Sensor

Page issues

In the broadest denition, a sensor is a

device, module, or subsystem whose
purpose is to detect events or changes in
its environment and send the information
to other electronics, frequently a computer
processor. A sensor is always used with
other electronics, whether as simple as a
light or as complex as a computer.
Sensors are used in everyday objects such
as touch-sensitive elevator buttons (tactile
sensor) and lamps which dim or brighten
by touching the base, besides innumerable
applications of which most people are
never aware. With advances in
micromachinery and easy-to-use
microcontroller platforms, the uses of
sensors have expanded beyond the
traditional elds of temperature, pressure
or flow measurement,[1] for example into
MARG sensors. Moreover, analog sensors
such as potentiometers and force-sensing
resistors are still widely used. Applications
include manufacturing and machinery,
airplanes and aerospace, cars, medicine,
robotics and many other aspects of our
day-to-day life.

A sensor's sensitivity indicates how much

the sensor's output changes when the
input quantity being measured changes.
For instance, if the mercury in a
thermometer moves 1 cm when the
temperature changes by 1C, the
sensitivity is 1cm/C (it is basically the
slope Dy/Dx assuming a linear
characteristic). Some sensors can also
affect what they measure; for instance, a
room temperature thermometer inserted
into a hot cup of liquid cools the liquid
while the liquid heats the thermometer.
Sensors are usually designed to have a
small effect on what is measured; making
the sensor smaller often improves this and
may introduce other advantages.[2]
Technological progress allows more and
more sensors to be manufactured on a
microscopic scale as microsensors using
MEMS technology. In most cases, a
microsensor reaches a signicantly higher
speed and sensitivity compared with
macroscopic approaches.[3][4]

Classification of
measurement errors
An infrared sensor

A good sensor obeys the following rules::

it is sensitive to the measured property

it is insensitive to any other property
likely to be encountered in its
application, and
it does not influence the measured
property.

Most sensors have a linear transfer

function. The sensitivity is then dened as
the ratio between the output signal and
measured property. For example, if a
sensor measures temperature and has a
voltage output, the sensitivity is a constant
with the units [V/K]. The sensitivity is the
slope of the transfer function. Converting
the sensor's electrical output (for example
V) to the measured units (for example K)
requires dividing the electrical output by
the slope (or multiplying by its reciprocal).
In addition, an offset is frequently added or
subtracted. For example, -40 must be
added to the output if 0 V output
corresponds to -40 C input.

For an analog sensor signal to be

processed, or used in digital equipment, it
needs to be converted to a digital signal,
using an analog-to-digital converter.

Sensor deviations

Since sensors cannot replicate an ideal

transfer function, several types of
deviations can occur which limit sensor
accuracy:

Since the range of the output signal is

always limited, the output signal will
eventually reach a minimum or
maximum when the measured property
exceeds the limits. The full scale range
denes the maximum and minimum
values of the measured property.
The sensitivity may in practice differ
from the value specied. This is called a
sensitivity error. This is an error in the
slope of a linear transfer function.
If the output signal differs from the
correct value by a constant, the sensor
has an offset error or bias. This is an
error in the y-intercept of a linear
transfer function.
Nonlinearity is deviation of a sensor's
transfer function from a straight line
transfer function. Usually, this is dened
by the amount the output differs from
ideal behavior over the full range of the
sensor, often noted as a percentage of
the full range.
Deviation caused by rapid changes of
the measured property over time is a
dynamic error. Often, this behavior is
described with a bode plot showing
sensitivity error and phase shift as a
function of the frequency of a periodic
input signal.
If the output signal slowly changes
independent of the measured property,
this is dened as drift. Long term drift
over months or years is caused by
physical changes in the sensor.
Noise is a random deviation of the
signal that varies in time.
A hysteresis error causes the output
value to vary depending on the previous
input values. If a sensor's output is
different depending on whether a
specic input value was reached by
increasing vs. decreasing the input, then
the sensor has a hysteresis error.
If the sensor has a digital output, the
output is essentially an approximation
of the measured property. This error is
also called quantization error.
If the signal is monitored digitally, the
sampling frequency can cause a
 dynamic error, or if the input variable or
added noise changes periodically at a
frequency near a multiple of the
sampling rate, aliasing errors may occur.
The sensor may to some extent be
sensitive to properties other than the
property being measured. For example,
most sensors are influenced by the
temperature of their environment.

All these deviations can be classied as

systematic errors or random errors.
Systematic errors can sometimes be
compensated for by means of some kind
of calibration strategy. Noise is a random
error that can be reduced by signal
processing, such as ltering, usually at the
expense of the dynamic behavior of the
sensor.

