and temperature stability
Scale factor depends only on feedback resistor/gain stage and coil constant.
76

(Magnes 1999)

Measured signal
Feedback signal

77

Equating terms and re-arranging

And if kSFLG2G1 >> 1

Two conclusions
Measurement range only set by feedback circuit
Output noise is dominated by input amplifier and sensor noise only
(Very low noise analogue pre-amps available)

78

Fluxgate Electronics: Digital

Analogue signal processing moved to the digital domain

ADC and DAC within sensor control loop
Oers increased exibility - programmable
First Missions late 90s - ROMAP, VEX, Astrid, Oersted
First Imperial digital design will y on Solar Orbiter
V to I
converter

A digital fluxgate
control loop

ADSP 21262 Ex-Kit Eval. Board

Sense
winding
Sensor
core

ADC
48/96kHz
(AD1835)

Field
Correlation
(ADSP-21262)

Integrator

DAC
6kHz
(AD1835)

Drive
winding

f (12kHz)

Drive
circuitry

48kHz

Serial link to
PC 22Hz

79

Fluxgate Electronics: Delta-Sigma Design

OBrien
(2007)
Replace
+

with

80

Fluxgate Noise

Best expressed as a Noise Spectral Density (NSD) often at1Hz

ors A 106 Characteristic
(2003) 814
1/f fall off

1/f dominant
Calculate RMS noise in any
band fLfH
NRM S =

sZ

fH

P (f )df =
fL

P (1) ln

fH
fL

Fluxgate minimum noise

spectral density at 1Hz

pT
N SD 5 p
Hz
Ripka (2003)
Fig. 3. Noise of Billingsley Magnetics fluxgate sensor. The sensor core
is 17 mm diameter amorphous ring (from [32]).

81

Quantization Noise
Use oversampling plus digital ltering to reduce Quan*sa*on Noise
Quan*sa*on noise should be matched to intrinsic sensor noise

82

Ultra Electronics Ltd

Industrial partner - Ultra Electronics

Cassini/Double Star Heritage
Two core sensor
Tuned second harmonic detec*on
Combined sense and feedback windings
Oset stability < 0.05 nT/C
Scale factor dri` < 40 ppm/C
Noise density < 8pT/root Hz @1Hz
Opera*ng range
-80oC to 70oC (opera*onal)
-130oC to 90oC (non-opera*onal)

83

Anisotropic Magnetoresistance

Magneto Resistance Effect

Field-dependent resistance
Thin permalloy layer (Ni/Fe)
R/R of order 1- 2%
AMR offers lowest noise
Thermal noise limited

Barber Poles
Max sensitivity & linearity
at M v H 45o
Conductive strips for
linear operation

AMR Sensors
Thin film solid state devices
Implemented as Wheatstone
bridge
Mass <1g, Ceramic package

R = R + R cos 2 ((H ))
0
0

Philips

84

Integrated coils

Set - Reset Coils

Planar coil acts on each bridge resistor
Parallel to Easy axis
Used to re-align the magnetisation
Large current spike needed
Can extract sensor offset (unlike fluxgate)
Compensates for offset and offset drift

Offset coils
Planar coil parallel to Hard (sensitive)
axis
Permits magnetic feedback
Used in closed loop back off measured
field
Improves linearity and variation of
gain with temperature
Suppresses Barkhausen noise

85

Single axis AMR magnetometer

Vo = H y

RFB
ACOIL

86

Fluxgate vs AMR
DSP
(20mV/div)

AMR
(20mV/div)

Three layer Mu-Metal shield

3Hz sine wave 5nT ptp
Op*mal AMR congura*on
Closed loop, RFB=9k
Bridge voltage 12V
Oset compensa*on
Flip frequency, 1.1kHz
Sensi*vity ~ 11mV/nT
Sensi*vity not linear with
increasing RFB
Some residual oset in closed
lop
Temperature measurement
outstanding

87

Calibra*on
Each instrument
3 sensors
Oset
Gain
2 angles
12 parameters to nd
All measured pre-launch
Evolu*on in 10 can be inferred
from in-ight data

BS1 G1 cos1

BS 2 = G2 cos 2
B G cos
3
S 3 3

G1 sin 1 cos 1
G2 sin 2 cos 2
G3 sin 3 cos 3
88

G1 sin 1 sin 1 Bx O1

G2 sin 1 sin 2 By + O2
G3 sin 1 sin 3 Bz O3

Imperials Magnetic Test Facility

Pit for long terms offset and noise
measurement

3 axis Helmholtz Coils

Sensor thermal chamber

89

Sensor under test

Facility dynamically backs of Earths eld

using two Earth Field Reference
Magnetometers (EFR) located either side of
the hut

EFR located in pits either side of hut
Sum (average) of EFRs used to cancel Earths
eld inside coil system
Dierence (gradient) of EFRs used for
monitoring
90

In-ight Calibra*on Analysis

Complete Data Set at highest resolu*on and quality
February 2001 April 2012

Calibra*on Team:
Leah-nani Alconcel, Patrick Brown (TM), Peter Fox, Chris Carr (PI), Tim Oddy,
Barry Whiteside

91

Spacecraft Magnetic Cleanliness:

Cluster
Cluster had a very rigorous
(and expensive) magnetic
cleanliness programme
A residual magnetic field of
<0.25nT is atypical
Rosetta ~50nT
Solar Orbiter ~20nT

92

Dual Magnetometer Method for

Determining Spacecraft Field
Used in cases where S/C eld
is variable and contaminates
measurement
IB and OB sensor used as a
gradiometer
Ambient eld same at both IB
& OB
S/C eld NOT same at IB &
OB
Two sensors limit model to a
dipole of xed posi*on
Example missions: Double
Star, Venus Express

Mod.dip. field
Obs. field

Real ambient field

93

Figure courtesy M. Delva

Example: Double Star magnetometer

OB sensor 5m, IB sensor 3.5m from satellite centre

Spin synchronised disturbance due to unbalanced solar array current
Amplitude varies with power demand
Data cleaned using gradiometer mode
Resul*ng data set is spin averaged resolu*on (0.25Hz) compared to 11Hz on-board

Un-cleaned data and shunting modes

Un-cleaned and cleaned data

Carr (2005)

94