In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, 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.
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, 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. There are a wide range of other sensors, measuring chemical & physical properties of materials. A few examples include optical sensors for Refractive index measurement, vibrational sensors for fluid viscosity measurement and electro-chemical sensor for monitoring pH of fluids.
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.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 faster measurement time and higher sensitivity compared with macroscopic approaches. Due to the increasing demand for rapid, affordable and reliable information in today's world, disposable sensors—low-cost and easy‐to‐use devices for short‐term monitoring or single‐shot measurements—have recently gained growing importance. Using this class of sensors, critical analytical information can be obtained by anyone, anywhere and at any time, without the need for recalibration and worrying about contamination.
Hi All,
I am looking for a pressure sensor to detect water pressure in a sump. Sensor has to be in contact with the water media directly. It should be water proof and insensitive to sun light. Also, I want the sensor the dimensions of the sensor to be relatively small. Can anyone help me in...
How to change output frequency from sensor to gain of color?
for ex.
frequency output = 17.19kHz 4.26kHz 5.75kHz
gain of color = 255 0 0
Thank you for answer my question...
Homework Statement
a.) The ultrasonic motion sensor sends pulses of the ultrasound toward a cart on the low-friction track and determines the distance by the time an echo takes to return. The temperature in the lab is equal to 20 °C. What is the distance between the motion sensor and the cart...
Hi,
Well i have tried modeling a PZT actuator in d33 mode in abaqus and the model worked as desired. But, when i m trying to model a piezoelectric sensor in d33 mode the results are not as desired. Just to check the modeling procedure, i gave same properties of the actuator to the sensor. For...
Hello everyone,
My name is Fred and I'm a newcomer to the forum. I'm designing a very simple E-field sensor. So all I did was I got two styrofoam balls, wrapped them around with a few layers of aluminum foil to serve as charge collecting surfaces. Put both "sensors" on the ends of a thin wood...
If I'm talking to someone about cmos sensors and they tell me one sensor is made in the .50um process (circa 2000) and the other sensor is made in the .35um process (circa 2004).
What are they tell me about the cmos sensor? Are there any good books on manufacturing cmos sensors?
thanks
Hi guys, i was given a project based on the above topic and i know very little on it. Can anyone help to explain what's the difference between MSE and therotical MSE. Taylor series estimation and the modified taylor series. Thanks
I am developing a new chemical sensor. I want to test the sensitivity of the sensor to various chemicals such as K3Fe(CN)6 and Ascorbic Acid. My understanding was that you could use a chronoamperometry scan to do this measurement by injecting a controlled amount of chemical every 60 seconds...
Hello All,
This is a new thread related to my output stage setup. Only this time, rather than determining if something went wrong, I simply want to monitor the temperature of the MOSFET on the output stage. I have been doing a bit of research to see what kinds of sensors are available out there...
Hello,
I was wondering if anyone know any companies which sell directly these items because it seems many of the ones i am finding are for high end applications...
Any help would be much appreciated.
Note: no liquids are corrosive and low viscosity etc generally just water will flow...
hi there
I'm up to design a device which switches on when human body touches it.
I have a rough idea to use IR, Electrical phenomenas of body.
But don't know how to start and where to start.
help pleasez
i am looking into participating in a local firefighting robot competition and i have many of the parts necessary, one thing i have yet to decide on is my method of finding the candle which is placed in a random room. Originally i had intended to use an infrared sensor with a filter, but i was...
Hi, I am working with a solenoid and I am trying to measure the magnetic field that it can produce using a Hall Effect Sensor but I cannot seem to get any results from the sensor. Does anyone know how this is suppose to be done? Thanks.
I have a Hall sensor that outputs about 2.45 volts with no magnetic field applied and then the voltage goes higher or lower depending on the magnetic field applied(north or south).
I need to measure the voltage from zero. How can I do this?
I currently have two custom PCBs that perform a variety of functions on signals to and from different sensors, including quite a bit of buffering. The PCBs are between the sensors and a PC104 SBC.
I want to take the design to a more functional level by implementing as much of those two PCBs on...
I've got an iPod Touch and am trying to create an electrical circuit that, when turned on, will trigger the touch sensor in a specific spot (the spot that whatever component of the circuit provides capacitance is resting on, I guess).
For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to trigger a...
Hello Gentlemen,
I'm in need of a miniature liquid flow sensor capable of measuring liquid flows in the mili and possibly high micro ranges that is quite accurate. I seem not to find much on the internet as most of the sensors are for greater flow capacities.
Any help would be much...
I have no experience with shock sensors and am looking for some insight. The ones I have found say a range in g's (example - range: 10,000g) and then give a maximum value. I was wondering if the range would be similar to a minimum that the sensor is able to read or how close to the given range I...
Dear Experts,
I bought a pair of infrared LEDs (transmitter + receiver).
I read that infrared can be used as distance sensor.
I have seen projects using it (eg. Sharp GP2D120 sensor) for robotics and toy cars. Just to clarify, I am not using the Sharp sensor but a normal infrared LED...
Hi guys, I am currently undergoing some measurement with TCS230 light to frequency converter, its actually a cmos color sensor, so the measurement result was made in period measurement.
For white the output was not almost the same, but actually according to bitmap resolution, the R,G,B value...
I'm having an issue with an RTD in the lab that I think may have some hysteresis affects going on with it. I know RTDs can be prone to this if not used properly but is there any practical way to confirm this without using some other standard (The RTD is the most accurate temp sensor I have...
I'm working on a project for class. The project requires a certain level of difficulty.
The idea:
A system that would theoretically monitor the current through EACH solar cell in a Photovoltaic panel to ensure it wasn't shaded or defective.(For those that don't know, when a solar panel is...
