Sensors and Transducers: Characteristics, Applications, Instrumentation, Interfacing

The aim of this text is to provide an integrated account of the principles and properties of the most important types of physical transducer, whether analogue or digital. The treatment is primarily from the measured standpoint, so that, for example, the different types of length transducer are discussed and compared together in one chapter. Although transducers are usually thought of as input devices, output transducers are important in measurement systems: these are discussed in the chapter on actuators. Later chapters examine broader areas, such as measurement systems, including solid state sensors, resonator sensors, optical fibre sensors, pyrometry and ultrasonics. The final chapter gives a summary and classification of digital transducers and an introduction to interfacing to computer systems.