Op Amps for Everyone, 3rd Edition

Chapter 14. Instrumentation

Sensors to A/D Converters

Ron Mancini

14.1. Introduction

The typical transducer measurement system block diagram is shown in Figure 14.1. The transducer is the electronic system's interface with the real world, and it issues data about a variable. The transducer converts the data into an electrical signal adequate for processing by the circuitry that follows the transducer. Bias and excitation circuitry does the care and feeding of the transducer, providing the offset voltages, bias currents, excitation signals, external components, and protection required for the transducer to operate properly. The output of the transducer is an electrical signal representing the measured variable.

Figure 14.1 Block diagram of a transducer ...