About this previous year paper
SECTION A –
Section A contains basic theory questions where each answer must be written in a brief paragraph of 4–5 lines. These questions check your understanding of simple concepts such as transducers, stress and strain, proximity sensors, thermal imaging, ADC characteristics, data sockets, and intelligent sensors. A student is expected to explain the idea clearly without writing too much detail.
Example questions you may find in this section include: What is the meaning of a transducer? Explain briefly. or Describe thermal imaging in simple words. Another typical question could be: What is the role of sensitivity in an ADC? These basic descriptive questions help evaluate your fundamental understanding.
SECTION B
Section B includes medium-length descriptive questions where answers require half a page or one well-written paragraph. These questions focus on the working, construction, and applications of devices and systems like strain gauges, sigma-delta ADCs, LabVIEW structures, asynchronous counters, RTDs, and thermistors. Students must describe how the device works and where it is used in instrumentation.
Some sample questions from this section are: Explain the measurement of force using a strain gauge. Another possible question is: Illustrate the working of a sigma-delta type ADC. You may also see questions like: Define and explain the flat sequence structure in LabVIEW. These questions test deeper conceptual knowledge.
SECTION C
Section C contains long theory or numerical-type questions written in a single detailed paragraph. These questions may involve calculations, formulas, or a full explanation of the device operation. You may be asked about potentiometer displacement measurement, optical encoder working, LVDT-based pressure sensors, or temperature calculations using RTDs.
Sample questions include: A potentiometer of 10 kΩ gives a certain resistance—calculate the displacement of the slider. Another example is: Explain the complete working of an optical encoder and mention one application. You may also get numerical questions such as: Find the resistance of a platinum RTD at 150°C. This section checks both theoretical depth and problem-solving ability.