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e a s i e r r o b o t i c s
In this session, we will discus the conversion of various sensor voltages to suite the needs of a data logger,
microcontroller, or other circuit. Specifcally, we will show how to add, subtract, multiply and divide voltages with
simple circuits that can be combined to get the desired interface voltage for a wide variety of sensors.
This sheet is a summary. A more detailed discussion is available online at:
http://www.acroname.com/robotics/info/articles/interface/interface.html
This website page includes more information about power supply issues, noise, and other details associated
with sensor voltage interfacing. Here are the basic component circuits we will be discussing:
Voltage Division (Reduction)
0 - 100V 0 - 4.76V
R1 = 20K Ohm
R1
R2
R2 = 1K Ohm
division =
20K + 1K
1K
21
1
=
Voltage Multiplication (Amplifcation)
0-0.624V ~0-5V
741
+
-
R2
R1
+V
-V
3
7
2
4
6
R1 = 1K
R2 = 15K
V = 9V
multiplication = 1 +
R2
R1
= 1 +
15K
1K
= 16
Voltage Addition/Subtraction (Offset)
-2 to 2V ~0-4V
1458
-
+
+V
-V
2
8
3
4
1
R1 = 2K
R2 = 3K
V = 9V
addition =
R1
R1 + R2
=
2K
2K + 3K
= 2V 5V 5V
1458
-
+
6
5
7
1K
1K
1K
10K
10K 10K
R1
R2
5V
Voltage
Divider
1K
Acroname Inc 2004
Sensor/Voltage Interface Session