Sensors and Signals for Chemical Engineers
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Objective: Understand how sensors convert physical quantities into electrical signals, how analog-to-digital conversion and calibration work, and select the sensors for your course project. Estimated time: 1-2 hours, due two class periods after assignment.
Your controller is only as good as its measurement. Study the Sensors lesson from Data-Driven Engineering, and review the course page on Sensors and Data Acquisition, then complete the activity below.
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Apply to Your Project
Choose the sensor(s) for your project measurement. Use this prompt to structure the selection, then verify the recommendation against at least one real datasheet:
Estimate your measurement resolution: with your microcontroller's ADC and the sensor sensitivity, what is the smallest change in the process variable you can detect? This number matters when you tune a controller later.
What to Turn In
Add a section (about 1 page) to your project notebook and submit it as a PDF. Use Generative AI for drafting if you like, but you own the numbers. Answer these questions:
- Which sensor did you select for your project and why? Include the comparison table (2-3 options) with datasheet-verified values.
- What is your calculated measurement resolution (smallest detectable change), showing the ADC and sensitivity numbers used?
- How will you calibrate the sensor, and against what reference?
- From the flawed-explanation prompt: what was the planted error, and did you catch it? What does that tell you about verifying signal-chain explanations?