Kramer 1

Alex Kramer

Lawrence Dinsmore

EE 310 Section 005

Date: 4/13/16

Lab 8: Current to Voltage Converter Using Operational Amplifiers

Introduction

The task of this experiment was to design a circuit that would allow one to the measure the
current of a rocket probe (+/- 10 µA), convert this to a voltage (+/- 2 V), modify this voltage using a
summing amplifier (output being between -12 V and +8 V, -8 V and +12 V, or -10 V and +10 V), eliminate
the common bias voltage applied to the probe with a difference amplifier (resulting in either -2 V, 0 V, or
+2 V), process this signal to a value between 0 V and +5 V by using a scaling and offset amplifier, and
finally measure the bias voltage and change it from -10 V and +10 V to 0 V and +5 V with a polarity
monitor. These specifications were to be met while also keeping the small-signal transresistance gain
equal to 200 V/mA, using +/- 15 volts to power the op amps, and attempting to reduce the error on the
measurement from the polarity monitor to within +/- 10 mV [1].

Circuit Design and Supporting Analysis

1.) Current to Voltage Amplifier

The first task was to create a circuit that would convert a current into a voltage. The desired
input was a +/- 10 µA current (creating a +/- 5 V signal at the input) which was then to be converted to
V01’ (+/- 2 V). In order to do this, the resistor values were calculated in the following way:
𝑅2
𝑉𝑜 = 𝑉𝑖(− )
𝑅1
(+5 𝑉)
𝑆𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑅1 = 500 𝐾Ω 𝑠𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 = = +10 μ𝐴
500 𝐾Ω
𝑅2 −2 𝑉
𝑉𝑜1 = −2 𝑉 = 5 𝑉 ∗ → 𝑅2 = ∗ 500 𝐾Ω = 200 𝐾Ω
500 𝐾Ω −5 𝑉
To show the other possible input of -5 V with an output of -2 V:
−5 𝑉
𝐼= = −10 μ𝐴
500 𝐾Ω
−(200 𝐾Ω)
𝑉𝑜1 = −5 𝑉 ∗ = 2𝑉
(500 𝐾Ω)
𝐹𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒:
−200 𝐾Ω
𝑉𝑜1 = 0 𝑉 ∗ =0𝑉
500 𝐾Ω
A schematic of the circuit designed for this purpose is on the next page in figure 1.
 Kramer 2

Figure 1.) Figure 1 shows the inverting op amp that was used to convert the current measured by the
rocket probe into a voltage.

Figure 2.) Figure 2 shows the output voltage V01’ when Vin is set to 5 V. This results in a positive current of
+10 µA.

Figure 3.) Figure 3 shows the output voltage of figure 1 when V in = 0 V, this resulting in a current of 0 µA.
 Kramer 3

Figure 4.) Figure 4 shows the output voltage of figure 1 when V in = -5 V, this resulting in a current of -10
µA.

Summing Amplifier

In the next stage of the circuit, the varying bias voltage (Vp ) was to be added to the output of
the current to voltage amplifier. In order to find the resistor values and amplifier configuration to
accomplish this task, the following formula was applied (Vo1’ refers to the -2/+2 V output from the
current to voltage amplifier):
𝑅3 𝑅3 1
𝑉𝑜1 = (𝑉𝑝 + 𝑉𝑜1 ) 1+ = (𝑉𝑝 + 𝑉𝑜1 ) (2) = (𝑉𝑝 + 𝑉𝑜1 )
𝑅3 + 𝑅3 𝑅3 2
This formula shows that any value resistor can be chosen for R3, the choice for this application
being arbitrarily picked to be 100 KΩ. The schematic for this circuit is then shown below in figure 4. With
the desired input being Vp (a 20 Vpp triangle signal with a frequency of 10 Hz) and V01’ (+/- 2V), the
output signal was made to be in between either -8 V and 12 V, -12 V and 8 V, or -10 V and 10 V (this
output voltage being referred to as Vo1). The calculations shown below using the above equation show
which voltage range to expect when an input signal is applied:

