Sensor

In the broadest definition, 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 fields 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 1 C, the
sensitivity is 1 cm/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 significantly higher speed and sensitivity compared with macroscopic approaches.[3][4]

Contents
1 Classification of measurement errors
1.1 Sensor deviations
1.2 Resolution
2 Sensors in nature
3 Chemical sensor
4 Biosensor
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading

Classification of measurement errors

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 defined An infrared sensor
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 defines the maximum and
minimum values of the measured property.
The sensitivity may in practice differ from the value specified. 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 defined
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 defined 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 specific 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 classified 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 filtering, 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 fields, gravity, humidity, moisture, vibration, pressure, electrical fields,
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 Nanoelectronics
Data acquisition Nanosensor
Data logger Sensing floor
Image sensor Transducer
List of sensors Wireless sensor network
Machine olfaction

References
1. Bennett, S. (1993). A History of Control Engineering 19301955. London: Peter Peregrinus Ltd. on behalf of the
Institution of Electrical Engineers. ISBN 0-86341-280-7<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 (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=LbzlBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA107). Wiley & Sons Singapore Pte. Ltd. p. 107.
3. Jihong Yan (2015). Machinery Prognostics and Prognosis Oriented Maintenance Management (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=LbzlBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA108). Wiley & Sons Singapore Pte. Ltd. p. 108.
4. Ganesh Kumar. Modern General Knowledge (https://books.google.com/books?id=DbnFSqKSVb0C&pg=PA194).
Upkar Prakashan. p. 194. ISBN 81-7482-180-5.
 5. Bnic, Florinel-Gabriel (2012). Chemical Sensors and Biosensors:Fundamentals and Applications. Chichester,
UK: John Wiley & Sons. p. 576. ISBN 978-1-118-35423-0.

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
Scientific Publishers. ISBN 1-58883-056-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 (https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2016.08.001). Journal of Biomedical Informatics, vol. 63, page 141-
149.

http://www.cbm-sweden.se/images/Seminarie/Class_Descriptions_IDA_MEMS.pdf

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