Electronic Instrumentation and Measurement

Electronic instrumentation refers to devices used to measure, monitor, and record physical phenomena.
Electronic instruments have applications in industry, scientific research, healthcare, and more.
Examples of electronic instruments include oscilloscopes, multimeters, logic analysers, and sensor systems.
Instrumentation systems primarily include sensors, signal conditioning circuits, and output devices.

Measurements can be categorised as direct and indirect measurements. Direct measurements involve recording a quantity directly, such as voltage with a voltmeter, while indirect measurements infer a quantity from other measurements.
Precision, accuracy, resolution, and sensitivity are critical characteristics of measurement instruments.
Precision refers to the consistency of measurement outcomes, accuracy refers to the closeness of a measurement to the actual value, resolution indicates the smallest change in a quantity that an instrument can detect, and sensitivity is the ratio of the output signal to the change in input.

An oscilloscope is an instrument that graphically displays varying signal voltages, usually as a two-dimensional plot of one or more signals as a function of time.
A multimeter, or a multitester, is an instrument designed to measure electric current, voltage, and usually resistance, typically over several ranges of value.
A logic analyser is an electronic instrument that captures and displays multiple signals from a digital system or digital circuit.

Calibration is vital to ensure that instruments make accurate measurements. Calibration involves comparing an instrument’s readings with a known standard.
Measurement errors can be categorised into systematic errors and random errors. Systematic errors are consistent, predictable, and often due to faults in the instrument. Random errors fluctuate unpredictably and are frequently due to environmental conditions and noise.
Systematic errors can be adjusted, but random errors cannot be eliminated—only minimised through repeated measurements.

Analogue instruments have a continuous output that represents the quantity being measured, while digital instruments have a discrete output.
Digital instruments are generally more accurate and reliable than their analogue counterparts due to their higher resistance to noise.
However, analogue instruments are sometimes preferred for their ability to monitor changes smoothly and in real-time, and they can be easier to read in certain circumstances.

Electronic instrumentation plays a pivotal role in the diagnosis, testing, and design of electronic circuits.
Instruments like oscilloscopes can provide an insight into a circuit’s operation over time, helping to identify potential problems.
Usage of measurement and testing equipment allows for fault detection and performance optimisation of a circuit before it is finalised for production.

Data acquisition is the process of sampling signals that measure real world phenomena and converting this data into a format that can be analysed by a computer.
Often, computers are integrated with electronic instrumentation for automatic data acquisition, control of instrument settings, and data analysis.
Signal processing techniques, such as filtering noise, are used to enhance the quality of acquired data.