Final Project: Part Two

Group: 3CV2

Subject: Instrumentation

Professor: Ismael Cervantes de Anda

Students: Montes Izazaga Jorge

Valencia Rangel Michel Jordan
Valentín Mondragón Alfredo Emmanuel

Due Date: October 25th, 2017

 Final Project: Part Two

Voltmeter
Introduction
Sensors are basically a device which can sense or identify and react to certain types
of electrical or some optical signals.

Voltage measurement is of vital importance in many power and instrumentation

systems.

A voltmeter can in fact determine, monitor and can measure the supply of voltage.
It can measure AC level or/and DC voltage level. The input to the voltmeter is the
voltage itself and the output can be analog voltage signals, switches, audible signals,
analog current level, frequency or even frequency modulated outputs. That is,
some voltmeters can provide sine or pulse trains as output and others can produce
Amplitude Modulation, Pulse Width Modulation or Frequency Modulation outputs.

In voltmeters, the measurement is based on the voltage divider. Mainly two types
are of voltmeters are available- Capacitive type voltmeter and Resistive type
voltmeter.
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Capacitive Voltmeter
As we know that a capacitor comprises of two conductors or simply two plates and
in between these plates, a non-conductor is kept. That non-conducting material is
termed as dielectric. When an AC voltage is provided across these plates, current will
start to pass owing to either the attraction or the repulsion of electrons by means of
the voltage present on the opposite plate. The field among the plates will create a
complete AC circuit without any hardware connection. This is how a capacitor
works.

Next, we can discuss about the voltage division in two capacitors which are in series.
Usually in series circuits, high voltage will develop across the component which is
having high impedance. In the case of capacitors, capacitance and impedance
(capacitive reactance) are always inversely proportional.

The relation between voltage and capacitance is:

Q → Charge (Coulomb)
C → Capacitance (Farad)
XC → Capacitive reactance (Ω)
f → Frequency (Hertz)

From the above two relations, we can clearly state that the highest voltage will build
up across smallest capacitor. The capacitor voltmeters work based on this simple
principle. Consider we are holding the sensor in our hand and then placing the tip of
it near a live conductor. Here, we are inserting the sensing element of high
impedance into a series capacitive coupling circuit. In this moment, the tip of the
sensor is the smallest capacitor which is coupled to the live voltage. Thus, the whole
voltage will develop across the sensing circuit and it can detect voltage and indicator
like light or buzzer sound is turned on.
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Resistive Voltmeter
There are two ways in converting the resistance of the sensing element to the voltage.
First one is the simplest method that is to provide a voltage to the resistor divider
circuit comprises of a sensor and a reference resistor which is represented below.

The voltage that is developed across the reference resistor or sensor is buffered and
then given to the ADC. The output voltage of the sensor can be expressed as

