IITM BS Sensors and Applications (EE3103): Syllabus and Tips

Sensors and Applications (EE3103) is a 4 credit diploma level course in the IITM BS Electronic Systems programme. It teaches how common sensors work and how to build the circuits that connect them to a microcontroller. Before you register, you must pass Analog Electronic Systems (EE2102). Its lab, the Sensors Laboratory, runs alongside it.

The credit pattern 4-0-0-4 means 4 credits of lectures, with no tutorial or practical part inside this course. The practical work sits in the separate lab. The Sep 2025 syllabus names Prof. Boby George and Prof. Chinthaka, both from the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras, as instructors. The syllabus and the handbook agree on the code, credits and level.

What you learn in Sensors and Applications

The syllabus splits the course into 7 modules. It does not map them to weeks, so the groups below follow the modules.

1. Modules 1 and 2: sensor basics and mechanical sensors. You start with how sensors are classified and described. Then you study sensors that turn force, pressure, motion and flow into electrical signals: strain gauges, silicon pressure sensors, accelerometers, displacement sensors, piezo devices, and ultrasonic and surface acoustic wave sensors.
2. Modules 3 and 4: magnetic, electric field and light sensors. This covers Hall effect devices, magnetoresistors, search coils, fluxgate sensors and electrostatic sensors. The light part covers photodiodes, phototransistors, photoconductors, opto-isolators, CCDs and fibre-optic sensing.
3. Module 5: temperature sensors. Platinum resistance sensors, thermistors, transistor-based thermometers, IC temperature sensors and thermocouples.
4. Modules 6 and 7: interface electronics and full systems. You learn to handle noise, make a curved sensor output linear, convert to digital, correct for temperature, and send readings to a microcontroller. The last module looks at sensor networks, sensor buses and complete systems for cars, consumer goods, power and medical use.

The main textbook is "Sensors and Signal Conditioning" by Ramon Pallas-Areny and John G. Webster. The syllabus also lists five reference books, including Jacob Fraden's handbook of modern sensors.

How the course is assessed

The syllabus page does not describe grading for this course. The ES handbook gives the usual pattern for courses: weekly online assignments, two in-person quizzes and an in-person end term exam, with details set in each course's grading document. The handbook also asks you to upload worked-out sheets with assignments in every diploma course. See worked-out assignment rules.

Where it counts

It is one of the 8 theory courses you must pass for the Diploma in Electronic Systems, so it is also required for the BS degree. It is not part of any ES minor. The handbook's course table places it in the semester 5 block, next to the Sensors Laboratory and the two diploma projects. The full list is in ES diploma courses.

Who finds it hard and how to prepare

The hard part is the number of devices. Each sensor family runs on different physics, and the names pile up fast. Students who are shaky with op-amps also struggle in Module 6, where the interface circuits live.

• Revise op-amp amplifiers, filters and ADC basics from Analog Electronic Systems before the term starts.
• Keep one page per sensor family. Write what it measures, what changes inside it (resistance, voltage, charge or capacitance) and which circuit reads it.
• Work out linearisation examples by hand. A thermistor curve is a good first case.
• Take the lab in the same term. The handbook makes this theory course a corequisite of the lab, and building the circuits makes the theory stick.

What to take before and after

Before: Signals and Systems, then Analog Electronic Systems. Alongside: the Sensors and Applications Lab. After: the Electronics System Project, which needs the Sensors Laboratory as a corequisite. At the degree level, Biomedical Electronic Systems and Electronic Product Design build on the same signal conditioning ideas.

Common questions

Can I take Sensors and Applications without the lab?

The handbook lists this course as a corequisite of the lab, not the other way round. So the tables allow the theory course on its own. You still need both for the diploma, and the Electronics System Project needs the lab.

Is there coding in this course?

Module 6 covers connecting sensors to a microcontroller. The syllabus does not name a board or language. Your Embedded C Programming course from the foundation level is the right background.

Is Sensors and Applications offered every term?

The handbook says all foundation courses, diploma courses and BS level core courses run in every term. This is a diploma course, so it should be available each term.

Which book should I buy first?

Start with the main textbook, Pallas-Areny and Webster. The reference books are useful for specific sensor types, but you do not need all of them.