ABSTRACT

Every sensor is a type of transducer, turning energy from one form into another. The microphone is a good example; it converts some of the input acoustical power falling upon it into electrical power. In principle, we can measure anything for which we can devise a suitable sensor. In this chapter we will concentrate on sensors whose output is in the form of an electrical signal which can be detected and boosted using an amplifier. However, similar results would be discovered if we examined sensors whose output took some other form such as water pressure variations in a pipe or changes in the light level passing along an optical fibre.