Application of Voltmeter
Application of voltmeter are showing below,
o Power failure detection.
o Load sensing.
o Safety switching.
o Temperature control.
o Power demand control.
o Fault detection etc.
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Analog-To-Digital Converter
is a system that converts an analog signal, such as a sound picked up by
a microphone or light entering a digital camera, into a digital signal. An ADC may
also provide an isolated measurement such as an electronic device that converts an
input analog voltage or current to a digital number proportional to the magnitude of
the voltage or current.
Typically the digital output is a two's complement binary number that is proportional
to the input, but there are other possibilities.
There are several ADC architectures. Due to the complexity and the need for
precisely matched components, all but the most specialized ADCs are implemented
as integrated circuits (ICs).
Explanation
The conversion involves quantization of the input, so it necessarily introduces a
small amount of error. Furthermore, instead of continuously performing the
conversion, an ADC does the conversion periodically, sampling the input. The result
is a sequence of digital values that have been converted from a continuous-time and
continuous-amplitude analog signal to a discrete-time and discrete-amplitude digital
signal.
An ADC is defined by its bandwidth and its signal-to-noise ratio. The bandwidth of
an ADC is characterized primarily by its sampling rate. The dynamic range of an
ADC is influenced by many factors, including the resolution, linearity and accuracy
(how well the quantization levels match the true analog signal), aliasing and jitter.
The dynamic range of an ADC is often summarized in terms of its effective number
of bits (ENOB), the number of bits of each measure it returns that are on average
not noise. An ideal ADC has an ENOB equal to its resolution. ADCs are chosen to
match the bandwidth and required signal-to-noise ratio of the signal to be quantized.
If an ADC operates at a sampling rate greater than twice the bandwidth of the signal,
then perfect reconstruction is possible given an ideal ADC and neglecting
quantization error. The presence of quantization error limits the dynamic range of
even an ideal ADC. However, if the dynamic range of the ADC exceeds that of the
input signal, its effects may be neglected resulting in an essentially perfect digital
representation of the input signal.
Resolution
The resolution of the converter indicates the number of discrete values it can produce
over the range of analog values. The resolution determines the magnitude of
the quantization error and therefore determines the maximum possible average
signal to noise ratio for an ideal ADC without the use of oversampling. The values
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are usually stored electronically in binary form, so the resolution is usually expressed
in bits. In consequence, the number of discrete values available, or "levels", is
assumed to be a power of two. For example, an ADC with a resolution of 8 bits can
encode an analog input to one in 256 different levels, since 28 = 256. The values can
represent the ranges from 0 to 255 (i.e. unsigned integer) or from −128 to 127 (i.e.
signed integer), depending on the application. This is obtained with the next formula:

𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒
𝑉"#$ =
23456#"7869:$ − 1

Accuracy
An ADC has several sources of errors. Quantization error and (assuming the ADC
is intended to be linear) non-linearity are intrinsic to any analog-to-digital
conversion. These errors are measured in a unit called the least significant bit (LSB).
In the above example of an eight-bit ADC, an error of one LSB is 1/256 of the full
signal range, or about 0.4%.

Types
These are the most common ways of implementing an electronic ADC:

Direct Conversion
A direct-conversion ADC or flash ADC has a bank of comparators sampling the
input signal in parallel, each firing for their decoded voltage range. The comparator
bank feeds a logic circuit that generates a code for each voltage range. Direct
conversion is very fast, capable of gigahertz sampling rates, but usually has only 8
bits of resolution or fewer, since the number of comparators needed, 2N – 1, doubles
with each additional bit, requiring a large, expensive circuit. ADCs of this type have
a large die size, a high input capacitance, high power dissipation, and are prone to
produce glitches at the output (by outputting an out-of-sequence code). Scaling to
newer submicrometre technologies does not help as the device mismatch is the
dominant design limitation. They are often used for video, wideband
communications or other fast signals in optical storage.

Successive Aproximation
A successive-approximation ADC uses a comparator to successively narrow a range
that contains the input voltage. At each successive step, the converter compares the
input voltage to the output of an internal digital to analog converter which might
represent the midpoint of a selected voltage range. At each step in this process, the
approximation is stored in a successive approximation register (SAR). For example,
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consider an input voltage of 6.3 V and the initial range is 0 to 16 V. For the first step,
the input 6.3 V is compared to 8 V (the midpoint of the 0–16 V range). The
comparator reports that the input voltage is less than 8 V, so the SAR is updated to
narrow the range to 0–8 V. For the second step, the input voltage is compared to 4
V (midpoint of 0–8). The comparator reports the input voltage is above 4 V, so the
SAR is updated to reflect the input voltage is in the range 4–8 V. For the third step,
the input voltage is compared with 6 V (halfway between 4 V and 8 V); the
comparator reports the input voltage is greater than 6 volts, and search range
becomes 6–8 V. The steps are continued until the desired resolution is reached.

