Department of Electrical Engineering
Faculty Member: Abdul Rehman Hussnain Dated: 20-10-2023
Semester: Fall 2023 Section: B
EE-383-Instrumentation and Measurements
Experiment # 6
Introduction to Mechatronics Board and Potentiometer
PLO4/ PLO4/ PLO8/ PLO9/
CLO3 CLO4 CLO5 CLO6
Analysis
of data in Modern Ethics and Individual
Viva / Quiz / Lab Tool Safety and
Name Reg. No Lab Report Usage Teamwork
Performance
5 Marks 5 Marks 5 Marks 5 Marks 5 Marks
Rimsha Jawad 385345
Sundas Rathore 366636
Eman Safdar 388110
Muhammad Ahmad 370307
Nazir
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Lab no. 6
Potentiometer
OBJECTIVE
In this lab, you will be introduced to QNET Mechatronics Sensor board; and you will learn:
• QNET Mechatronic Sensor Board and its salient features
• Encoder, working principle , uses and application
• Potentiometer, its working principle, uses and application.
Introduction to QNET Mechatronics Sensors
The QNET Mechatronic Sensors, pictured in Figure 1, is an engineering trainer board
designed for teaching and demonstrating the fundamentals of common sensors used in
mechatronic applications. It provides students hands-on experience measuring calibrating
and analyzing the following physical properties/phenomenon: temperature, angular
position, short and long distances, vibration, pressure, strain, switch debouncing, and
natural frequency. The system is operated using a PC running LabVIEW, and the NI ELVIS
II.
Main QNET Mechatronic Sensors features:
● Thermistor
● Quadrature encoder
● Potentiometer
● Infrared (IR) range sensor
● Ultrasonic range sensor
● Magnetic field sensor
● Reflective optical sensor
● Piezo vibration sensor
● Absolute pressure transducer
● Strain gage (quarter-bridge type II)
● Snap action/micro switch
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Hardware Components:
The main components comprising the QNET Mechatronic Sensors are labeled in Figure 1 and
are listed in Table below.
Figure 1: QNET Mechatronic Sensors and its components.
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Angular Displacement
What is a Potentiometer?
A rotary potentiometer, or pot, is a manually controlled variable resistor. As shown in Figure
1, it typically consists of an exposed shaft, three terminals (A, W, and B), an encased
internal resistive element shaped in a circular pattern, and a sliding contact known as a
wiper. By rotating the shaft, the internal wiper contacts the resistive element at different
positions, causing a change in resistance when measured between the center terminal (W)
and either of the side terminals (A or B). The total resistance of the potentiometer can be
measured by clamping a multimeter to terminals A and B.
Figure: A typical rotary potentiometer
A schematic diagram of the voltage dividing characteristic of a potentiometer is illustrated
in Figure 3. By applying a known voltage between terminals, A and B ( ), voltage is
divided between terminals AW and WB such that:
VAB =VAW +VWB
When connected to an external shaft, a rotary potentiometer can measure absolute angular
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displacement. In this application, by applying a known voltage to the outside terminals of
the pot, we can determine the position of the sensor based on the output voltage or which
will be directly proportional to the position of the shaft. One of the advantages of using a
potentiometer as an absolute position sensor is that after power loss, position information
is retained since the resistance of the pot remains unchanged.
Figure : Schematic diagram of the voltage dividing characteristic of a rotary potentiometer.
The typical lifespan of a pot is a few thousand rotations. This is because the wiper makes
physical contact with the resistive element inside the pot, eventually wearing it out. This
physical contact and the presence of dust also causes both mechanical and electrical noise.
While the mechanical noise is rather inaudible in modern pots, electrical noise causes
variations in the measured output. In audio applications where pots are used for volume
and tone control, the electrical noise manifests itself in the form of audible pops and
crackles.
Procedure
The Virtual Instrument (VI) used to collect data from and calibrate the potentiometer is
shown in Figure 1.
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Figure 1: VI used to collect data from and calibrate the potentiometer.
Collect Data
1. Open QNET Mechatronic Sensors.lvproj .
2. From the Project Explorer window, open QNET Sensors Potentiometer.vi .
3. Click on the Collect Data tab.
4. From the Device drop-down menu, select the device name.
5. Run the VI.
6. Set the potentiometer knob to the 0° mark.
7. Enter 0 in the Pot Angle (deg) array.
8. Using the Uncalibrated Output waveform chart, read the corresponding sensor output
and enter the value in the Sensor Output (V) array.
9. Continue taking measurements by rotating the potentiometer at 30° intervals. Enter the
angular position and measured sensor outputs in the Pot Angle (deg) and Sensor Output
(V) arrays respectively.
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Note: As the measured readings are entered, a 11
linear curve is automatically generated to
fit the data. The curve is shown in the Sensor Readings waveform graph. This curve
represents the calibration curve of the sensor.
10. The slope and offset of the calibration curve are automatically calculated by the VI and
displayed in the Slope (deg/V) and Offset (deg) indicators. Make a note of these values.
11. Record the collected data in Table 1.
(deg) Output (V)
0° 0V
30° 0.91V
60° 1.82V
90° 2.57V
120° 3.30V
150° 4.10V
180° 5.02V
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Table 1: Recorded potentiometer measurements.
12. Export a copy of the Sensor Readings graph. To do this, right-click on the graph and
select Export .Export Simplified Image .
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13. Continue to the next section.
Calibrate the Potentiometer
1. Click on the Calibrate Sensor tab to calibrate the output of the potentiometer in terms of
angular position (in degrees).
2. Use the Slope (deg/V) and Offset (deg) numeric controls to enter the slope and offset
values you obtained during the data collection step.
3. Test the accuracy of your calibration. To do this, set the potentiometer knob to different
angles and verify that the correct angular position is displayed in the Calibrated Output
waveform chart as well as the Pot Angle (deg) meter indicator.
4. If no further experiments are required, press the Stop button and power down the
experiment.
Analyze
1-1 Present the results you recorded in Table 1-1.
1-2 Attach a screenshot of the Sensor Readings waveform graph that shows the fitted calibration
curve from step 12.
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1-3 What was the calibration equation that you obtained?
Calibration equation:
y= (slope*x)+offset
y=41.3x -18.8
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1-4 What is the sensitivity of the sensor in mV/deg?
Slope= 41.3 (deg/V)
Sensitivity= 1/41.3 (V/deg) = 24.2m V/deg
Conclusion:
In this lab we used QNET Mechatronic Sensor Board and studied its salient features. We also learnt
to operate Potentiometer, its working principle, uses and application. We calibrated and checked
the accuracy of the potentiometer in use. We observed the deviation of the readings from the best
fit line between the degrees and voltage.
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