A novel smart interface for voltage-generating sensors

Author

Li, Xiujun ; Meijer, Gerard C M ; Schnitger, Erik J.

Author_Institution

Fac. of Electr. Eng., Delft Univ. of Technol., Netherlands

Volume

2

fYear

1997

fDate

19-21 May 1997

Firstpage

1472

Abstract

A novel low-cost smart interface for self-generating sensors, for instance thermopiles and thermocouples, has been presented. The proposed interface acts as an asynchronous converter for DC voltages or currents employing a relaxation oscillator which output is a period-modulated signal. A microcontroller is used to measure the output signal from the interface, process data and output the measured sensor signal. The system does not need the accurate A/D converter. Experimental results show that the interface is able to measure voltages in the range of 0~5 V, with an accuracy and resolution of ±64 ppm and 20 ppm, respectively. The measurement time is less than 100 ms

Keywords

computerised instrumentation; electric sensing devices; intelligent sensors; peripheral interfaces; relaxation oscillators; signal processing equipment; thermocouples; thermopiles; voltage measurement; 0 to 5 V; 100 ms; A/D converter; DC currents; DC voltages; Martin relaxation oscillators; asynchronous converter; measurement time; microcontroller; period-modulated signal; self-generating sensors; smart interface; thermocouples; thermopiles; voltage-generating sensors; CMOS technology; Capacitors; Circuits; Intelligent sensors; Logic; Microcontrollers; Oscillators; Signal processing; Switches; Voltage measurement;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference, 1997. IMTC/97. Proceedings. Sensing, Processing, Networking., IEEE

Conference_Location

Ottawa, Ont.

ISSN

1091-5281

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3747-6

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IMTC.1997.612444

Filename

612444