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Analysis of dynamic measurements

Working Group 8.42

Overview

Dynamic measurements can be found in many areas of metrology and industry such as, for instance, in the measurement of time-dependent forces or accelerations. Methods from signal processing are often applied in the analysis of dynamic measurements. In many applications linear time-invariant systems are appropriate to model dynamic measurements, where the output signal is obtained as a convolution of the input signal and the measurement system’s impulse response. Input and output signal are not proportional to each other, and estimation of the system’s input signal from its output signal constitutes one important task in the analysis of dynamic measurements. Often digital filters are employed for this purpose. The evaluation of the uncertainty associated with the estimated input signal is particularly important from a metrological perspective.

Typical dynamic measurement with time-dependent errors in the output signal caused by the dynamic behavior of the measurement system.

Typical examples are measurements of mechanical quantities as, for example, force, torque and pressure. Further examples are oscilloscope measurements for the characterization of high speed electronics, hydrophone measurements for the characterization of medical ultrasound devices, the spectral characterization of radiation sources, spectral color measurements and camera-aided temperature measurements.

 

Research

One focus of PTB‘s Working Group 8.42 is the development of methods for the estimation of the input signal from the output signal when the dynamic behavior of the measurement system has been characterized. This includes the development of procedures for the evaluation of the uncertainty associated with the estimated input signal. Another focus is the development of methods for the analysis of dynamic calibration measurements aimed at determining the dynamic behavior of a measurement system.

Software

Publications

Publication single view

Article

Title: Efficient implementation of a Monte Carlo method for uncertainty evaluation in dynamic measurements
Author(s): S. Eichstädt, A. Link, P. M. Harris and C. Elster
Journal: Metrologia
Year: 2012
Volume: 49
Issue: 3
Pages: 401
DOI: 10.1088/0026-1394/49/3/401
Tags: 8.42, Dynamik, Unsicherheit
Abstract: Measurement of quantities having time-dependent values such as force, acceleration or pressure is a topic of growing importance in metrology. The application of the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) and its Supplements to the evaluation of uncertainty for such quantities is challenging. We address the efficient implementation of the Monte Carlo method described in GUM Supplements 1 and 2 for this task. The starting point is a time-domain observation equation. The steps of deriving a corresponding measurement model, the assignment of probability distributions to the input quantities in the model, and the propagation of the distributions through the model are all considered. A direct implementation of a Monte Carlo method can be intractable on many computers since the storage requirement of the method can be large compared with the available computer memory. Two memory-efficient alternatives to the direct implementation are proposed. One approach is based on applying updating formulae for calculating means, variances and point-wise histograms. The second approach is based on evaluating the measurement model sequentially in time. A simulated example is used to compare the performance of the direct and alternative procedures.

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