𝐼𝑓 + 10 μ𝐴 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑:

+10 𝑉 + −2 𝑉 = +8 𝑉 𝑎𝑛𝑑 − 10 𝑉 + (−2 𝑉) = −12 𝑉

𝐼𝑓 − 10 μ𝐴 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑:
+10 𝑉 + 2 𝑉 = +12 𝑉 𝑎𝑛𝑑 − 10 𝑉 + 2 𝑉 = −8 𝑉
𝐼𝑓 0 μ𝐴 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑:

+10 𝑉 + 0 𝑉 = +10 𝑉 𝑎𝑛𝑑 − 10 𝑉 + 0 𝑉 = −10 𝑉

 Kramer 4

Figure 4.) Figure 4 shows the summing amplifier that was used to combine V p and V01’ into V01. All of the
resistor values were made the same as to allow the voltage sum to have a voltage gain of 1 V/V.

Figure 5.) Figure 5 shows the output voltage V01 of the circuit in figure 4 when Vo1’ is equal to -2 V. As one
can see, the maximum voltage
shown is -11.87 V and the minimum
is 7.872 V.

Figure 6.) Figure 6 shows the output voltage V01 of figure 4 when V01’ is equal to 2 V. This gives a
maximum voltage of 12.001 V and a minimum voltage of -7.999 V.
 Kramer 5

Figure 7.) Figure 7 shows the

output voltage V01 of
the circuit in figure 4
when V01’ is equal to 0
V. As one can see in the
figure, V01’ being 0 V
makes V01 equal to the
AC voltage source Vp.

Difference Amplifier

After summing together the voltages Vp and V01’ to produce V01, the common AC bias signal was
to be removed from the circuit through the use of a difference amplifier. The desired inputs for the
difference amplifier were the voltage ranges of V 01 (-12 V to +8 V, -8 V to +12 V, or -10 V to +10 V) with
the outputs being either -2 V, +2 V, or 0 V. In order to calculate the resistor values for the design of the
amplifier, the following calculations were used:

𝑈𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛:
𝑅4
𝐴𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙: 𝑉𝑜2(𝑎) = 𝑉𝑝 −
𝑅5
𝑅6 𝑅4
𝐴𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑜𝑛 − 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙: 𝑉𝑜2(𝑏) = 𝑉𝑜1( )(1 + )
𝑅6 + 𝑅7 𝑅5
𝑅4 𝑅6 𝑅4
𝑉𝑜2 = 𝑉𝑜2(𝑎) + 𝑉𝑜2(𝑏) = 𝑉𝑝 − + 𝑉𝑜1( )(1 + )
𝑅5 𝑅6 + 𝑅7 𝑅5
𝐼𝑓 𝑅4 = 𝑅5 = 𝑅6 = 𝑅7:
1
𝑉𝑜2 = 𝑉𝑝(−1) + 𝑉𝑜1 (2) = −𝑉𝑝 + 𝑉𝑜1
2
𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑉𝑜1 = 𝑉𝑝 + 𝑉𝑜1 :
 Kramer 6

𝑉𝑜2 = −𝑉𝑝 + 𝑉𝑝 + 𝑉𝑜1 = 𝑉𝑜1′

𝑉𝑜2 = 𝑉𝑜1′
Using the above equations, one can then see that any resistor value can be used for op amp as
long as all of the resistors have the same value. For this experiment, 100 KΩ was arbitrarily chosen for
the resistor value. The simulated results of this circuit are shown on the next page:

Figure 8.) Figure 8 shows the difference amplifier that was used to eliminate the common voltage V p. To
do this, equal resistor
values were used in
the design as to enable
the voltage gain of the
difference to be 1 V/V.