Hi guys, i been recently implementing TCS230 for my final year project, so i have did few experimental stuff on TCS230 and applied few theory for the methodology, first experiment was TCS230 without LED illumination and with just fluorescent light illumination, i got some result and it was not...
Can anyone point me to a long range distance sensor. I'm not sure what types they have out there other then ultrasonic. Those ones only get me about 10-80 cm. I'm looking for one that is around 30ft or more. Any information on different types of links is appreciated. thanks in advance!
I am a professional Pyrotechnician and i am designing a new firing system. I am wanting to streamline the process of our set-up and tear down of larger shows. By putting some kinda of sensor in each tube we use to shoot our shells out of to sense if the shell actually left the tube. Why I would...
We're going to build a prototype of an autonomous farm equipment. It tills the land going from one side to the other, reaches the end, takes a 180 degree turn clockwise, reaches the other end and takes a 180 degree turn anti-clockwise and so on. (I hope i have made it clear. :smile: )
The...
I am to design a sensor element that can detect a leakage through a thin metal disc (rupture disc) in a pipeline.
Ideally, the metal disc closes the pipeline at the upstreaming side with certain pressure. Its downstream can be either open to atmosphere or close. When a higher pressure occurs...
Hey, I have this QTI sensor ( circuit is shown, the left schematic ) and I am trying to get it to detect a white line only, no red,blue or green just a white line. 5 volts is applied to the pin called White(top pin). Now when the IR light is emited from the IR LED will the Ie, emiter current...
There is a pdf,there is a figure at the bottom of page 2, i just want to know what 's "1K to 12Volt pullup",Anybody help...
http://www.soundtube.com/Data/install_instructions/Fp_motion_Sensor.pdf
i need to design a test equipment for magnetic sensors and i need to use this in quality control department. the magnetic sensors come in SIP and MSOP packages. i need a socket to hold both temporarily until the test is being carried out.
can anyone help me find out a proper test socket...
Hi all,
I have this sensor which monitors the moving of a steel bar (see attached pic). The green part is moving backward and forward (the arrows), the gray is stationary.
What I would like to know is the principle of this sensor. At first I thought it uses a small led in the gray one and...
Hi All,
I am pretty new to COMSOL. I want design model of a sensor with four electrode. This sensor mainly based on impedance spectroscopy principle. The model should measure the distance and thickness of the obstacle due to change in capacitive impedance of electrostatic field between the...
Homework Statement
A parallel plate capacitor is used as a vibration sensor. The plates have an area of 100cm^2, the dieelectric is air, and the dist between the plates is given by
d(t)=1+.01 sin(200 t) mm
A constant voltage of 200 V is applied to the sensor. Determine the current...
Homework Statement
A spring has a force sensor attached to it and is pulled at increasing distances from rest. A reading is recorded on the force sensor and the data is plotted below.
Plot data on Excel
x (m) Force (n)
.005 1.9
.010 2.5
.020 3.4
.030...
I am looking for a cheap device to check sensor function, the sensor is detecting at 120
rpm and should give a 24v output.
If there is a circuit i could build my self that would be great.
Thanks.
Hello,
I got some optical mouse sensors (ADNS-2620) with lenses and I had a couple of questions that hopefully someone can answer.
1) If I was to use the sensor in a setting where there was plenty of ambient light, would it be possible to use the sensor and the lens with no LED (this...
As stated I need to chose a somewhat simple sensor (needs to be fully explained in 3 slides) for a short presentation. I cannot use anything we have discussed at length (accelerometer, strain gauge, thermocouple, LVDT).
Any ideas?
Thanks
Ok so say i have an application that measures how close your head is to something.
I'm currently looking at ultra sonic sensors, I'm not sure which type to get. I am mostly worried about how accurate they will be. Say I'm measuring your head right now how far away it is from your monitor, i...
I have an experiment where a syringe is used to compress air. the compressed air is measured using a pressure sensor which converts to voltage on a multimeter. I need to transfer the volts to pascals. I know that the sensor voltage output is directly proportional to the pressure exerted on the...
Hey all,
I am currently modeling an inductive proximity sensor. And the method/procedure i am following to obtain the mathematical model is given below:
When an object enters the magnetic field produced by the sensor each point in it experiences a different effect by the field. Thus by...
"quantum sensor" and units issue
I'm working on an wireless sensor network for a commercial greenhouse concerned with energy use and efficiency. Much of the literature regarding photosynthetic active radiation uses watts/square meter, but the client has requested a measurement in...
I am currently doing my A levels at school and my next peace of coursework is on sensors and mesuring their sensitivity. it has to be something that can be done with fairly basic equipment (so just resistors, wires, bulbs, capacitors) normal high school stuff and with a fairly easy theory to...
Homework Statement
I am just about to start my AS level Advancing physics - Sensors coursework.
I was wondering whether it would be a good idea to build a proximity sensor using an LDR in a potential divider.
I would reflect an LED off an object, and move the object at different...
Homework Statement
2001 M1
A motion sensor and a force sensor record the motion of a cart along a track, as shown above. The cart is given a push so that it moves toward the force sensor and then collides with it. The two sensors record the values shown in the following graphs.
a. Determine...
Hi all,
i got e above mention sensor for my mini project. encounter a problem is that the sensor does not have an indicating light that show if the sensor is activated.
i've measure between the GND and the signal output which gives a 4.8V when nothing is sense. when there's object infront...
How intrinsic error in a sensor is defined and how it can be estimated? I hv read somewhere that it is hardware dependent but some detail is required. Please help!
Homework Statement
A force sensor is used to measure a force applied to a 8.2 kg box on a hard, horizontal surface. It records that the box starts to move when the force is equal to 20.7 N. This force makes the box start to move with an acceleration of 0.4 m/s2. Find s and k respectively...