SENSORS AND INSTRUMENTATION

DIGITAL ASSIGNMENT – II

Question: Discuss in detail about the current and voltage measurement instruments. Also,
explain where this instrumentation can be used in our daily life. Clarify the instrument
calibration and its standards also its need.

Generally, current measurement instrument is called as Ammeter and Voltage measurement

instrument is called Voltmeter. There are various range of instruments in both these
categories that have similar characteristics of their base instrument.
Ammeters and voltmeters both operate on same principle. The ammeter carries the current
that is to be measured and this current produces deflecting torque. whereas the voltmeter,
carries the current proportional to the voltage to be measured, which produces the deflectingg
torque.

Requirements of measuring instruments are:

 It's introduction into the circuit where measurements are to be made, does not
alter circuit condition.
 The power is consumed by them for their operation is small.

Ammeters

It is connected in series with circuit carrying the current under measurement.It must
be of very low resistance because the voltage drops across the ammeter and the power
absorbed from circuit should be as low possible.

Voltmeter

It is connected in parallel to the circuitt across which the voltage is to be measured

and  must be very high resistance.Because the current flowing through the voltmeter
and the power absorbedd from the circuit should be as minimum as possible.

The main type of instruments used as ammeters and voltmeter are:

  Moving iron
 Moving coil
 Electrodynamometer
 Hot wire
 Thermocouple
 Induction
 Electrostatic
 Rectifier

Among these the moving coil type can be used for (DC)direct current measurements
only and induction type for (AC) measurements only. The other type can be used with
either the ac or dc.

Ammeter is an instrument for measuring either direct (DC)or alternating electric

current(AC) in amperes. An ammeter can measure a wide variety range of current values
because at high values only a portion of the current is directed through the meter mechanism.
A shunt in parallel with the meter carries the major portion. The ideal ammeter has zero
internal resistance. The measuring range of the ammeter depends on the value of the resistance.

Symbolic Representation

Connection of Ammeter in Circuit

The ammeter is connected in series with circuit so that whole electrons of measurandd current
passes through ammeter. The power los occurs in ammeter because of measurand current and
their internal resistance. The ammeter circuit has very low resistance so that small voltage
drop occurs in the circuit.
 The resistance of the ammeter is kept very low because of the two reasons.

 The whole measurand current passes through ammeter.

 The low voltage drops occurs across the ammeter.

Types of Ammeter
The classification of ammeter depends on the design and the type of current flows through it.
The following are the types of an ammeter.

1. Permanent moving coil ammeter.

2. Moving iron ammeter.
3. Electro-dynamometer ammeter.
4. Rectifier type ammeter.

By the current, the ammeter categorises into two types.

 AC ammeter
 DC ammeter

1. PMMC Ammeter – In PMMC instrument ,the conductor is placed between pole of

permanent magnet. When the current flows through the coil it is starts deflecting and The
deflection of the coil depends on the magnitude off current flows through it. The PMMC
ammeter is used only for the measurement of direct current.

2. Moving Coil Ammeter – The MI ammeter measures both AC and DC current. In this
type of ammeter, the coil moves between the poles of a permanent magnet. When the current
passes through coil, it starts deflecting at an angle. The deflection of the coil is proportional to the
current passing through the coil.

3. Electro-dynamometer Ammeter – It is used for the measurement of both Alternating and
direct current The accuracy of the instrument is little high as compared to the PMMC and MI
instrument. The calibration of the instrument is same both for AC and DC.
 5. Rectifier Ammeter – It is used for measurement of the alternating current. The
instruments use the rectifying instrument which converts the direction of currentt and pass
it to the PMMC instrument. Such type of instrument is used for measuring the current in
the communication circuit.

Uses of the Ammeter Instruments in Daily Life

 These Ammeters come in all sizes and can be used to measure the current like in
heaters, vehicles, heavy and sensitive machinery, fridges etc.
 They are also used in various other electrical devices for measuring the range of
current that enters them. Many companies that manufacture electrical devices
extensively use ammeters to measure current range and input output flow of current in
their product.
 Educational institutions also use ammeters in laboratory experiments to help students
to understand its functioning and working.
 When buildings are being constructed and electrical map is being implemented,
ammeters are an important component to check the input and output currents at various
different sites to assure safety and protection.

Calibration of Ammeter

The standard resistance is connected in the series with the ammeter which is to be calibrated.
The potentiometer is used for measuring the voltage across the standard resistor. The

formula determines the current through the standard resistance.

Where,
Vs – voltage across the standard resistor as indicated by the potentiometer.
S – resistance of standard resistor

This method of calibration of the ammeter is accurate because in this method the value of
standard resistance and voltage across the potentiometer is exactly known by the instrument.

Voltmeter
Voltmeter measures the voltage between two nodes. We know that the unit of potential
difference is volts. So it is a measuring instrument which measures the potential
difference(PD) between the two points.

Classification or Types of Voltmeter

According to the construction principle, we have different types of voltmeters, they are
mainly –
1. Permanent Magnet Moving coil (PMMC) Voltmeter.
2. Moving Iron (MI) Voltmeter.
3. Electro Dynamometer Type Voltmeter.
4. Rectifier Type Voltmeter
5. Induction Type Voltmeter.
6. Electrostatic Type Voltmeter.
7. Digital Voltmeter (DVM).

Depending on this types of measurement we do, we have-

 DC Voltmeter.
 AC Voltmeter.

For DC voltmeters PMMC instruments are used.

MI instrument can measure both AC and DC voltages, electrodynamometer type.
thermal instruments can measure DC and AC voltages as well.
Induction meters are not used because of they are costly and there is inaccuracy in
measurement.
Rectifier type voltmeter, electrostatic type and also digital voltmeter (DVM) can measure
both AC and DC voltages.
PMMC Voltmeter
When current carrying conductor is placed in a magnetic field, a mechanical force
acts on conductor, if it is attached to a moving system, with the coil movement, the
pointer moves over the scale.
PMMC instruments have permanent magnets. It is more suited for DC measurement because
here the deflection is proportional to the voltage as resistance is constant.

Uses of the Voltmeter Instruments in Daily Life

Measuring voltages:

 Checking batteries
 Troubleshooting projects
 Verifying the power is on or off . to appliances, outlets, etc. Be careful.

Measuring other things:

Servo positions. A voltmeter will often do just fine measuring the average value of a PWM
signal, so you can measure the commanded servo position by,

 Build continuity checker, with a series battery.

 Build an ohm meter by using voltage divider with the unknown resistor
 Build an ammeter by measuring the voltage across a shunt resistor

Use a voltmeter as a general user interface device

 Connect the voltmeter to an analog output of an Arduino, or a PWM output. Now

software can control the meter reading and have it mean anything: packets per second,
streaming bandwidth used, maybe time of day.

Calibration of Voltmeter
The circuit for the calibration of the voltmeter is given below.
The circuit requires two rheostats for controlling the voltage and another for adjustment. The
voltage ratio box is used to step down the voltage to a suitable value. The accurate value of
voltmeter is determined by measuring the value of the voltage to maximum possible range of
the potentiometer.

The potentiometer measures maximum possible value of voltages. The negative and positive
error occurs in readings of the voltmeter if the readings of the potentiometer and voltmeter
are not equal.