Figure 9.) On the right is the output voltage V02 along with Vp. On the left is the output of the difference
amplifier, which in
this case is between
7.941 V and -11.994
V. The output
voltage of this
circuit is -1.999 V,
the straight line
indicating that the
superimposed and
common AC voltage
had been
successfully
removed from the
output.
 Kramer 7

Figure 10.) On the right is V02 and Vp, this time with V02 being a constant 2.001 V. This is due to the
changing voltage
displayed on the left,
this input voltage
simulating the output
of the difference
amplifier when the
outputs are between
11.994 V and -7.941 V.
Again, the straight line
indicated that the
common voltage
between the inputs
was removed, as per
the requirements.

Figure 11.) Figure 11 shows how the output voltage V02 almost equals 0 V when the input voltage V01 is
also Vp. However, one may notice the impact of non-ideal amplifiers by seeing that there is a voltage still
present at the output. This is known as the offset voltage and a common method for finding this voltage
is to apply the same voltage at both terminals of the amplifier and measure for the amplified difference
between the signals.
 Kramer 8

Signal Conditioner:

Once the Vp signal was removed from at the output of the difference amplifier, the signal was
scaled to either 0 V (with -10 µA initially), 2.5 V (with 0 µA initially), or 5 V (with +10 µA initially). To do
this, a scaling and offset amplifier was designed with resistors to take the output V o2 and scale it to the
appropriate output voltage (Vo3). To do this, the following calculations were employed:

𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑉𝑜3(𝑎) + 𝑉𝑜3(𝑏) = 𝑉𝑜3

𝑅8
𝑉𝑜3(𝑎) = 𝑉𝑜2(− )
𝑅9
𝑅8 𝑅10
𝑉𝑜3(𝑏) = 𝑉𝑐𝑐(𝜓) 1 + ,𝜓 = ( )
𝑅9 𝑅10 + 𝑅11
𝑅8 𝑅8
𝑉𝑜3 = 𝑉𝑜2 − + 𝑉𝑐𝑐(𝜓)(1 + )
𝑅9 𝑅9
𝑊𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑉𝑜3 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 5 𝑉 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑉𝑜2 𝑖𝑠 − 2 𝑉 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉𝑜3 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 0 𝑉 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑉𝑜2 = 2 𝑉:
𝑅8 𝑅8
5 𝑉 = −2 𝑉 − + 15 𝑉(𝜓)(1 + )
𝑅9 𝑅9
𝑅8 𝑅8
0𝑉 =2𝑉 − + 15 𝑉(𝜓)(1 + )
𝑅9 𝑅9
𝑅8
𝐷𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 − 𝑎𝑠 𝜉 𝑎𝑛𝑑 (15𝜓) 𝑎𝑠 𝜑, 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑡:
𝑅9
𝜉 = 1.25 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜑 = 1.11
 Kramer 9

𝑅8 500 𝐾Ω
𝜉 = 1.25 = − , 𝑖𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑅8 𝑡𝑜 500 𝐾Ω, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑅9 = = 400 𝐾Ω
𝑅9 1.25
1.11 𝑅10
𝜑 = 1.11 = 15𝜓 → 𝜓 = = , 𝑖𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑅10 = 10 𝐾Ω: 740 Ω + 0.074𝑅11 = 10 𝐾Ω
15 𝑅10 + 𝑅11
9260 Ω
→ 9260 Ω = 0.074𝑅11 → 𝑅11 = ≈ 125𝐾Ω
0.074
With the calculated resistor values, the circuit in figure 12 was built.

Figure 12.) Figure 12 shows the scaling and offset amplifier used to change the voltage from either -2 V,
0 V, or 2 V to 0 V, 2.5 V, or 5 V, respectively.

Figure 13.) Figure 13 shows the output voltage Vo3 of the scaling and offset amplifier when the input
voltage is -2 V (which corresponds with an input current of +10 µA).

Figure 14.) Figure 14 shows the output voltage Vo3 of the circuit in figure 12 when Vo2 is equal to 2 V (this
corresponding to an input current of -10 µA).
 Kramer 10

Figure 15.) Figure 15 shows the output voltage V03 when 0 V was applied to the circuit (this
corresponding to when the input current is equal to 0 µA).

