Electrical Measurement &

Instrumentation
Course code: ECEG 4155
Pre-requisite: Intro to cnrtl eng’g
(ECEg3153)
Chr.hrs: 3(2+3)
Year: IV
Semester: I
Program: UG Regular
2019/20
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 CHAPTER ONE
1. Electrical Measurements & Measurement
System
• Instrument.
• Instrument is defined as a device for
determining the value or magnitude of a
quantity or Variable.
• Measurement
• Measurement of a given quantity is
essentially an act or result of
comparison between the quantity
(whose magnitude is unknown) and
predetermined or predefined standards.
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Purpose and performance of measurement systems
We begin by defining a process as a system which
generates information. Examples are a chemical
reactor, a jet fighter, a gas platform, a submarine, a
car, a human heart, and a weather system.

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 1.2. Standards of Measurement
• Before standard systems of measurement were
invented, many approximate units were used.
 A long distance was often measured by the
number of days it would take to ride a horse over
the distance
 It is a well-known saying, that the knowledge
about anything is complete only when if it can be
quantified (expressed in numbers) correctly.
 In conjunction with the above need, for every
kind of quantity measured, there must be a unit
to measure it and express it in numbers of that
unit.

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Furthermore, in order that this unit is
followed by all and not one who is taking the
measurements, there must be a universal
standard and the various units for various
parameters of importance must be
standardized.
What does a ‘Standard’ mean?
Standard Unit has to have some relation to
physical world. Therefore, physical records,
called standards are used to permanently
record the size of units.
Definition of standard: a standard is a
permanent or readily reproducible physical
record of the size of a unit of measurement.
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Definitions of Standard Units
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Standards of measurements
can be classified according to
their function and type of
application as:
1. International standards
2. Primary standards
3. Secondary standards
4. Working standards

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 1.2. Standards of Measurement
1. International standards:
 are devices designed and constructed to the
specification of an international forum.
 represent certain units of measurement to the closest
possible accuracy that production and measurement
technology allow.
 are periodically checked and evaluated by absolute
measurements in terms of the fundamental units.
2. Primary standards:
 are material standard preserved under most careful
conditions.
 are not used for directly for measurements but are
used once in 10 or 20 years for calibrating secondary
standards.
 Ex: International Prototype meter, Imperial
Standard yard.
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 1.3. Standards of Measurement
3. Secondary standards:
 are the basic reference standards used in the
industrial measurement laboratories.
 are kept at a number of places under great
supervision and serve as reference for
working standards.
4. Working standards:
 are similar in design to primary, & secondary
standards.
 But being less in cost and are made of low
grade materials, they are used for general
applications in laboratory instruments.
 Ex: national standards (nationally
accepted), material standards (gold,
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 1.4. Measurement system
Purpose: - Monitoring& Controlling of processes
and operations, and experimental
engineering analysis.
1. Monitoring of process and operations: refers
to knowing or understanding the process or
operation by measuring the variables of the
process but don’t take any action in the
control sense of setting these variables to
desired point.
 Example: thermometer used by the weather
bureau is used to provide information of the
environment by providing the atmospheric
temperature. Its purpose is to measure and
indicate the weather variables and not to take a
control action, such as to set these variables to
desired ones.

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 1.4. Measurement system
2. Control of process or operations: refers to attain
the variable of interest set as desired point. Thus,
understanding of the process variable or
operation is required through appropriate
measurement and then a control action will be
taken to let the output keep track of set point.
 Example: Feed back control shown below is an automatic
controller that is used to control a system or process in
such a way that the output (O) is keep track of the set
point(S).

Set Outpu
point e mv t (O)
Controller System/plant
(S) +


Measuremen
t system
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 1.4. Measurement system
3. Experimental engineering analysis: Another
important purpose of instrumentation is the
desire of measurement for experimental
engineering analysis for design, development
and research that relies on laboratory testing of
one kind for the purpose of validating
engineering design, collecting data for future
analysis etc.
The measurement system consists of several
elements or blocks.

Input Signal Signal Data

Sensing Outpu
conditionin processin presentatio t
element
g element g element n element

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 1.4. Measurement system
1. Input: also called true value/real input/measurand, is a
physical quantity or phenomena which is to be measured.
It is real physical quantity or variable from electrical,
mechanical, chemical, hydraulic, Medical, geographical etc
such as; temperature, flow, speed etc.
2. Sensing element: The true value is sensed or detected by
sensing element. Sensor detects change of input and gives
an output which depends in some way on the variable to
be measured.
 Ex:
 Thermocouple where millivolt e.m.f. depends on
temperature.
 Strain gauge where resistance depends on
mechanical strain.

