The class of mechanical sensors includes a fairly large number of different sensors based on many principles, but the four groups of general sensors discussed here - force sensors, accelerometers, pressure sensors, and gyroscopes - cover most of the principles involved in the sensing of mechanical quantities either directly or indirectly. Some of these sensors are used for applications that initially do not seem to relate to mechanical quantities. For example, it is possible to measure temperature through the expansion of gases in a volume. The expansion can be sensed through the use of a strain gauge, which is a classical mechanical sensor. In this application an indirect use of a strain sensor is made to measure temperature. On the other hand, some mechanical sensors do not involve motion or force. An example of this is the optical fiber gyroscope, which will be discussed later in this chapter.
Mechanical Sensors and Actuators, Page 1 of 2
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