Polarity Monitor:

The final stage for the circuit was a polarity monitor that would be able to detect changes in the
polarity of the varying AC voltage Vp. The output of this circuit was to be 5 V when Vp was +10 V, -5 V
when Vp was -10 V, and 2.5 V when the Vp was 0 V. In order to accomplish this, comparator and scaling
amplifiers were implemented in order to first amplify the polarity of V p and then scale the amplified
voltage to the desired output voltage (Vo4). The calculations below were used to find the resistor values
needed:

𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑛 𝑀𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑚:

𝑉𝑝 = +10 𝑉, 𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 = −14.699 𝑉

𝑉𝑝 = −10 𝑉, 𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 = 14.699 𝑉
𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑉𝑜4(𝑎) + 𝑉𝑜4(𝑏) = 𝑉𝑜4
𝑅12
𝑉𝑜4(𝑎) = 𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟(− )
𝑅13
𝑅12 𝑅14
𝑉𝑜4(𝑏) = 𝑉𝑐𝑐(𝜓) 1 + ,𝜓 = ( )
𝑅13 𝑅14 + 𝑅15
 Kramer 11

𝑅12 𝑅12
𝑉𝑜4 = 𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 − + 𝑉𝑐𝑐(𝜓)(1 + )
𝑅13 𝑅13
𝑊𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑉𝑜4 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 5 𝑉 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑠 − 14.699 𝑉 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉𝑜4 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 0 𝑉 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟
= 14.699 𝑉:
𝑅12 𝑅12
5 𝑉 = −2 𝑉 − + 15 𝑉(𝜓)(1 + )
𝑅13 𝑅13
𝑅12 𝑅12
0𝑉 =2𝑉 − + 15 𝑉(𝜓)(1 + )
𝑅13 𝑅13
𝑅12
𝐷𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 − 𝑎𝑠 𝜉 𝑎𝑛𝑑 (15𝜓) 𝑎𝑠 𝜑, 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑡:
𝑅13
𝜉 = 0.17 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝜑 = 2.14
𝑅12 170 𝐾Ω
𝜉 = .17 = − , 𝑖𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑅12 𝑡𝑜 170 𝐾Ω, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑅9 = = 1000 𝐾Ω = 1 𝑀Ω
𝑅13 . 17
2.14 𝑅14
𝜑 = 2.14 = 15𝜓 → 𝜓 = = , 𝑖𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑡𝑠 𝑅14 = 10 𝐾Ω: 1.43 𝐾Ω + 0.143𝑅15
15 𝑅14 + 𝑅15
8570 Ω
= 10 𝐾Ω → 8570 Ω = 0.143𝑅15 → 𝑅15 = ≈ 60 𝐾Ω
0.143
With these resistor values, the following circuit in figure 16 was built:

Figure 16.) The Polarity Monitor that consists of a comparator and a scaling and offset Op Amp.
 Kramer 12

Figure 17.) Figure 17 shows the input and output voltage relationship for the polarity monitor. When V p
is positive, the output voltage V04 reflects this as a constant 5 V output voltage. When Vp becomes
negative, the polarity monitor again reflects this by outputting a near zero output.

Figure 18.) The output voltage of the Polarity Monitor when the voltage V p is equal to 0 V. This value,
which is slightly below the expected 2.5 V, can be explained by analyzing the output voltage shown in
figure 19.

In order to explain the slight error in the theroetical value of V 04 when Vp was 0 V, one must see
the voltage at the output of the comparator when the input voltage was set to 0 V. This is shown in
figure 19.
 Kramer 13

Figure 19.) The output voltage of the op amp, with Vp set to ground potential, was almost 1 V. This
voltage was seen by the scaling and offset amplifier and used to subtract a small amount of voltage from
the output, resulting in the error that is seen in figure 18.

