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Sensor Deviations: Transfer Function Accuracy

Sensors can experience several types of deviations from an ideal transfer function that limit accuracy, including: 1) Reaching a minimum or maximum output when the measured property exceeds the sensor's full scale range. 2) Having a sensitivity or offset error that causes the output to differ from the correct value. 3) Exhibiting nonlinearity where the output deviates from a straight line transfer function over the sensor's range. 4) Experiencing dynamic errors from rapid changes in the measured property or sampling frequency issues.

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830 views1 page

Sensor Deviations: Transfer Function Accuracy

Sensors can experience several types of deviations from an ideal transfer function that limit accuracy, including: 1) Reaching a minimum or maximum output when the measured property exceeds the sensor's full scale range. 2) Having a sensitivity or offset error that causes the output to differ from the correct value. 3) Exhibiting nonlinearity where the output deviates from a straight line transfer function over the sensor's range. 4) Experiencing dynamic errors from rapid changes in the measured property or sampling frequency issues.

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Sensor deviations[edit]

Since sensors cannot replicate an ideal transfer function, several types of deviations can occur
which limit sensor accuracy:

 Since the range of the output signal is always limited, the output signal will eventually
reach a minimum or maximum when the measured property exceeds the limits. The full
scale range defines the maximum and minimum values of the measured property. [citation needed]
 The sensitivity may in practice differ from the value specified. This is called a sensitivity
error. This is an error in the slope of a linear transfer function.
 If the output signal differs from the correct value by a constant, the sensor has an offset
error or bias. This is an error in the y-intercept of a linear transfer function.
 Nonlinearity is deviation of a sensor's transfer function from a straight line transfer
function. Usually, this is defined by the amount the output differs from ideal behavior over the
full range of the sensor, often noted as a percentage of the full range.
 Deviation caused by rapid changes of the measured property over time is
a dynamic error. Often, this behavior is described with a bode plot showing sensitivity error
and phase shift as a function of the frequency of a periodic input signal.
 If the output signal slowly changes independent of the measured property, this is defined
as drift. Long term drift over months or years is caused by physical changes in the sensor.
 Noise is a random deviation of the signal that varies in time.
 A hysteresis error causes the output value to vary depending on the previous input
values. If a sensor's output is different depending on whether a specific input value was
reached by increasing vs. decreasing the input, then the sensor has a hysteresis error.
 If the sensor has a digital output, the output is essentially an approximation of the
measured property. This error is also called quantization error.
 If the signal is monitored digitally, the sampling frequency can cause a dynamic error, or if
the input variable or added noise changes periodically at a frequency near a multiple of the
sampling rate, aliasing errors may occur.
 The sensor may to some extent be sensitive to properties other than the property being
measured. For example, most sensors are influenced by the temperature of their
environment.
All these deviations can be classified as systematic errors or random errors. Systematic errors
can sometimes be compensated for by means of some kind of calibration strategy. Noise is a
random error that can be reduced by signal processing, such as filtering, usually at the expense
of the dynamic behavior of the sensor.

Resolution[edit]
See also: Accuracy and precision
The resolution of a sensor is the smallest change it can detect in the quantity that it is measuring.
The resolution of a sensor with a digital output is usually the resolution of the digital output. The
resolution is related to the precision with which the measurement is made, but they are not the
same thing. A sensor's accuracy may be considerably worse than its resolution.

 The sensor may to some extent be sensitive to properties other than the property being
measured. For example, most sensors are influenced by the temperature of their
environment.

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