Founded in 1854, O'Fallon's namesake comes from Colonel John O'Fallon who was a wealthy gentleman from St. Louis. In downtown O'Fallon, a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad railroad depot was built, which helped put O'Fallon on the map.
â¢ Transducers and sensors are physical devices that are used in electrical, electronic and many other types of gadgets and appliances. â¢ Transducers are used to convert one energy type into another while sensors measure energy levels and convert them into electrical signals that can be measured digitally.
Transducers: Devices used to transform one kind of energy to another. When a transducer converts a measurable quantity (sound pressure level, optical intensity, magnetic field, etc) to an electrical voltage or an electrical current we call it a sensor. We will see a few examples of sensors shortly. When the transducer converts an electrical signal into another form of energy, such as sound (which, incidentally, is a pressure field), light, mechanical movement, it is called an actuator. Actuators are important in instrumentation. They allow the use of feedback at the source of the measurement.