Measurement and Instrumentation: Theory and Application

Book Preface

The foundations of this book lie in several earlier texts by Alan Morris: Principles of Measurement and Instrumentation (Prentice-Hall, 1988, 1993), Essence of Measurement (Prentice Hall, 1996) and, Measurement and Instrumentation Principles (Butterworth- Heinemann, 2001). Since the most recent of these was published in 2001, there have been significant developments in the field of measurement, particularly in smart sensors, intelligent instruments, microsensors, digital signal processing, digital recorders, digital fieldbuses, and new methods of signal transmission. It is therefore timely to create an up-to-date book that incorporates all of the latest developments in measurement. Whilst doing this, the opportunity has been taken to strengthen the book by bringing in a second author, Professor Reza Langari of Texas A &MUniversity, who has made significant contributions especially in the areas of data acquisition and signal processing and the implementation of these using industry standard LabView software.

The overall aim of the book is to present the topics of sensors and instrumentation, and their use within measurement systems, as an integrated and coherent subject. Measurement systems, and the instruments and sensors used within them, are of immense importance in a wide variety of domestic and industrial activities. The growth in the sophistication of instruments used in industry has been particularly significant as advanced automation schemes have been developed. Similar developments have also been evident in military and medical applications.

Unfortunately, the crucial part that measurement plays in all of these systems tends to get overlooked, and measurement is therefore rarely given the importance that it deserves. For example, much effort goes into designing sophisticated automatic control systems, but little regard is given to the accuracy and quality of the raw measurement data that such systems use as their inputs. This disregard of measurement system quality and performance means that such control systems will never achieve their full potential, as it is very difficult to increase their performance beyond the quality of the raw measurement data on which they depend.