Sensors for Measurement and Control

Citation

Rigelsford, J. (1999), "Sensors for Measurement and Control", Assembly Automation, Vol. 19 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/aa.1999.03319dae.003

Sensors for Measurement and Control

Peter Elgar - TecQuipment LtdAddison-Wesley Longman Ltd1998165 pp.ISBN 0-582-35700-4£18.99

Keywords Sensor, Measurement, Control

Sensors for Measurement and Control is a well written reference book on sensors and their applications. It describes sensor terminology and the principles and applications of over 50 sensors. It includes simple calculations, typical sensor specifications and many illustrations and circuit diagrams.

After an introductory chapter, the basic principles, terminology and characteristics are discussed. The following five chapters discuss the measurement of different physical properties. Chapters 3 and 4 cover the measurement of motion and level, height, weight and volume measurement, respectively. The measurement of pressure, temperature and flow is discussed in Chapters 5, 6 and 7.

Chapter 8 includes different methods for displaying and recording data from sensors. The following two chapters discuss signal conditioning and interfacing, with Chapter 9 covering passive circuit techniques and Chapter 10 looking at active circuit applications.

Measurement and control applications case studies are included in Chapters 11 and 12, respectively. The final chapter gives details of practical experiments for a strain gauge, the linear and rotary potentiometer, the linear variable differential transformer (LVDT), the variable area capacitor, the reed switch, the reflective optical beam sensor, the optical tachometer, the d.c. tachometric generator, the variable reluctance probe, the four-bit optical encoder, data transmission and an introduction to control. These experiments all use the TecQuipment sensor and instrumentation system hardware but can be performed without it.

This reference book is clearly presented and easy to read. It is suitable for practising technicians and engineers and students of instrumentation and control from GNVQ level 3 to first year undergraduate.