Electrical Sensors are electronic devices that sense current, voltage, etc., and give signals to the inputs of control devices or visual displays. Electrical sensors often rely on Hall Effect detection but other methods are used as well. Key specifications include sensor type, sensor function, minimum and maximum measurement ranges, and operating temperature range. Electrical sensors are used information on the state of an electrical system be needed and are employed in everything from railway systems to fan, pump, as well as heater monitoring.
Current sensors
A current sensor is a device that detects electric current in a wire and generates a signal proportional to that current. The generated signal may be analog voltage or current or digital output. The generated signal can be used to display the measured current in an ammeter, or can be stored for further analysis in a data acquisition system, or can be used for control.
Voltage sensors
A voltage sensor is used to monitor, calculate and determine the voltage supply. This sensor can also determine the AC or DC voltage level. The input of this sensor can be the voltage and the output is the switches, analog voltage signal, a current signal, an audible signal, etc. Some sensors provide sine waveforms or pulse waveforms & others can generate outputs like AM (Amplitude Modulation), PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) or FM (Frequency Modulation). The measurement of these sensors can depend on the voltage divider. Voltage sensors are also used for power factor evaluations.
Advantages of Electrical Sensors
The main advantages of electrical Sensors are as follows
- Electrical amplification, as well as attenuation, can be done easily.
- Mass-inertia effects are minimized.
- Effects of friction are minimized.
- The output can be indicated and recorded remotely at a distance from the sensing medium.
- The electrical signal from electrical Sensors can be easily processed and brought to a level suitable for output devices which could be an indicator or recorder.
- The electrical systems can be controlled with an extremely small level of power
- Electrical output can be simply used, transmitted, and processed for measurement.
Disadvantages of Electrical Sensors
- The electrical Sensors are sometimes less reliable than the mechanical type because of the aging and drift of the active components.
- The sensing elements and the associated signal processing circuitry are relatively expensive.