Transducer Transduction Principle Applications Advantages Disadvantages

Resistive wire with a fixed voltage. Machines with low f Low cost Limited accuracy
Voltage proportional to slider motion measurement eg Continual motion will cause wear
position machine tools and Poor dynamic properties
Potentiometer
manual input control Limited travel,
Needs dc supply
Mounting issues
Thin insulated wire glued to Local strain of a structure. Cheap Have to be carefully attached
material. Increase in length Measures pressure, Widely available Environment can damage it
Strain gauge (foil, decreases thickness and therefore vibration Need very sensitive bridge
bonded) increases resistance, seen by network
Wheatstone bridge. T effect
Gauge factor ~ 2
Consists of a semi conductor In place of wire strain less sensitive amplifier Very T sensitive
(silicon) bonded to a backing gauges where higher system required Relatively expensive
Piezo resistive strain material. Resistance changes in output levels are needed Very good for room T Prone to damage
gauges proportion to strain, much greater dynamic measurements
change than wire or foil gauge High gain
Gauge factor ~120
Transformer with central wound Linear measurement Good displacement of Spring loaded LVDT plungers
primary and two secondary 10cm relatively cheaply limited by return spring
Linear Variable windings. Transformer core slides Withstand several Hz
Differential Transformer axially increasing inductance Easy to calibrate
(LVDT) between primary and one Only need DC excitation
secondary coil. Joining to coils gives Less likely to wear than
voltage which gives position potentiometers
Fixed coil with spring loaded Be used for relative Only small limited range linear
magnet free to move axially within velocity ie coil connected output – limited dynamic range
a coil of wire. Will induce voltage to one structure and Physically large
Velocity transducer proportional to relative velocity. magnet another. Finite spring stiffness so resonant
Voltage proportional to rate of Or fix coil to structure f
change of flux and keep magnet
stationary
 Two piezo electric crystals back to Measurement of dynamic Light, compact Only records axial forces
back. Crystals produce charge input Transmit high forces Not practical to measure steady
Force gauge
when strained Reaction forces Measure both tension forces as charge dissipates
and compression
Piezo electric crystal connected Machine monitoring Compact Need very high impedance output
between a moving platform and system bearings etc Robust and cannot be used for steady
reference state
F=ma, can get force as before, mass Low signals at low f
Accelerometer is constant can get a Base strain sensitivity
Other DOF
Needs calibration
Resonant f
Mass can be significant
Strain gauge, change in strain to a Apply to one side – get Cannot detect rapid changes
pressure differential is proportional absolute pressure. Two Corrodes
to applied pressure sides for differential Output needs to be connected to
Pressure gauge
Microphone bridge circuit
Response at high f limited by
resonance
Applying a varying voltage across Get to 100kHz High fm short wave Cannot acoustic test
piezo-electric crystal it will distort. If have transducer on length energy Not good for small flaws in
Creates force between crystal and other side the change materials
Ultrasonic probe solid object and causes object to between input excitation Hard to connect piezo electric
vibrate and response can identify crystal to solid surface
material properties. Use Interpretation
for NDT to find cracks
Electro-magnetic coil with core No direct connection – Using electronics can
moving with respect to coil will good for rotating objects get linear output
have self inductance due to eddy Good up to 15kHz
Eddy current probe currents. It attach coil to a structure
then output through a FM amplifier
will give a voltage proportional to
air gap
 Capacitance of two insulated metal
plates depends on the area of the
Capacitive displacement
plates and material between them
gauge
and distance apart. Use to get
distance across air gap
Semi conductor made from CdS
extremely sensitive electrically to
light. Will change electrical
resistance (reduce) when exposed
Optical transducers
to light, non linear
If target moving relative to laser
source along direction of the beam
then the Doppler effect will change
Laser interferometer
f of reflected light, using FM
techniques produce an output
voltage
Thin wire, resistance of platinum
Platinum Resistance wire changes with T
Thermometer
Semiconductor material in a small
bead that resistance changes with
Thermistor
T, 10 times more sensitive than a
platinum wire. R decrease with T
Two dissimilar metal wires will
Thermocouple produce emf proportional to T,
generally pair of nickel alloys
Air gap measurements
Item counters –
interruption of light path
will trigger voltage change
Measure rotational
speeds – light source and
reflective tape
Angle of rotation
Camera shutter
Used to determine
velocity of wide range of
components
Where T are not expected
to change rapidly over a
considerable volume
Limited accuracy required
but in small area
Linear output for small Limited range
air gap Capacitance sensitive to liquids in
Good up to 15kHz air gap
Electrical connections required
Very simple low cost
counter, does not add
mass or connections
Get high or low voltage
Wide uses
Many measurements Expensive
made rapidly Needs line of sight
Harsh environments Only motion in line of beam
Non mass on objects
Low cost Change of R is over whole wire –
need constant T across wire
Needs bridge circuit
Non linear
Low cost Difficult to remove
Resistance change exponential
Need to calibrate
Easy to use, Cheap Difficult to get good contact with
No calibration metal surface
Rapid T measurement