Sensors and Actuators

3 units

The course provide engineering students with basic understanding of two of the main components of any modern electrical or electromechanical system; sensors as inputs and actuators as outputs. The covered topics include transfer functions, frequency responses and feedback control. Component matching and bandwidth issues. Performance specification and analysis, Sensors: analog and digital motion sensors, optical sensors, temperature sensors, magnetic and electromagnetic sensors, acoustic sensors, chemical sensors, radiation sensors, torque, force and tactile sensors. Actuators: stepper motors, DC and AC motors, hydraulic actuators, magnet and electromagnetic actuators, acoustic actuators. Introduction to interfacing methods: bridge circuits, A/D and D/A converters, microcontrollers. This course is useful for those students interested in control engineering, robotics and systems engineering.