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    25 views7 pages

    Digital Pressure Gauge

    Uploaded by

    eolocos

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 7
    Most OF US ARE FAMILIAR WITH AN ORDI- nary pressure gauge, such as that used for tires that measures pressure in pounds per square inch (psi). They are usually analog devices with an indica- tor bar or a moving needle whose movements depend on the specific pressure. However, with the advance of solid-state technology, itis possible {0 construct an accurate electronic pressure gauge with a resolution as Tow as 0.1 psi ‘Our digital pressure gauge operates from a 9-volt battery. so it is com- pletely portable, The circuit uses only 4 milliamperes, so battery life will be extremely long. A large two-digit LCD is used io display pressure read ings, but we'll also show you how to build it with a 3¥é-digit display ‘The full-scale range of the pressure gauge is determined by the selection of the pressure sensor; in this case we have used a 0-100 psi semiconductor sensor, manufactured by Sensym (1255 Reamwood Ave, Sunnyvale CA 94089), Other sensors are available in fatt-scate ranges of i, 5, 15, 30, 100, and 150 psi, Using a 1S-psi sensor, for example, would result in @ display resolution of 0.1 psi with a two-digit readout. Pressure is measured by connecting a flexible hose between the sensor and source of pressure. If the project is 10 be used for differential pressure mea surements, two hoses must be con- nected to the sensor and the device under test. Vacuum measurements re- Quire only one hose connection. The circuit The sensor i a differentia! device which allows 180 pressire connee- tions, and it measures the difference between the two. The sensor also per mits vacuum measurements when one side of the sensor is exposed to the axmosphere and vacua applicd %@ the other. Pressure and vacwiny mea surements may be taken on any non corrosive and non-toxic me hich ts air, dry gases, etc, The portable fiature ofthe ani allows ce seat almost anywhere, such a for check- ing tire preswure or u compressed sir tank “The heart of this project is a dit ferential piezoresistive Presser’ gor which is constructed si integrated-circut technology. 1 con sists of four resistors comnected in @ Wheatstone bridge configuration, which are deposited on a sificon «ie phragm that separates two chambers of the sensor housing. Each side of the diaphragm can be exposed to & pressure source by means of “por” Galled PL and P2. Any pressure dit ference between port Plant port P2 wil be detected by the sensor, provi ing a differential pressure ending Figure | shows a closeup of the sen- sor “The common pressure gauge which many people are jamiliar with 35 0 reality, differential pressure gauge with atmospheric pressure (14.7 psid feing the reference pressure. Ths, when no pressure is applied t0 the Sensing por of the common gauge, DIGITAL PRESSURE GAUGE Now you can take pressure readings the modern way using our electronic pressure gauge. ANTHONY J. CARISTI the reading is zero. The same goes for cour gauge, pressure is applied to P2 while PI is exposed 10 the atmo- sphere ‘When the pressure sensor is at rest, there is no stress on the silicon diz aphragm and the values of the re The sistors are essentially equal Wheatstone bridge is thus balanced and its output voltage is virtually zero, During a pressure measure ment, any difference in pressure be- tmeen the (wa ports of the sensor result in mechanical stress of the sil- icon diaphragm and a change in the values of the four resistors. ‘Two re- sistors increase in value and two de- FIG. }HERE IS A CLOSEUP of the semi. conductor pressure sensor, RADIO-ELECTRONICS ‘semiconductor pressure sensor. ‘crease. That causes the Wheatstone bridge to become unbalanced, pro- ducing an output voltage which is pro- portional to the difference in pressure between the two ports of the sensor. ‘That voltage, which in the millivolt range, is amplified and used to pro- vide the drive signal to the display section of the circuit. ‘The schematic diagram is shown in Fig. 2. In order to preserve the ac~ curacy of the pressure measurement with respect t0 variations in battery terminal voltage, IC3, a fixed 5-volt regulator, maintains a constant power source which feeds the sensor bridge. A set of four silicon diodes, DI through Dé, has been placed in the Circuit to temperature compensate the ‘bridge. That eliminates changes in calibration of the eireuit due to am- t temperature effects. ‘Three sections of ICI, an LM324N quad op-amp, amplify the millivolt Output of the bridge to a useful level for the analog-to-digital (A/D) con- verter circuit that follows. ‘When there is no pressure applied to the sensor, the vallage between ter- rminals 2 and 4 of the sensor is essen- tially zero; however, there may be @ small output voltage, called zero off- set. To compensate for that error, po- tentiometer RIG allows a small DC voltage to be fed to the amplifier ci FIG. 2—SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM of the electronic pressure gauge, It uses a Sensym ‘cuit which negates the offset voltage of the sensor. When the sensor is exposed to 100 psi, the output of the bridge circuit will generate approximately 34 mill volts. However, there may be vari tions in output voltage of as. much as 30% between different sensors. To compensate for any given sensor, the amplifier gain is adjustable by means of potentiometer RO, ‘The display section consists 1C2, which is a combination A/D convert™ eriT-segment decoderidisplay drives, capable of driving a 3%-digit LCD (we've used only a two-digit display, DSP). It is driven by the voltage be- tween pins 7 and 8 of op-amp ICI The sensitivity of the A/D converter is set by the reference voltage applied between pins 35 and 36. The refer ‘ence voltage, which is about 238 mi livolts, is setiby the divider composed of R2, R3, and RS, In this project only two digits are required since the resolution of the project is 1 psi and full scale is 100 psi, However, note that if you measure exactly 100 psi, the readout will dis- play 00, since the hundreds digit is not present. Note thal for readings greater than 99 psi, or for 0.1 psi resolution, the cireuit can modified to use the most significant and least significant digits of the A to D chip. In this case you'd need to use a 3/s-digit readout, and its decimal place would be illuminated as required. If you wish to use a 3%. digit LCD, Fig. 3 shows the addi- tional connections to the A/D con- verter that are required. However, note that the 3/s-digit display is a 40. device that won't ft on the provided PC board. You must either hardwire it or design your own board. Because of the characteristics of the pressure sensor, the display will read up-scale regardless of which port of the sensor is pressurized. However, you should use the same port for Which the project was calibrated. If the project isto be used for vacuum ot differential pressure measurements, the display will indicate the pressure

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