Introduction to Instrumentation

Code:

FIS1010

Acronym:

FIS1010

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Physics

Instance: 2019/2020 - 2S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Physics and Astronomy
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor in Geospatial Engineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
L:EG	24	The study plan from 2019	1	-	6	56	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

This course seeks the development of the student’s ability to design and implement measurement systems and instrumentation, enabling the acquisition of skills for professional activity in scientific or industrial environment, or even pursuing more advanced studies.

Learning outcomes and competences

skills and competences to be developed by the students:

the general concepts and structures of the measurement process, as well as fun damental techniques and

instrumentation;

the operating prin ciples and characteristics of major types of sensing elements (transducers) and on signal conditioning elements;

gain knowledge on sign al conditioning and instrumentation;

study the origin and characteristics of the noise sources affec ting measurement systems and instrumentation, and techniques used to minimize their effects;

assess the factors that determine the integration of the various blocks that constitute a measurement system;

working principles of advanced instrumentation and measuring principles.

Working method

Presencial

Program

Introduction to electronic noise. Thermal, quantum and flicker noise. Environmental or extrinsic noise

Feedback. Positive and negative feedback. Short introduction to operational amplifiers.

Timing circuits and their importance in instrumentation. Transducers and Sensors. The sensor in a measurement chain.

Static and dynamic characteristics of sensors. Digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital conversion. Main types of converters.

Simple passive and active filters. Types of filters. Frequency response and phase response.

Principles of control. System in open-loop and with feedback. Proportional control systems and with Integral and differential response. Correlation and self-correlation. Principle of operation of the "Phase Sensitive Detector".

In all topics a special attention will be placed to give examples relevant to Geospatial Engineering.

On the Lab classes some illustrating circuits for the topics will be mounted.

Mandatory literature

John P. Bentley; Principles of measurement systems. ISBN: 0-582-30543-8
Jacob Fraden; Handbook of modern sensors. ISBN: 1-56396-538-0
E. R. Davies; Electronics, noise and signal recovery. ISBN: 0-12-206131-4
F. R. Connor; Noise. ISBN: 0-7131-3306-6

Teaching methods and learning activities

Theoretical lectures with the presentation of illustrative problems and discussion. Practical c lasses with activities that illustrate the topics.
The CU proposes the study of a set of signal transduction devices that should be part of the knowledge of specialists developing their work with a strong instrumentation component, such as in industrial environments or scientific research. Fundamental topics on noise in electronic systems that are absent in previous electronics CU are addressed in a consistent and contextualized approach. The programmatic contents review the knowledge in electronics, signals and systems, using an integrating approach, focused in the development, characterization and optimization of measuring systems solutions and electronic instrumentation. Measuring systems are studied from the base signal transduction up to the generation of a final response, including errors estimation derived from either interference processes and/or from system intrinsic noise sources.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Exame	70,00
Trabalho laboratorial	30,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	114,00
Frequência das aulas	48,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

Terms of frequency: To obtain access to the evaluation the student must participate in, at least, 3/4 of the T and PL classes.

Calculation formula of final grade

The curricular unit will be evaluated based on two components: A continuous evaluation, based on the PL classes, and a written evaluation.

Evaluation formula: The final evaluation will take into account the continuous evaluation (weight 30%) and a final written exam (weight 70%).

Mandatory a minimum grade of 7.0 in each item

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

As one of the components for assessment require the completion of laboratory work, it is recommended that all students in this situation contact the lecturer to enable the realization of the practical component in a more flexible schedule according to staff availability.

Classification improvement

Given the laboratorial nature of part of the Course, in order to improve an obtained final grading only the component corresponding to the "exame", will be considered.

The other evaluation components may be subject to improvement only in the following academic year, in accordance with the "Rules of evaluation of student achievement" of FCUP, through a new attendance to the Course. The corresponding registration is performed in the beggining of the academic year and accounted for in the maximum number of credits in which the student can enroll.