Measuring Instrument Offset Determination and Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Measuring instruments, such as sensors, are affected by systematic and slowly-varying errors due to environmental conditions and aging, which significantly impact their accuracy, especially in applications like angular speed sensors and accelerometers, where these errors are of the same order as the measured values, making it essential to remove these biases for precise measurements.
Innovation Solution
A system and process that determine and subtract offsets from measuring signals using moving average calculations and low-pass filters, specifically designed to handle null or constant mean value measurements, effectively removing systematic and slowly-varying errors, thereby improving measurement precision across various sensors and applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If standard sensors are used to measure physical phenomena, then the sensor can detect the measured value, but the measurement precision is limited by systematic and slowly-varying errors
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary characterization of the sensor's error behavior by collecting measurement data under known conditions (null or constant mean value) to establish the systematic and slowly-varying error patterns before actual measurement operations. This preliminary error mapping enables subsequent compensation during normal operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the sensor output and uses the characterized error models to generate compensation signals that are fed back to correct the measurements in real-time. The feedback mechanism dynamically adjusts for systematic and slowly-varying errors based on environmental conditions and sensor state.
2Measurement precision
If high-precision sensors are used to achieve better measurement accuracy, then the measurement precision improves, but the cost and complexity of the system increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using expensive high-precision sensors, the system creates a digital model (copy) of the sensor's error characteristics through characterization under known conditions. This error model is then used to simulate and correct the sensor output, achieving high measurement precision with a lower-cost sensor.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters by introducing known test signals (null or constant mean value) during characterization phases. By varying the input conditions and measuring the sensor response, the system extracts error parameters that are then used for compensation during normal operation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If sensors operate in varying environmental conditions, then the sensor can be used in practical applications, but slowly-varying errors increase due to temperature, ageing, and other factors
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements dynamic error compensation by continuously updating the error models based on current environmental conditions. The characterization process is repeated or updated under different temperature, humidity, and operational conditions to capture the slowly-varying error patterns, enabling accurate compensation across varying environments.
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
A system (1) is described for determining offsets (d) of measuring instruments, in particular of measures with a null or constant mean value, composed of first processing means (3) adapted to compute, from at least one value of a measuring signal (S) deriving from an instantaneous measure performed by at least one measuring instrument or a sensor, at least one offset value (d) of such signal (S),· and second processing means (5) adapted to subtract such offset value (d) from the value of the instantaneous measure signal (S) to obtain a corrected measure value (S-d) of such signal S. A process is also described for determining offsets (d) of measuring instruments, in particular of measures with a null or constant mean value.