sensor

a device that detects and responds to a signal or stimulus: A smoke alarm is an essential sensor in case of fire.
Not to be confused with:censer – a container in which incense is burned: He lighted the censer on the altar.censor – prohibit or restrict the use of something: They censor motorcycles in the cemetery.censure – criticize harshly; reprove; condemn: He was censured for his use of profanity.

sen·sor

C0195600 (sĕn′sər, -sôr′)n.1. A device, such as a photoelectric cell, that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus.2. See sense organ.

sensor

(ˈsɛnsə) n (Electronics) anything, such as a photoelectric cell, that receives a signal or stimulus and responds to it[C19: from Latin sēnsus perceived, from sentīre to observe]

sen•sor

(ˈsɛn sɔr, -sər)

n. 1. a mechanical device sensitive to light, temperature, radiation level, or the like, that transmits a signal to a measuring or control instrument. 2. sense organ. [1925–30]

sen·sor

(sĕn′sər) A device that responds to a physical stimulus and converts the stimulus into a signal conveyed to another device. For example, a sensor in a printer detects that the paper tray is empty and sends a signal to the digital display that the tray is out of paper.

sensor

An equipment which detects, and may indicate, and/or record objects and activities by means of energy or particles emitted, reflected, or modified by objects.

sensor

A device for sensing and measuring light, pressure, or temperature, and sending information back to a computer.

Thesaurus

Noun

sensor - any device that receives a signal or stimulus (as heat or pressure or light or motion etc.) and responds to it in a distinctive mannerdetector, sensing elementdevice - an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose; "the device is small enough to wear on your wrist"; "a device intended to conserve water"metal detector - detector that gives a signal when it detects the presence of metal; used to detect the presence of stray bits of metal in food products or to find buried metalmine detector - detector consisting of an electromagnetic device; used to locate explosive mineselectric eye, magic eye, photocell, photoconductive cell, photoelectric cell - a transducer used to detect and measure light and other radiationstrace detector - a screening device for traces of explosives; used at airline terminals

Translations

capteurdétecteursensoreсенсор

sensor

anything, such as a photoelectric cell, that receives a signal or stimulus and responds to it

Sensor

(in Russian, datchik; also pickup), an element of a measuring, signaling, regulating, or control device in a system that converts the value being monitored (such as pressure, temperature, frequency, velocity, displacement, voltage, or electric current) into a signal that is convenient for measurement, transmission, conversion, storage, and recording, as well as for influencing the processes being regulated.

A sensor usually contains a receiving (sensing) member, as well as one or more intermediate converters (see Figure 1). However, the sensor frequently consists only of the receiving member (for example, a thermocouple, a resistance thermometer, or a strain gauge). The output signals of a sensor are distinguished according to the type of energy (electrical, mechanical, pneumatic, or less frequently, hydraulic) and the type of modulation of the energy flow (amplitude, frequency, phase, or discrete [coded]).

The operation of the most common sensors is based on a

Figure 1. Structural schematic diagrams of sensors (left side, block diagram; right side, examples of construction): (a) simplest type of sensor (thermocouple), (b) converters in a grid connection, (c) differential sensor, (d) compensating sensor; (1) sensing element of a sensor, (1a) thermocouple, (1b) and (1d) diaphragms, (1c) inductive solenoid sensor, (2) output member, (2b) inductive sensor, (3) error signal meter (subtractive element), (3d) inductive sensor, (4) amplifier, (5) compensating generator, (5d) electromagnetic system, (6) intermediate member; (R) electrical resistance, (L) inductance, (e) electromotive force, (l) electric current, (p) pressure

change in the electrical resistance, capacitance, inductance, or mutual inductance of an electrical circuit (resistance transducers, capitance sensors, and inductance sensors). Another widely used type of sensor generates an electromotive force as a result of influences by the mechanical, acoustic, thermal, electrical, magnetic, optical, or radiation quantity being measured or monitored. This category includes strain gauges, piezoelectric pickups, and photocells.

