The spectrum analyser is a complex piece of instrumentation, which requires careful operator training to fully exploit its features. Over the years its structure has evolved, both as a result of technological advances and in response to new measurement requirements. A modern spectrum analyser thus offers the user an extensive array of functions and options, arranged in complex menu structures. A side-effect of this situation is that sometimes it may be difficult to retain a common conceptual view of the instrument operation, since a variety of factors and set-up parameters come into play. This paper proposes a theoretical analysis of spectrum analyser operation, with the aim of providing a conceptual framework that can be readily adapted to most practical situations.

The main idea of this paper is to analyse the consequences of the philosophical stance – and in particular of the understanding of truth underlying that stance – for the every-day language of measurement science.

In this paper, a framework is proposed for computer supported sensor selection and design. An important requirement to this is that the specifications of sensors can be matched with requirements. Therefore sensors and requirements must be specified unambiguously. It is foreseen that a software system for this will have to acquire information from suppliers automatically, in order to stay up to date. Also different parts of the software system will have to exchange information. We conclude that a standard neutral information exchange format for the specification of sensors is desired. In this paper an overview of the problem is given. STEP and PLib are introduced as standards for information exchange about products and parts respectively. However, the field of sensor specification has not been developed yet and it is proposed in this paper to do this. As an example, sensor specification within the class of strain gage transducers is worked out. First an overview of modelling options is discussed and then it is demonstrated how sensor specifications might look in the PLib format. It is concluded that the PLib standard is indeed suited for exchanging specification information about sensors.

Satisfying consumers' requirements for product quality, price and production times constitutes nowadays a vast and sophisticated field of activities which penetrate all business functions of a company. These requirements present a serious problem to companies. The paper concentrates on the evaluation of organisational processes, the employees and technology in an enterprise with knowledge management. It also wants to stress those partners and consumers are included into the evaluation chain with the help of knowledge management, and that they are directed towards new knowledge acquisition. This altogether adds to higher business success of an enterprise. For planning business functions and especially the production process it is necessary to have a support, the tools, which give answers to the customers' demands. One of such tools is the QFD method (Quality Function Deployment), which has been introduced into the process of product designing in the enterprise.

The paper presents the finite element (FE) modelling of operation of a rotational motion sensor that uses a balanced oscillator (tuning fork) to sense the angular rate. The 3D FE model has been employed to examining the sensor’s modal properties. The sensitivity functions have been obtained for adjusting the geometric parameters of the quartz element in order to achieve the desired values of natural frequencies. The performance of computations during the dynamic analysis has been enhanced by introducing a dynamically reduced model based on truncation of dynamic contributions of higher modes of the vibrating structure.
Results are presented in terms of sensor performance characteristics for various design parameters and modes of operation. The modelling assumptions adopted are tested experimentally on the vibrating quartz resonator.