Resolution

The resolution of a sensor is the smallest

change it can detect in the quantity that it
is measuring. The resolution of a sensor
with a digital output is usually the
resolution of the digital output. The
resolution is related to the precision with
which the measurement is made, but they
are not the same thing. A sensor's
accuracy may be considerably worse than
its resolution.
Sensors in nature
All living organisms contain biological
sensors with functions similar to those of
the mechanical devices described. Most of
these are specialized cells that are
sensitive to:

Light, motion, temperature, magnetic

elds, gravity, humidity, moisture,
vibration, pressure, electrical elds,
sound, and other physical aspects of the
external environment
Physical aspects of the internal
environment, such as stretch, motion of
the organism, and position of
appendages (proprioception)
Environmental molecules, including
toxins, nutrients, and pheromones
Estimation of biomolecules interaction
and some kinetics parameters
Internal metabolic indicators, such as
glucose level, oxygen level, or osmolality
Internal signal molecules, such as
hormones, neurotransmitters, and
cytokines
Differences between proteins of the
organism itself and of the environment
or alien creatures.
Chemical sensor
A chemical sensor is a self-contained
analytical device that can provide
information about the chemical
composition of its environment, that is, a
liquid or a gas phase.[5] The information is
provided in the form of a measurable
physical signal that is correlated with the
concentration of a certain chemical
species (termed as analyte). Two main
steps are involved in the functioning of a
chemical sensor, namely, recognition and
transduction. In the recognition step,
analyte molecules interact selectively with
receptor molecules or sites included in the
structure of the recognition element of the
sensor. Consequently, a characteristic
physical parameter varies and this
variation is reported by means of an
integrated transducer that generates the
output signal. A chemical sensor based on
recognition material of biological nature is
a biosensor. However, as synthetic
biomimetic materials are going to
substitute to some extent recognition
biomaterials, a sharp distinction between
a biosensor and a standard chemical
sensor is superfluous. Typical biomimetic
materials used in sensor development are
molecularly imprinted polymers and
aptamers.
Biosensor
In biomedicine and biotechnology, sensors
which detect analytes thanks to a
biological component, such as cells,
protein, nucleic acid or biomimetic
polymers, are called biosensors. Whereas
a non-biological sensor, even organic
(=carbon chemistry), for biological
analytes is referred to as sensor or
nanosensor. This terminology applies for
both in-vitro and in vivo applications. The
encapsulation of the biological component
in biosensors, presents a slightly different
problem that ordinary sensors; this can
either be done by means of a
semipermeable barrier, such as a dialysis
membrane or a hydrogel, or a 3D polymer
matrix, which either physically constrains
the sensing macromolecule or chemically
constrains the macromolecule by
bounding it to the scaffold.

See also
Actuator
Data acquisition
Data logger
Image sensor
List of sensors
Machine olfaction
 Nanoelectronics
Nanosensor
Sensing floor
Transducer
Wireless sensor network

References
1. Bennett, S. (1993). A History of Control
Engineering 19301955. London: Peter
Peregrinus Ltd. on behalf of the Institution
of Electrical Engineers. ISBN0-86341-280-
7<The source states "controls" rather than
"sensors", so its applicability is assumed.
Many units are derived from the basic
measurements to which it refers, such as a
liquid's level measured by a differential
pressure sensor.>
2. Jihong Yan (2015). Machinery
Prognostics and Prognosis Oriented
Maintenance Management . Wiley & Sons
Singapore Pte. Ltd. p.107.
3. Jihong Yan (2015). Machinery
Prognostics and Prognosis Oriented
Maintenance Management . Wiley & Sons
Singapore Pte. Ltd. p.108.
4. Ganesh Kumar. Modern General
Knowledge . Upkar Prakashan. p.194.
ISBN81-7482-180-5.
5. Bnic, Florinel-Gabriel (2012). Chemical
Sensors and Biosensors:Fundamentals and
Applications. Chichester, UK: John Wiley &
Sons. p.576. ISBN978-1-118-35423-0.

Further reading
M. Kretschmar and S. Welsby (2005),
Capacitive and Inductive Displacement
Sensors, in Sensor Technology
Handbook, J. Wilson editor, Newnes:
Burlington, MA.
C. A. Grimes, E. C. Dickey, and M. V.
Pishko (2006), Encyclopedia of Sensors
(10-Volume Set), American Scientic
Publishers. ISBN1-58883-056-X
Blaauw, F.J., Schenk, H.M., Jeronimus,
B.F., van der Krieke, L., de Jonge, P.,
Aiello, M., Emerencia, A.C. (2016). Lets
 get Physiqual An intuitive and generic
method to combine sensor technology
with ecological momentary
assessments . Journal of Biomedical
Informatics, vol. 63, page 141-149.

Wikimedia Commons has media related

to Sensors.

Look up sensor in Wiktionary, the free

dictionary.

http://www.cbm-
sweden.se/images/Seminarie/Class_De
scriptions_IDA_MEMS.pdf
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Sensor&oldid=810660491"

Last edited 7 days ago by Wtshyma

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless

otherwise noted.