As one can see from Figure 19, the output of the op amp when the input is 0 V (which ideally
would have been 0 V) is 949.351 mV, this being approximately 1 V. The equation used to derive the
resistor values shows the impact of the 1 V entering the scaling and offset amplifier:
𝑅12 𝑅14 𝑅12
𝑉𝑜4 = 𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 − + 𝑉𝑐𝑐 1+
𝑅13 𝑅14 + 𝑅15 𝑅13
1
= 𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟(−.17) + 15 𝑉 (1 + 0.17)
7
𝑰𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍 (𝑽𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 = 𝟎 𝑽 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑽𝒑 = 𝟎 𝑽):
1
𝑉𝑜4 = 0 + 15 ∗ ∗ 1.17 = 2.51 𝑉
7
𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝑽𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 (𝑽𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 = 𝟏 𝑽 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑽𝒑 = 𝟎 𝑽):
1
𝑉𝑜4 = 1(−0.17) + 15 ∗ ∗ 1.17 = 2.38 𝑉 ≈ 2.346
7
The effect of the non-ideal op amp can be seen from these calculations and will therefore be
seen when the experimental data is presented.

Data

The following oscilloscope captures were taken after the circuit was built and were used to
verify the accuracy of the Multisim design.
 Kramer 14

Figure 20.) Vo1’ when the input voltage is set to zero. The slight voltage seen is likely due to the sensitivity
of the oscilloscope probe, the voltage on the screen being noise. The output has been measured on Ch. 1.

Figure 21.) Vo1’ when the input voltage is -5 V, or -10 µA. The output has been measured on Ch. 1.

Figure 22.) Vo1’ when

the input voltage is +5
V (or +10 µA). The output voltage is shown
on Ch.1.
 Kramer 15

Figure 23.) Vo1 when the current at the rocket probe is 0 µA, meaning that the only input voltage for the
summing amplifier is the AC voltage Vp. The input was measured on Ch. 1 and the output was measured
on Ch.2.

Figure 24.) V01 when the current on the

rocket probe is -10 µA,
meaning that the summing
amp is adding together the
voltage from the AC voltage
source Vp and the previous
output voltage Vo1’. The output
of the amplifier is shown on
Ch.1 and the input for the
summing amplifier is shown on
Ch.2.

Figure 25.) V01 when the current measured on the rocket probe is +10 µA. The output V o1 of the summing
amplifier is shown adding the voltage V01’ to the voltage Vp, resulting in the range of voltages seen (-12 V
to 8.30 V). The output voltage V01 is shown on Ch.1.
 Kramer 16

Figure 26.) The output voltage V02 of the difference amplifier when the current on the rocket probe is 0
µA. This therefore results in the voltage across both terminals of the amplifier being the same, therefore
cancelling the common voltage. The output voltage, seen on Ch.1, is likely the offset voltage of the
amplifier. Ch.2 shows the input voltage.
 Kramer 17

Figure 27.) The output voltage V02 when the current on the rocket probe is -10 µA. As one can see by the
1.96 V (this being the original Vo1’), the difference amplifier has eliminated the common signal between
the terminals of the amplifier. However, the output voltage is not exactly 2 V, this being a result of the
offset voltage of the amplifier.

Figure 28.) The output voltage V02 when the current measured by the rocket probe is +10 µA. As one can
see from the graph, the impact of the offset voltage may be greater when the voltage placed upon the
amplifier has a negative polarity. It is also possible that resistor tolerances caused the resistor values in
the difference amplifier to not perfectly cancel in the equation derived above, resulting in a slight gain
changing the output voltage.
 Kramer 18

Figure 29.) Output voltage V03 when the current on the rocket probe is 0 µA, resulting in the input voltage
for the offset and scaling amplifier to be approximately 0 V. Ch. 1 shows the input and Ch.2 shows the
input of the removed AC voltage Vp.

Figure 30.) Output voltage V03 when the current on

the rocket probe is +10 µA. The voltage has been
scaled to allow a -2 V input voltage to become a 5
V output voltage. The output voltage is shown on
Ch.1.