Ramp-Compare
A ramp-compare ADC produces a saw-tooth signal that ramps up or down then
quickly returns to zero. When the ramp starts, a timer starts counting. When the ramp
voltage matches the input, a comparator fires, and the timer's value is recorded.
Timed ramp converters require the least number of transistors. The ramp time is
sensitive to temperature because the circuit generating the ramp is often a
simple oscillator. There are two solutions: use a clocked counter driving a DAC and
then use the comparator to preserve the counter's value, or calibrate the timed ramp.
A special advantage of the ramp-compare system is that comparing a second signal
just requires another comparator, and another register to store the voltage value. A
very simple (non-linear) ramp-converter can be implemented with a microcontroller
and one resistor and capacitor.[13] Vice versa, a filled capacitor can be taken from
an integrator, time-to-amplitude converter, phase detector, sample and hold circuit,
or peak and hold circuit and discharged. This has the advantage that a
slow comparator cannot be disturbed by fast input changes.

Applications
-Music Recording
-Digital Signal Processing
-Scientific Instruments
-Rotary Encoder.
 Final Project: Part Two

Design

First, we must build the circuit as is shown below:

In our case, we have a voltage of 60V at the entrance; but we need a voltage of maximum 5V at
the output of the circuit, so using a voltage divider, we obtained, that we need resistances of
220KW and 20KW.

60𝑣𝑅@
= 55𝑣 => 60𝑅@ − 55𝑅@ = 55𝑅E
𝑅@ + 𝑅B
5𝑅@ = 55𝑅E
𝑅@ = 11𝑅E
𝐼𝑓 𝑅@ = 220𝑘Ω => 𝑅E = 20𝑘Ω

Which led us to obtain a power consumption of 15 mW, and a current consumption of
0.25mA, that is appropriate for the resistances that we are using, because they stand up to
125mW.

Here we calculate the graph to obtain the relation between the range that our voltmeter may
hold.
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𝑉d3 = 12𝑉ef3egh

𝑏 = 0

After we obtain the value of voltage that we expect, we need to add an operational Amplifier just
to keep that value with low variations.

This is the circuit with the voltage divider and the operational Amplifier.
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Experimentation

One problem with the circuit mentioned above, was that, due to the percentage error that resistance
present, the two resistances connected in series were not giving the exact value of 20KW that we
needed, so, we must add another resistance at the back of them, this is the circuit with that
resistance, in this case we measured until we found that the resistance that suited the most was one
of 220 W.

This circuit adds a 220 Ω resistor to compensate for the percentage of error that the resistors have.

Once the circuit is built we obtained some measures that are indicated in the table below, as well
as some simulated values.

Simulations Simulations
Voltage Measured using the using the real Calculated
theoretic circuit circuit
0V 0V 0V 0V 0V

15 V 1.258 V 1.25 V 1.26 V 1.25 V

30 V 2.511 V 2.50 V 2.52 V 2.50 V

45 V 3.758 V 3.75 V 3.78 V 3.75 V

60 V 5.012 V 5.00 V 5.05 V 5.00 V

Table 1. Measurements of the circuit.
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Simulations

Simulations using the theoretic circuit

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Simulations using the real circuit
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We can see the simulations defer from reality, this is because the resistors are not 100% accurate
and that is why we had to make a small adjustment, adding a 220Ω resistor, for compensating the
missing ohms in the circuit to keep the total resistance as we had planned.
 Final Project: Part Two

After all that is measured, we now want to convert our output into a Digital value, so we must add
an ADC to our circuit, in this case we used an ADC0804, the circuit that has to be build is the one
shown below.

Concretely the part that we added to the circuit is:

ilt
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After the circuit is built, we have to measure the values that we are obtaining, those values are
shown in the table below.

