EE 617: 2014-2015 Autumn

Mid-semester Examination
Sep 10, 2014

Time: 2 hours

Marks: 50

Note:
i) Ensure that your answers are brief and to the point (no extra credits for long answers!)
ii) All the parts of a question must be answered at the same place. Number your Answer book pages (enter page numbers at the top, right-hand
side of the Answer book page). Enter the starting page number of each question in the appropriate column on the cover page. There will be
negative marks for not entering the correct starting page numbers.
iii) Answers to the numerical problems should be correct within 1% accuracy (marks will be deducted for results outside this accuracy range.
To ensure this, all your partial results should be accurate to the 3rd or the 4th decimal digit).
iv) Partial credit will be given only in cases where the steps are shown clearly, and intermediate answers are correct.

1. a) A student of EE 617 was asked to design a diode sensor for measuring temperatures from 0 to 50 C using an
opamp based signal conditioning circuit having Ad = 6 V/V. The desired output of the opamp circuit at 0C was 0
V, increasing linearly with temperature to 0.6 V at 50 0C. The diode was driven by a constant current source of
1.5 mA. The diode junction voltage (Vdiode) at 0C for a current of 1.5 mA was given as 0.65 V. He used the circuit
shown in Fig.P1A. Evaluate Vout for the circuit shown for 0C.
b) Modify the opamp circuit (by making the bare minimum modifications to the opamp circuit alone) so as to obtain
Ad = 6 V/V. Evaluate once again Vout for the modified circuit for 0C. You may neglect Acm.
c) The student used the circuit of Fig.P1C for obtaining the constant current of 1.5 mA. Is the circuit schematic
correct? Choose appropriate values for RB and RE and re-draw the circuit which you plan to use. VEB = 0.7 V. Neglect
base current.

d) Incorporate the changes you made in (b) and (c), as well as any other changes you may like to do (the bare
minimum changes) and redraw the complete circuit which would give Vout from 0 to 0.6 V corresponding to the
temperature range of 0 to 50 C. Assume that when driven by a constant current source, the diode voltage
decreases by 2 mV per C
[2+2+2+2=8]

2. a) Equation for the resistance of an NTC Thermistor is given by: RT R0 exp B(

1 1
) , where B is the
T0 T

thermistor constant, RT is the resistance at temperature T (in K), and R0 is the zero power resistance at temperature
T0 = 298 K . You are given an NTC thermistor having R0 = 6 k. At 30C the thermistor resistance was found to
be 5 k. Find its thermistor constant B.
b) The above thermistor was used in the voltage divider circuit shown in Fig.P2B for measuring temperatures. At
two different temperatures the voltage output Vout of the circuit was measured to be: i) 1.8 V, and ii) 1 V. Find the
corresponding temperatures in C.
c) A platinum RTD sensor (Pt-100) was used in an oven for measuring temperatures in the range 50 to 500C.
i) Draw a signal conditioning circuit (incorporating the sensor also in your circuit) for the above application.
ii) What are the major sources of error in your measurement scheme above that could adversely affect its
accuracy?
iii) Suggest appropriate modifications to your circuit scheme with clear justifications.
[2+4+3=9]

Fig.P1A Diode Temperature Sensor Scheme

Fig.P1C Constant Current Source

Fig.P2B Thermistor Circuit

3. a) A sensor has 2 M source resistance and it gives an output of 4 Vrms. This sensor is required to be used in an
application where the load resistance is 200 . (i) If connected directly, what would be the voltage and power at the
load? (ii) If a unity gain buffer with 1 M input resistance and 50 output resistance is introduced between the
sensor and the load, what would be the new voltage and power levels at the load? Draw an equivalent circuit of the
scheme used. (iii) Calculate the voltage and power gains for this new arrangement.
b) The non-inverting amplifier shown in Fig.P3B uses an opamp having an open-loop dc gain, A0 = 105 V/V and an
open-loop cut off frequency, fc = 8 Hz.
i) Calculate the open-loop gain of the opamp at the following frequencies: 50 Hz, 1 kHz, 10 kHz, and 20 kHz.
ii) Compute the closed-loop voltage gains of the opamp amplifier for the above frequencies.
[3+5=8]

Fig.P3B Non-inverting opamp amplifier

4. Give short answers to the following (maximum of two to three sentences each):
a) For what applications are thermocouples preferred over thermistors? Why?
b) For what applications are both Pt-100 and thermocouples (say J and K types) commonly used? Name a
scenario where Pt-100 is preferred over thermocouples and another scenario where thermocouples are
preferred over Pt-100.
c) Give two major differences between thermocouples and RTDs in terms of their signal conditioning
requirements.
d) Even though one thermocouple junction is enough to get a thermal voltage corresponding to a temperature,
two junctions are always used in all practical applications. Why this practice? What is the role played by
each junction?
[4x2=8]
5. a) Briefly explain the major features of a Linear Hall effect current sensor. Name two major advantages of this
sensor over conventional current measurement techniques.
b) In a certain application the rpm of a motor need to be measured. At present an opto-coupler (an LEDphotodetector combination) is used for measuring the number of rotations of the motor shaft. For this purpose an
aluminum wheel, with one slot cut on it, is made to pass through the opto-coupler gap, thereby measuring the
number of light pulses falling on the photodetector. What are the major problems of this type of speed
measurement? Suggest modifications to the above scheme using a Hall-effect digital sensor, stating clearly the
modifications. Draw a diagram of your scheme.
c) With the help of a diagram explain briefly how a mechanical movement of a spring loaded switch can be detected
and converted to an electrical signal with the proper use of a digital Hall-effect sensor.
d) You are given a galvanometer which has 10 divisions marked on its dial. It requires a current of 20 A for fullscale deflection. Coil resistance of the galvanometer, Rmeter = 50 k .
i) Show with the help of a diagram how you would use this meter, along with a shunt resistance (Rshunt), to
measure a current of 5 Amps.
ii) Assume that the Rshunt value used in (i) above decreased by 5%. Calculate the modified meter and shunt
currents. Estimate the approximate current reading you will observe on the meter dial as a result of this
change. Note: Answers must be exact, no approximations allowed.
[3x2+3=9]
6. a) With the help of a diagram show a simple application wherein a rectangular linear-potentiometer is used as a sensor for
measuring displacement. Will there be any problem if instead of the linear-pot a log-pot is used? Give a clear answer.
b) Give two major advantages of a LVDT over the linear-pot as a displacement sensor. From the signal conditioning point of
view, what is the major challenge in using an LVDT?
c) Compare and contrast Hall-effect and Magnetoresistive (MR) sensors in terms of their: i) sensitivity, ii) fabrication, and
iii) applications.
d) Give two major distinguishing features of piezo-electric sensors which make them very different from other
displacement/positioning sensors. What are the major challenges in using them?
[4x2=8]