Figure 31.) Output voltage Vo3 when the current on the rocket probe is -10 µA. The low voltage seen for
the mean value on Ch.1, the output, is possibly noise or voltage from the non-ideal amplifier. The input
voltage seen on Ch.2 shows the eliminated signal Vp, the oscilloscope being attached to the AC input
voltage directly and ignoring its cancellation in the difference amplifier.
 Kramer 19

Figure 32.) The output voltage Vo4 of the polarity

monitor, which shows the input voltage on Ch.2 and
the output voltage on Ch.1. The maximum and
minimum voltages are both close to the desired
values of 5 V and 0 V.
 Kramer 20

Figure 33.) Figure 33 repeats the measurement

made in figure 32 with the exception of the input
voltage being changed from 20 Vpp to 20 mVpp. In
theory, since a comparator is used, the output in
figure 33 should resemble the output voltage
shown in figure 32 since the polarity monitor is only
sensitive to whether Vp is positive or negative. One
can see there is a slight difference in the graphs,
with the maximum voltage being 160 mV from 5 V
and the minimum voltage being -101.2 mV from 0
V. Furthermore, one can see a more accurate
reading of the maximum voltage (4.84 V).
Unfortunately, while this value is relatively close to
the desired output voltage when the input current
is -10 µA, it did not meet the +/-10 mV requirement.
This is likely due to noise throughout the circuit as
well as the choice of a 741 for the comparator, an
op amp notorious for large non-ideal values.

Figure 34.) Figure 34 attempts to get a more

accurate oscilloscope reading of the lower
voltage level by using a horizontal cursor to
measure the voltage. According to this reading,
the accuracy of the circuit was better than
previously thought since the lower voltage is only
-40 mV from 0 V instead of -101.2 mV.
 Kramer 21

Table 1.) A comparison of measured, Multisim, and specified values and percent errors.

Voltage Specification (V) Multism (V) Measured (V) Percent Error Specifications (%) Percent Error Multisim (%) Difference In Voltage (V) Difference In Voltage (V)
Vo1' (+10 µA) -2 -1.999 -1.833 8.35 8.304152 Specification: Multisim:
Vo1' (0 µA) 0.00E+00 7.21E-04 -9.57E-02 * -1.32E+04 9.57E-02 9.64E-02
Vo1' (-10 µA) 2 2.001 1.897 5.15 5.197401
Vo1 (+10 µA) -12 -11.87 -12 0 -1.0952
Vo1 (+10 µA) 8 7.872 8.3 -3.75 -5.43699
Vo1 (0 µA) -10 -9.999 -10.2 -2 -2.0102
Vo1 (0 µA) 10 10.001 10.1 -1 -0.9899
Vo1 (-10 µA) -8 -7.999 -8.2 -2.5 -2.51281
Vo1 (-10 µA) 12 12.001 12 0 0.008333
Vo2 (-10 µA) 2 2.001 1.96 2 2.048976
Vo2 (0 µA) 0.00E+00 1.11E-03 9.60E-03 * -762.534 -9.60E-03 -8.49E-03
Vo2 (+10 µA) -2 -1.999 -1.8 10 9.954977
Vo3 (+10 µA) 5 5.001 5.003 -0.06 -0.03999
Vo3 (0 µA) 2.5 2.50E+00 2.56E+00 -2.4 -2.35906
Vo3 (-10 µA) 0.00E+00 0.001146 2.76E-02 * -2308.38 -2.76E-02 -2.65E-02
Vo4 (20 Vpp and +10 µA) 5 5.001 5.04 -0.8 -0.77984
Vo4 (20 Vpp and 0 µA) 2.5 2.346 2.03 18.8 13.46974
Vo4 (20 Vpp and -10 µA)0.00E+00 1.40E-02 -2.80E-01 * -1897.43 2.80E-01 2.94E-01
Vo4 (20 mVpp +Vp) 5 4.985 4.84 3.2 2.908726
Vo4 (20 mVpp Vp=0V) 2.5 2.346 2.03 18.8 13.46974
Vo4 (20 mVpp -Vp) 0.00E+00 3.01E-02 -4.00E-02 -32.9301 4.00E-02 7.01E-02

* See Voltage Difference

Discussion

Overall, the experiment was successful and the values that were obtained were reasonable,
considering the non-ideal effects of the amplifiers being ignored while designing the circuit. The circuit
that was built and tested is shown below in figure 35.