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 1.4. Measurement system
• If there is more than one sensing element in a
system, the element in contact with the
measurand is termed the primary sensing
element (sensor), the others secondary sensing
elements (transducer).
• Sensor: senses a physical quantity and converts
it into an analogue quantity which can be
measured electrically such as voltage,
capacitance, inductance and ohmic resistance.
The output needs to be manipulated, interfaced
and calibrated by the system designer.
EX: motion sensor which send out some kind of
energy like ultrasonic waves, microwaves or
light beams and sense when the energy flow is
interrupted by
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 1.4. Measurement system
Transducer:
device that is connected to sensor(s)
converts the measured quantity(ies) into
standard analog electrical signal such as;
0 to10 VDC,
-10 to +10 VDC,
4 to20 mA,
0 to20 mA, etc.
The output can be used directly by the
system designer.
Thus a sensor is a transducer but a
transducer doesn’t necessarily mean
sensor.
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 1.4. Measurement system
3. Signal conditioning element: This takes the
output of the sensing element and converts it
into a form more suitable for further
processing.
Ex: Amplifier which amplifies millivolt to
volts.
4. Signal processing element: This takes the output
of the conditioning element and converts it into
a form more suitable for presentation.
Ex: Analogue-to-digital converter (ADC)
which converts a voltage into a digital form
for input to a computer.
5. Data presentation element: This presents the
measured value in a form which can be easily
recognized by the observer.
Ex: Simple pointer–scale indicator.
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 1.4. Measurement system

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 1.5. Performance characteristics
• The most important step in designing
instrumentation system is the selection of
sensor/transducer. Thus knowledge of the
performance characteristic of the
sensor/transducer is essential for proper choice.
Based on the responses of sensor/transducer to
inputs:
1. Static characteristics: are a set of performance
criteria that give a meaningful description of the
quality of measurement while the measured
quantity is either constant or varying slowly.
 It can be; systematic (those which can be
exactly quantified by
mathematical or graphical means) or statistic
(by the vary nature of random errors, the
uncertainty associated with any
measurement can’t be predetermined).
2. Dynamic characteristics: describe the quality of
measurement when the measured quantities vary
rapidly with time
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 1.5.1. Static characteristics
1) Systematic characteristics: The important systematic
characteristic of a sensor/transducer are;
range: The input /output ranges are specified by a
minimum and maximum value.
Span: the maximum variation in input or output.
 Input/output span=Imax/Omax - Imin/Omin
Sensitivity: rate of change of output wrt input i.e.
S=∆O/∆I
Linearity: relation between the input and output. An
element is said to be linear if corresponding values of I and
O lie on a straight line.
 O(I) = KI+a, k is the Slope, a is the intercept, which is
ideal.

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 1.5.1. Static characteristics
Non-linearity: measure of the deviation of actual
response from the ideal straight line behavior.
Non-linearity N(I)=difference between actual and
ideal straight-line behavior, i.e.
 N(I ) = O(I) − (KI + a) or
 O(I) = KI + a + N(I)
Non-linearity is often quantified in terms of the maximum
non-linearity ; expressed as a percentage of full-scale
deflection (f.s.d.), i.e. as a percentage of span.

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 1.5.1. Static characteristics
Threshold: the minimum value of input that can be
detected by the sensing element.
Resolution: the largest change in I that can occur
without any corresponding change in O.

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 1.5.1. Static characteristics
Hysteresis: For a given value of I, the output O
may be different depending on whether I is
increasing or decreasing, the difference b/n these
two values of O is called hysteresis.
 Hysteresis H(I) = O(I)I↓ − O(I)I ↑
Again hysteresis is usually quantified in terms of
the maximum hysteresis expressed as a
percentage of f.s.d., i.e. span. Thus:

Maximum hysteresis as a
percentage of f.s.d.

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 1.5.1. Static characteristics
2) Statistical characteristics: includes;
Accuracy: a measure of how close the output reading of the
instrument is to the correct value.
precision: the degree of closeness with which a given value may be
repeatedly measured. High precision does not imply anything about
measurement accuracy.
Errors in measurement
 The degree to which a measurement conforms to the expected value
is expressed in terms of error of the measurement.
 Error in measurement (e) is defined as the algebraic difference b/n the
true value of the variable and the measured value.
 The measured values are enclosed in the error bands, representing
the precision of measurement.

