Modern Instrumentation for Scientists and Engineers

Intended to serve both as a reference for practicing scientists and engineers and as a textbook for advanced undergraduates, this book provides a timely and comprehensive treatment of the elements of modern instrumentation. The book is structured to cover three principal topical areas : circuits, sensors, and measurements. The first section begins with brief reviews of de and ac theory, and of bridge circuits – these chapters provide a common background from which to enter subsequent discussions of amplifiers, special-purpose circuits, waveform generators, and active filters. The second section treats the physical design and operating principles of a variety of standard transducers used for sensing temperature, light, magnetic fields, strain, pressure, displacement, rotation, and acceleration. The last section consists of four chapters devoted to measurement methods and data acquisition systems. The focus of the final chapters is on systems controlled by desktop personal computers running under high-level languages. Implementations organized around either internal cards or external bus-connected modules are considered. The book contains a number of unique features. Many of the circuits are illustrated with examples created in the PSpice simulation language. The section on accelerometers includes some of the latest developments in micromachined sensors. The GPIB instrument bus is covered in detail. New system architectures such as VXI and PXI are included. End-of-chapter problems and worked examples make the book useful for both classroom use and self-study. The broad coverage ensures that the book will bc a vital reference in experimental sciences and engineering.