The operation of sensors is characterized by the law governing the change in the value of the output (y) as a function of a change in the value of the input (x), the limits of the change in the input values (x_mln - x_max) and the output values (y_min - y_max), sensitivity S = Δy/Δx, the sensitivity threshold (the value of the minimum effect to which a sensor will respond), and time parameters (time constants).

According to the classification established by the State System of Automation Devices and Components (GSP), sensors are classified as technical means of data collection and primary processing of measurement and monitoring information. Sensors are one of the basic elements in remote-control measuring devices, in telemetry and telesignalization, in regulation and control applications, and in various devices and equipment used in physics, biology, and medicine for monitoring the vital processes of humans, animals, and plants (biological sensors). Sensors are of great importance in the automation of production processes, where they are used to measure and record the density and concentration of solutions, the composition and properties of substances, the dynamic viscosity and fluidity of various mediums, humidity, transparency, color intensity, layer thickness, temperature, elasticity, the concentration of charge carriers, and other parameters characterizing a technical process. Sensors used for such purposes often utilize ultrasonic, radio-frequency, optical, and radiation measuring methods. Random-number pickups are used to simulate real conditions in testing automatic control systems and in computer technology for solving problems by statistical methods.

Specific requirements are made of the output signals and characteristics of sensors used in machines for centralized monitoring and control. The successive connection of large numbers of sensors to the same measuring device requires a high degree of uniformity of the sensors’ output parameters. In some cases the term “sensor” is used to designate the entire transmitting portion of a remote-control mechanical device or automatic device.

REFERENCES

Ageikin, D. I., E. N. Kostina, and N. N. Kuznetsova. Datchiki kontrolia i regulirovaniia, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1965.
Turichin, A. M. Elektricheskie izmereniia neelektricheskikh velichin, 4th ed. Moscow-Leningrad, 1966.
Elektricheskie izmeritel’nye preobrazovateli. Edited by R. R. Khar-chenko. Moscow-Leningrad. 1967.
Dolgov, V. A., and A. V. Kelin. Elektronnye datchiki dlia av-tomaticheskikh sistem kontrolia. Moscow, 1968.

M. M. GEL’MAN

sensor

[′sen·sər] (engineering) The generic name for a device that senses either the absolute value or a change in a physical quantity such as temperature, pressure, flow rate, or pH, or the intensity of light, sound, or radio waves and converts that change into a useful input signal for an information-gathering system; a television camera is therefore a sensor, and a transducer is a special type of sensor. Also known as primary detector; sensing element.

sensor, detector, sensing device

A device which senses or detects an abnormal ambient condition, such as smoke or unusually high temperature; used to initiate an alarm signal, open a smoke hatch, etc.

sensor

Equipment that detects, thus allowing an indicator to indicate and/or record, conditions, objects, and activities by means of energy or particles emitted, reflected, or modified by objects. Infrared or radar receivers, thermocouples, and pressure sensors are examples of sensors.

sensor

(hardware)An electronic device used to measure a physicalquantity such as temperature, pressure or loudness and convertit into an electronic signal of some kind (e.g a voltage).Sensors are normally components of some larger electronicsystem such as a computer control and/or measurement system.

Analog sensors most often produce a voltage proportional tothe measured quantity. The signal must be converted todigital form with a ADC before the CPU can process it.

Digital sensors most often use serial communication such asEIA-232 to return information directly to the controller orcomputer through a serial port.

sensor

A device that measures or detects a real-world condition, such as motion, heat or light and converts the condition into an analog or digital representation. An optical sensor detects the intensity or brightness of light, or the intensity of red, green and blue for color systems. See smart sensor, sensor network and mote.

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REFERENCES

sensor

sensor, detector, sensing device

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Synonyms for sensor

noun any device that receives a signal or stimulus (as heat or pressure or light or motion etc

Synonyms

Related Words