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 1.5.1. Static characteristics
 Error may be expressed either as absolute error or as a percent of
error.
𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟
𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = × 100%
𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑢𝑒

𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒

𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = × 100%
𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑢𝑒
 It is frequently more desirable to express measurements in terms
of relative accuracy;
𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟
𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑦 = 1 −
𝑇𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑢𝑒
 If a measurement is accurate it must also be precise, that is,
accuracy implies precision. The reverse, however, is not necessary
true.
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 1.5.1. Static characteristics
Errors are generally categorized into three;
i. Gross error: These errors are generally human
errors using the instruments such as misreading
instrument, incorrect adjustment , improper
application of instrument, computation errors.

ii. Systematic errors: due to short comings of the

instrument and changes in external conditions
affecting the measurement. Can be;
 instruments,
 environmental effects, or
 observational errors.
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 1.5.1. Static characteristics
Instruments errors: due to changes in the
proprieties of the components used in instrument
such as;
friction in the bearing of the meter movement,
incorrect spring tension,
improper calibration, or
faulty instruments.
Environmental errors: due to the environmental
conditions such as;
 temperatures,
Pressure,
Humidity etc.
Observational errors: errors introduced by the
observer.
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 1.5.1. Static characteristics
iii. Random errors: caused by unknown and
unpredictable changes in the experiment.
 Ex: electronic noise in the circuit of an electrical instrument.

Limiting error: the maximum deviation in the

reading specified by its manufacturer.
Ex: the accuracy of a thermometer to measure 0-
1500C can be given as + 1%. The limiting error is thus
+1.50C. if the thermometer reads 600C, the
maximum deviation is +1.50C and in percentage it
becomes +2.5% (i.e. +1.50C/600C x100).
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 1.5.2. Dynamic characteristics
the response of an instrument to continuously
changing input(time varying input).
dynamic behavior (performance) of a transducer
is described by its mathematical model.
The general differential equation describing the
dynamic behavior is given by;

Where,
 n is the order of the differential equation,
x(t) is input, and
y(t) is the output
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 1.5.2. Dynamic characteristics
 real signals are either a function of time or frequency.
i. Time response
a. Zero order transducer: The input–output relationship is given
by;

Taking the Laplace transform;

 It is clearly seen that the input-output relationship is

expressed using static sensitivity i.e. constant. Hence,
the zero order transducer represent ideal dynamic
performance.

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 1.5.2. Dynamic characteristics
b. First order transducer: I-O relationship is;

Taking Laplace transform;

 From the transfer function, the first order transducer is described

by two parameters; static sensitivity and time constant.

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 1.5.2. Dynamic characteristics
• Ex: consider 1st order system with step input;

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 1.5.2. Dynamic characteristics
the output is not exact as the input, rather it is an
exponential growth elapsing some time to reach
the final or steady state, which is dependent on
the value of the time constant.
Thus, the time constant describes the speed of
response; its magnitude determines the speed at
which the output reaches the steady state i.e.
As its value decreases, the output reaches the steady state
quickly
As its value increases the response become sluggish.

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 1.5.2. Dynamic characteristics
c. 2nd order transducer: I-O relationship ;

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 1.5.2. Dynamic characteristics
d. Higher order transducers:
In practice many transducers have higher order
dynamics which can be described by a higher
order d.E. for engineering purpose analysis;
they can be represented by either first order or
second order d.E. with certain linearising
assumptions.
However when accurate analysis is required the
higher order it can be taken and solved.

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 1.5.2. Dynamic characteristics
ii. Frequency response of transducers
steady state output of a transducer when it is
excited with sinusoidal input.
can be obtained from the transfer function by
replacing the S=jw.
represented with the help of two plots namely;
Amplitude ratio (i.e. ratio of output to input) Vs
frequency , &
 Phase angle shift Vs frequency.

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Signals and noise in measurement systems
A signal could be deterministic or random.
 A deterministic signal is one whose value at any future
time can be exactly predicted.
 A random signal is one whose value at any future time can
not be exactly predicted. However, five statistical
quantities – mean, standard deviation, probability density
function, power spectral density and autocorrelation
function are used to estimate the behaviour of random
signals.
Unwanted electrical signals may also be present in the
measurement circuit. These may be due to sources inside the
measurement circuit or caused by coupling to sources outside
the circuit.
 noise
 interference

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 External noise and interference sources:
 A.C. power circuits
 D.C. power circuits

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