As we verify the correct operation with the ADC and with the help of the reference voltage, we
calculate the voltage resolution and check the values of the combination that gave the ADC for
later with the voltage resolution and the combination get the voltage digitized and was recorded in
the following table:

To obtain the values that we need, first we must obtain the decimal values that we got (in this case)
from the simulation, using the simple formula, of changing binary to decimal.
After that´s done, we have got to the value of Vres, in this case, that value equals to:

5𝑣
𝑉"#$ = = 19.6078 𝑚𝑉
255

Once we get value, we may obtain the value of the Calculated Analogic Voltage, by multiplying
the Vres value by the decimal correspondent, so we get:

𝑉n = 𝑉"#$ ∗ 𝐷𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙

Binary Combination Calculated

Input
Sensor Voltage Decimal Analogic
Voltage
Voltage
B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 B0
60V 5.00 V 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 255 4.99999
54V 4.49 V 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 232 4.54901
48V 4.00 V 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 205 4.01960
42V 3.504 V 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 180 3.52940
36V 3.004 V 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 154 3.01960
30V 2.504 V 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 129 2.52941
24V 2.006 V 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 103 2.01960
18V 1.508 V 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 77 1.50980
12V 1.004 V 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 52 1.01961
6V 0.505 V 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 26 0.50980
0V 3 mV 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00000

Here are some images of the obtained values. The values of output at the ADC are with negated
logic, so the 0’s are 1’s and viceversa.
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For an Input Voltage of 54V

For an Input Voltage of 42V

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For an Input Voltage of 30V

For an Input Voltage of 18V

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For an Input Voltage of 6V

Next up we did the simulations of the circuits to check if our values that the we measured were
correct.

Input Sensor
Voltage Voltage B7 B6 B5 B4 B3 B2 B1 B0 Dec
(V) (V)
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 0.5 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 26
12 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 52
18 1.5 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 77
24 2 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 103
30 2.5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 129
36 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 155
42 3.5 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 180
48 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 206
54 4.5 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 232
60 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 255
Table 4. Values simulated for circuit 2, using Proteus 8.
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Simulation Images

Fig. 2 Simulation for Vin = 0V.

Fig. 3 Simulation for Vin = 18V.

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Fig. 4 Simulation for Vin = 30V.

Fig. 5 Simulation for Vin = 48V.

Fig. 6 Simulation for Vin = 60V.

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Questionnaire

1.- Why is it necessary to add an operational amplifier at the output of the voltage divider?
- To avoid a big variation at the output that the voltage divider emits.

2.- Why was it necessary to add another resistance un series with the other two that we had forming
a resistance of 220W?
- Because of error percentage that a resistance may have, in our case the resistance has
an error percentage of ±10%

3.- What would happen if we removed the voltage divider and connect the direct input to the
operational amplifier?
- The operational amplifier may get hot and eventually burn if the voltage at the input is
too high.

4.- What represents the LMB and the LSB?

LSB – Least Significant Bit, MSB – Most Significant Bit. These are just to determine
in what order we must read the binary number.

5.- Why is the ADC in negated logic?

-Because the way we connected the LED’s from the output of each one of the bits from the
ADC, if we connected them the other way around, the logic would be positive.
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Conclusion

Thanks to the second part of the project, we can appreciate the importance of an Analog-to-Digital
Converter, because we were able to transform our analog voltage, the one that we obtained in the
first part of this project, into a digital value, with this we can now think about how to the send that
data to a computer for the next part of the project. As we saw when doing the calculations needed,
the reading is close enough to the actual value, we can say that our circuit has almost no loss of
“data”, because the reading differs only for 0.1% from the actual value.

References

Analog to Digital Conversion - learn.sparkfun.com. (2017). Learn.sparkfun.com. Retrieved 24

October 2017, from https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/analog-to-digital-conversion

Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC) - Linear Technology. (2017). Linear.com. Retrieved 25

October 2017, from http://www.linear.com/products/analog-to-digital_converters_(adc)

Analog-to-digital converter. (2017). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 25 October 2017, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog-to-digital_converter

Binary to Decimal converter | number conversion. (2017). Rapidtables.com. Retrieved 25 October

2017, from http://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/binary-to-decimal.htm