Figure 35.) The complete schematic of the circuit used to measure and convert the current from a rocket
probe into a voltage for a PCM Encoder. The specific op amps used in the lab have also been selected for
use here, specifically the 741 for the comparator op amp and the LM124AD for the scaling and offset
amplifier. The rest of the amplifiers are also consistent with the LF412 op amps actually used for the
inverting, summing, difference, and scaling and offset amplifiers.
 Kramer 22

Results (Specified Voltages Compared to Measured Voltages)

Overall, the measurements that were made were very consistent with the specifications that
were originally assigned. On average, most of the percent error values were below 5%, with only a few
exceptions. The first exception is the 10% error on V02 when the specified voltage was -2 V but only -1.8
V was measured. This was likely due to tolerance issues on the resistors, since the 5% tolerance on the
resistors can lead to gains not being exactly as was calculated and therefore leading to error in the
output voltage. This error from the resistors, which would apply to each stage of the circuit, would be
significant as the incorrect voltage continues to the next stage of the circuit and is amplified by an
incorrect voltage gain due to further resistance tolerance issues. This may explain the low but existent
percent error on each of the values, the only two values having 0% error being the -12 V and 12 V
measurements for V01. A significant error, however, is associated with the measured V o4 voltage when
the input voltage to this stage of the circuit is 0 V. The output voltage is found to be 2.03 V, this being
470 mV below the expected voltage (percent error of 18.8%). This is possibly due to a number of
different issues, the first being the non-ideal effect of the op amp supplying the input voltage. Ideally,
the voltage being supplied should be zero volts, resulting in the scaling and offset amplifier outputting
2.5 V. However, the output of the comparator op amp when its input is 0 V is not exactly 0 V (found, in
simulation, to be approximately 1 V). This extra voltage is amplified by the scaling and offset amplifier
and therefore subtracts a voltage from the desired 2.5 V. Furthermore, there may have been tolerance
errors with the resistors used since the 5% tolerance on the resistors allows for a large range of voltage
gains.
 Kramer 23

Another issue with the circuit was how the amplifiers responded when the specified voltage
was supposed to be 0 V. To discuss this, one must first consider the error equation used throughout the
experiment so to make sense of the difference between the expected and measured values:
𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 − 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑
% 𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = ∗ 100%
𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑
This error equation does not work for an expected voltage of 0 V, so to evaluate the accuracy of
the measurements with the specified requirements the difference between the specified and expected
values was calculated and included in table 1. The worst error was found with Vo4 when the input
voltage Vp was negative, the measured voltage being 280 mV. The closest measured value to the
specified value of 0 V was V02 when the input was 0 µA, this voltage being -9.6 mV. The error comes
from non-ideal effects from the op amp, such as offset voltage and current. The offset voltage and
current, both characteristics specific to each op amp, can add or decrease voltage to the output, in this
case adding an undesired voltage. An attempt for a solution to this issue was created with the circuit
shown below in figure 36.

Figure 36.) A potential solution to the issue of the 0 V input not resulting in a 0 V output in the polarity
monitor.

Figure 37.) The input and output of the circuit presented in figure 36, showing improvements in the
output voltages. The oscilloscope on the left shows the input to the circuit and the oscilloscope on the
right shows the output of the circuit.
 Kramer 24

Figure 38.) The actual Oscilloscope capture of the circuit shown in figure 36.

