Course detail

Sensors

FEKT-BPA-SNIAcad. year: 2025/2026

The course presents basic sensor principles, their parameters and construction. It deals with instrumentation, non-electrical quantities measurements concepts and procedures. It also presents the differences between conventional electrical measurements of the electrical quantities and non-electrical quantities on the real industry systems.

Language of instruction

English

Number of ECTS credits

6

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

doc. Ing. Petr Beneš, Ph.D.

Department

Department of Control and Instrumentation (UAMT)

Entry knowledge

Students must have a knowledge of physics, mathematics and electrical circuits at the level of the 1st year Bachelor studies.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

Evaluation laboratory 0 - 30
Oral part of exam    0 - 70  
The content and forms of instruction in the evaluated course are specified by a regulation issued by the lecturer responsible for the course and updated for every academic year.
Laboratory classes are mandatory it is possible to replace the missed laboratory exercise.

Aims

The goal of the course is to introduce students to the basic modern solutions and methods of physical quantities measurements. These represent more than 95 % of all measured quantities in the laboratory and industrial areas. The course should also present sensor and physical quantities measurements importance in technical and non-technical fields.
Absovent is able to:
- Know the principles of basic type of the sensors
- Know the principles of methods for measuring mechanical quantities (dimension, velocity, acceleration, force, torque), flow, temperature, radiation
- Use electrical measuring instruments
- Design and implement measurement of physical quantities
- Know the procedures for processing the measured data and their evaluation
- Make qualified conclusions about the specific measurement


Course graduate should get basic knowledges and facilities in sensor field and the most commonly measured non-electrical quantities, include measurement concept design and results process and evaluaiton.

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Norton, H.: Handbook of Transducers. Prentice Hall, London, 1989 (EN)
Webster J. G.: Measurement, Instrumentation, and Sensors Handbook: Two-Volume Set. Taylor&Francis Inc., ISBN 978-1439848838 (EN)

Recommended reading

Not applicable.

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme BPA-ELE Bachelor's

    specialization BPA-ECT , 3 year of study, winter semester, compulsory-optional
    specialization BPA-PSA , 3 year of study, winter semester, compulsory

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

26 hod., optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

doc. Ing. Petr Beneš, Ph.D.

Syllabus

1) Introduction, transducers fundamentals
2) Basic physical effect
3) Displacement sensors
4) Tachometers and velocity sensors, accelerometers, gyros and attitude sensors
5) Load cells, torque sensors, pressure transducers
6) Flowmeters
7) Thermometers
8) Radiation pyrometers
9) Optical detectors
10) Nuclear radiation detectors
11) Magnetometers
12) Chemical sensors 

Laboratory exercise

39 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

doc. Ing. Petr Beneš, Ph.D.

Syllabus

General information
The content of the laboratory exercises of the course is an introduction to selected types of sensors and measurement methods in the form of laboratory exercises. Two students work together on one laboratory exercise. Thus, each pair of students completes only 4 laboratory exercises during the semester. For the first lab problem 3 exercises are available, each subsequent problem must be measured in 2 exercises. The assessed student outcome is 3 lab reports and 1 public presentation of the measured problem. The laboratory report of the first and second assignment will be prepared jointly by both students. The third problem will be prepared by the first student of the pair as a protocol, and the second student as a presentation. For the fourth problem, the second student will turn in the protocol and the first student will present the problem.

1. Temperature
2. Vibration
3. Position
4. Speed
5. Ionizing radiation
6. Flow rate
7. Mechanical stress
8. Ultrasound