OVERVIEW

Measurement are an essential part in decision making. Decisions taken by humans, such as in a testing procedure , or automatically by the system, such as in an ABS or ESP onboard a vehicle are always influenced by the measurement quality . In this sense the project of a measurement certainly include selection of proper sensors and devices, but also the evaluation of results reliability in terms of  measurement uncertainty.

The course will introduce the functioning and operation principles, as well as the application, of common instruments for industrial engineering applications, the measurement principles, and basics of statistical analysis. The course will provide general criteria to select simple measurement systems for a given application, based on different physical measurement principles, on the uncertainty analysis, the signal conditioning, and the data recording.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Operative comprehension of the foundations of measurement, including elements of probability and statistics, static and dynamic analysis of measuring systems, evaluation of uncertainty, calibration, components selection, signal conditioning, measurement of mechanical and thermal quantities.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The students will learn the general measurement principles and the physical working principles of the main measurement instruments. The students will be able to analyse a measurement chain discussing static and dynamic functionalities, using methods and technical approaches typical of measurement expertise. Furthermore, the students will be able to evaluate the reliability of a measurement result and analyse the uncertainty associated to a given measurement chain.

Finally, the students will be able to deepen their knowledge about measurement systems and instrumentation by autonomous bibliography research on books, papers or specific periodicals.

TEACHING METHODS

The course is mainly structured in frontal lectures where the course topics are treated using slides and the blackboard. During the lessons, exercises and examples will be presented to facilitate the understanding of the topics. If possible, the students will carry out simple laboratory experiences.

All the course material will be uploaded on the course website using Aulaweb. Notes, slides, tables, spreadsheets and all the material available on the website is part of the course. Those students who do not attend the lectures are recommended to look at the website to check the communications and the course material.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

• Probability and statistics fundamentals: probability, random variables, variance and covariance, linear regression.
• General principles: measurement uncertainty evaluation, calibration procedures, dynamic behaviour of measurement systems.
• Sensors: elastic sensors, seismic sensors, strain gauges, resistance temperature detectors, thermocouples, capacitive and inductive sensors.
• Signal conditioning elements: Wheatstone bridges, amplitude modulation and demodulation, amplifiers, filters, effects of interference on measurements circuits and their reduction.
• Analogue and digital recording systems, basics of signal sampling and aliasing effect.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Material for persoanl study will be available in aulaweb. The following references could be used in case of paritcular interest in specific topics.

• P. Bentley, Principles of measurement systems, Longman, 2005;
• E. O. Doebelin, Strumenti e metodi di misura, McGraw-Hill, 2004;
• W. Dally, et alii, Instrumentation for engineering measurement , Wiley, 1993;
• A. Papoulis, Probabilità, variabili aleatorie e processi stocastici, Boringhieri, Torino, 1985;
• Rotondi, P. Pedroni, P. Pievatolo, Probabilità Statistica e Simulazione, Springer, Milano 2005.
• Standards and international Guides :UNI CEI ENV 13005, ISO 10012, ISO 17025.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

FRANCESCO CRENNA (President)

VITTORIO BELOTTI

MARTA BERARDENGO (President Substitute)

GIANCARLO CASSINI (Substitute)

GIOVANNI BATTISTA ROSSI (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

https://corsi.unige.it/en/corsi/8784/studenti-orario

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists of a written test, an oral examination and, if possible, a test report regarding a laboratory activity.

The written test is focused on the methods, and it will consists in an exercise aiming to determine the final measurement result and its uncertainty evaluation.

Students will access the oral discussion only if their written test is positively evaluated.

If a laboratory  activity was carried out during the course,  students have to submit their test reports before the oral discussion. The test report will regard one of the experimental activities according to given instructions.

The oral discussion regards the sensors, measurement chain device, signal conditioning, data acquisition and signal processing issues.

Students with SLD, disability or other regularly certified special educational needs are advised to contact the instructor at the beginning of the course to agree on teaching and examination methods that, in compliance with the course objectives, take into account the individual learning requirements.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The aim of the written test is to verify general methods comprehension and application to a specific case.

The aim of the oral discussion is to verify comprehension of sensor and signal conditioning functionalities and possible issues, including specific measurement cases.

The aim of the test report is to verify the ability to integrate theory and practice in a measurement activity.

The use of open questions allows to check the knowledge and the capability of the students to properly discuss the topics treated during the course as well as the ability of using proper technical language. Moreover, the questions give the possibility to test the critical reasoning about the main measurement applications.

Generally the evaluation includes the ability to use proper language and technical terms, and to discuss critically measurement problems.

Exam schedule