6: Mechatronic System Component- Sensors

Mechatronics: Fundamentals, Design, Integration, and Validation · LibreTexts

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    From LibreTexts, under CC BY-NC 4.0, as the source states it; its equations are written in TeX, which the PDF shows typeset. This page at LibreTexts.

    Learning Objectives
    1. Introduce the two sensor groups: physics-based and image/video-based sensing technologies and explain the concept of sensor fusion technologies.
    2. Describe working principles of both analog and digital rotational speed sensors along with the signal processing of the hall-effect incremental encoder signals for rotational direction and speed.
    3. Provide working principles of inertia-based acceleration sensor using piezoelectric material and capacitance as the sensing elements along with the concept of realizing the sensor in MEMS. Also describe the coordinate transform of two- and three-dimensional sensor coordination.
    4. Introduce the working principle of an angular velocity sensor (rate gyro) along with its MEMS and piezoelectric realizations, based on the Coriolis force effect.
    5. Explain the concept of sensor fusion and its application to tilt-angle sensing by fusion of rate gyro and accelerometer signals.
    6. Describe MEMS-based sensor technology, including its architecture, material used, and the manufacturing process for MPU 6050 3-axis accelerometers and rate gyros.
    7. Summarize working principles of temperature, pressure, mass air flow, current, and voltage sensing and the associated electronics.
    8. Outline image-based sensing, with examples of its application for detecting faulty emitter nozzles and road lanes.

    This chapter provides an introduction to sensors used in mechatronic systems. These include rotational and linear speed sensors as well as accelerometers for measuring linear acceleration. They also include, rate gyro sensors used to measure angular velocity. We will briefly review temperature, pressure, air flow, current, and voltage sensors, and introduce the concept of sensor fusion technology.

    Thumbnail: Free body diagram of the rate gyro proof mass.

    This page titled 6: Mechatronic System Component- Sensors was last modified on Mon, 20 Jul 2026 08:10:36 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Guoming Zhu (Co-DREAM OER) .