The course is devoted to students of the 1st level course in Mechanical Engineering, and is aimed at providing students with the basis for the understanding, the choice and the use of modern measurement and control instrumentation in the industrial environment. Moreover, it provides students with basic knowledge on optical measurement components, techniques and instrumentation, including 2D and 3D vision techniques.
The Course is divided in two parts.
In the first part, after an introduction on electronic instrumentation in the context of a measurement & control system, the main concepts related to measurements and their uncertainty are revised, and the static and dynamic characteristics of measurement instruments are discussed. The course then focuses on the aspects related to components and architectures for signal amplification (operational amplifiers), signal conditioning and filtering (passive and active filters), logic ports and D/A and A/D conversion with major emphasis to the problem of sampling and to the risk of aliasing due to undersampling. Oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers are iscussed, together with an overview on virtual instrumentation (Labview).
In the second part, following an introduction to optics and optical and optoelectronic components, the main techniques and system for the optical measurement of mechanical quantities are illustrated, including the most recent 2D and 3D vision techniques for dimensional control, both in- and off-line, and reverse engineering.
Introduction to the Course
Overvew of the course. Topics, textbook and exams. Thesis works and stage opportunities. Research and Industry together in electronic and optical instrumentation design and engineering. Intellectual property and start-ups.
Static and dynamic characteristics of instruments.
Static calibration. Measurement display. Signal analysis in time - and frequency domains. Linear first- and second order systems.
Fourier series and transforms: theory and experimental activity.
Measurement signal conditioning: amplification and operational amplifiers
Signal conditioning. The operational amplifier: real and Idealized AO's. Operational amplifier configurations. Charge amplifiers (basics). The oscilloscope. Noise and disturbances in measurements.
Signal filtering and A/D and D/A conversion
Characteristics of passive and active filters. Signal sampling, with particular reference to tha risk of undersampling and aliasing. Analog-to-digital conversion and digital-to-analog conversion.
Measurement of time and frequency
Digital electronics concepts. Logic ports. Flip-flops. Counters. Measurement of time periods, delay between events, frequency.
Oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers.
Basic optics, optical and optoelectronic components
Basic of geometrical and wave optics. Incoherent and coherent optical sources, detectors, optical fibres.
Optical instrumentation for industrial measurements.
Types of optical measurement instruments. Interferometers, speed measurement systems, vibrometers, stress measurement systems, temperature measurement systems, radiation measurement systems.
2D and 3D vision systems for industrial applications
Matrix optical sensors: CCD and CMOS. Vision systems and their applications. 2D and 3D vision: dimensional measurements, profile measurement, colour measuremens.
1. For the first part
P.M. Azzoni: Strumenti e misure per l'Ingegneria Meccanica. Hoepli Ed. (In Italiano)
Alternatively, for non-italian students:
E.O. Doebelin: Measurement systems, applications and design, McGraw-Hill, International Edition, 1990
2. For the second part:
Slides of the course
Lectures with overhead slide projection. Laboratory experiments.
Oral or written exam.