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| Inside a small kitchen scale |
Resistive bridge circuits detect small changes in resistance by producing really small changes in output voltage, so the difference between the two measurement points on the bridge will be millivolts for an excitation of multiple volts. Getting this tiny, differential voltage up to something readable requires an instrumentation amplifier like the AD8221. Unfortunately, I could only find the chip in a surface mount package, less than a quarter inch on a side. This challenged my soldering skills getting it onto a DIP carrier so I could work with it.
The 8221 takes a really small difference in voltage between pins 1 and 4 and produces a larger voltage output on pin 7. If there is no differential voltage, the output will be equal to the reference voltage applied to pin 6. If there is a differential, the output will be above or below the reference voltage by the differential voltage, multiplied by the amplifier gain. The gain is determined by the resistance you attach between pins 2 and 3.
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| Tiny package, huge gain! |
Setting R23 = 124 ohms gives a gain of 399, so a 1.5 mV differential should give
3.0 + 399 * 0.0015 = 3.60 V
if the reference voltage applied to pin 6 is 3V. The reference voltage has to be somewhere in the middle between the supply (pin 8) and ground voltages (pin 5) and the expected output must be as well. The output should actually drive a small current through some load (like a 10K resistor), and some small capacitors will smooth the signals in and out. The direction the voltage swings about the reference voltage will depend on which direction you push the load cell and which side of the bridge you hooked to pin 1 vs pin 4, so swap until it increases in the right direction.
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| Hooked it up like this and it worked as advertised. As a mechanical engineer that always surprises me! |
The response time of the circuit will be fast, but not infinitesimal. It will depend on the gain and the capacitors you select, and maybe which version of 8221. It will probably be way, way faster than the mechanical system you're measuring, but you will need to wait for it to settle if you are switching the excitation voltage rapidly, rather than sticking with this basic DC configuration.
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| Actuators |
The circuit on the breadboard provides two channels of amplification, with separate inputs, but common connections for supply, ground and Vref. The excitation voltage for the bridges is common to both bridges, but could be separated from the amplifier power supply. That will allow the bridge excitation to be switched to eliminate low frequency noise, or increased to increase the magnitude of the outputs. Even a small push on the actuators generates an easily measurable voltage on the outputs.
When I first hooked them up the green wires went to pin 1 on the amps and the output voltage decreased with increasing load. I switched them around, and now the voltage increase goes with the applied load. If I knew which wires ran to which strain gauges under the white goop on the load cells, then I could predict the sense of the response, but it's easier to measure it!
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| The load cells are mounted with M5 socket head cap screws on a block of hard red cherry wood. The bottom screw doesn't contact the support, so the load cells are free to flex under applied loads. |
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| Two realizations of the circuit are smaller than the diagram describing them. There are currently no capacitors on the outputs. Common power comes from the 2.2 mm jack top left. |
What a very impressive blog. I like reading this. Thanks.
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