The minimum voltage of 46.46 mV shown in figure 38 is an improvement over the minimum
voltage of -200 mV in figure 34, although the improvement may not be very significant since the cursor
used to measure the exact voltage shows the voltage still being 40 mV from 0 V. The circuit utilizes an
inverting amplifier that takes the voltage from the comparator and simply scales it to the desired 5 V.
When the comparator outputs a negative voltage, the diode acts as an open circuit and prevents a
voltage drop from occurring at the input of the inverting amplifier. This design, however, does not have
any way of allowing the voltage to be 2.5 V when the input voltage to the polarity monitor is 0 V,
meaning that this circuit would not meet the specifications. This is why this circuit was not used
throughout the discussion of this experiment. It is included, however, to show another potential
approach to the problem that was tested before being replaced with a valid solution.

Results (Multisim Results Compared to Measured Results)

Using the Multisim values as theoretical values and comparing them to the measured values,
one will find that the circuit that was constructed accurately produced the desired values. However, a
 Kramer 25

few values are significantly different than the theoretical voltages. Using table 1, one can see that there
are large percent errors for the low voltage values (low voltage referring to when the specified voltage
was 0 V). This is largely due to percent errors being amplified as one compares smaller values to each
other, so to allow for more logical comparisons the difference between the Multisim and measured
values was calculated and displayed. One can see that the differences found in the Multisim and
measured low voltage signals are all relatively small, the largest being 294 mV for V 04 when a negative Vp
is applied and the smallest difference being 8.49 mV when V 02 is measured with 0 A of current at the
input of the circuit. One may also notice (comparing the percent errors of the Multisim with the
measured values and the specifications with the measured values) that the Multisim percent errors
were usually smaller and closer to the measured values than the specified values. This would come from
Multisim being able to simulate the non-ideal effects of the op amps, making the voltages at the output
non-zero when they are expected to be zero volts and also lowering the voltage gain of the op amp in
accordance with the op amp’s typical offset voltage and current. This can most clearly be seen with the
percent error in Vo4 with the 20 Vpp voltage input when the input is expected to be 0 V. The
specifications call for an output voltage of 2.5 V when the input voltage is 0 V (resulting in an 18.18%
error compared to the measured value), but the Multisim simulation only expected 2.346 V (a percent
error of 13.47% when compared to the measured value).

The Multisim values indicate that, in order to be more accurate in the future, more thought is
going to have to go into the decision on which op amp to use. The LF412 proved to be an effective op
amp, but still showed slight offset voltage and current issues that are present in both the Multisim and
measured values. However, one can see that the Multisim values reflect the non-ideal effects of the op
amp well (the measured value for V01’ had a percent error of 8.35% compared to the specification and a
percent error of 8.30% when the measured value was compared to the Multisim value, indicating that
Multisim had properly simulated the decrease in voltage caused by the non-ideal effects).

Summary and Conclusions

Throughout the experiment, I was able to create a multistage op amp circuit that was capable of
measuring the current from a rocket probe and turning this into an acceptable voltage for a PCM
Encoder. I also was able to create a polarity monitor that successfully measured the polarity of an AC
signal and converted this polarity into a signal that could be read by the PCM Encoder. The circuit that
was designed and built on Multisim was tested and found to be very accurate, the Multisim values
having a maximum percent error of 6.16% (comparing the value for V 04 with a 20 Vpp value and 0 V
input). The measured values from the circuit that was constructed on the breadboard were also very
accurate, with the exception being the inability to get precise values for V 04 when a 20 mVpp voltage was
applied to the voltage source (both the expected voltages when the AC source V p was positive and
negative were not within the specified +/- 10 mV error range and the output voltage was about 500 mV
from the expected value when the input to the polarity monitor was 0 V). All of the other requirements,
however, were met with only slight error, allowing one to conclude that the experiment was a successful
demonstration of an effective design for this task.

References

[1] “Lab Manual 8”, in PSU EE 310 Lab, 2016