3–247
Motorola Sensor Device Data
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OPERATION
Connect the system to a 12 Vdc regulated power supply.
(Note the polarity marked on the power terminal P1.)
Depending on the particular pressure sensor being used with
the system, wire jumpers J1 through J3 and J8 must be
installed at board assembly time. If at some later time it is
desirable to change the type of sensor that is installed on the
board, jumpers J1 through J3 and J8, must be reconfigured for
the system to function properly (see Table 1). If an invalid J1
through J3 jumper combination (i.e., not listed in Table 1) is
used the LCD will display “SE” to indicate that condition.
These jumpers are read by the software and are used to
determine which sensor is installed on the board. Wire jumper
J8 is installed only when an MPX2010DP pressure sensor is
used on the system. The purpose of wire jumper J8 will be
explained later in the text. Jumpers J4 through J7 are read by
the software to allow the user to adjust the slope constant used
for the engineering units calculation (see Table 3). The
pressure and vacuum ports on the sensor must be left open
to atmosphere anytime the board is powered–up. This is
because the zero pressure offset voltage is computed at
power–up.
When you apply power to the system, the LCD will display
CAL for approximately 5 seconds. After that time, pressure or
vacuum may be applied to the sensor. The system will then
start displaying the applied pressure in PSI.
Table 3.
J7
J6
J5
J4
Action
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
Normal Slope
Decrease the Slope Approximately 7%
Decrease the Slope Approximately 6%
Decrease the Slope Approximately 5%
Decrease the Slope Approximately 4%
Decrease the Slope Approximately 3%
Decrease the Slope Approximately 2%
Decrease the Slope Approximately 1%
Increase the Slope Approximately 1%
Increase the Slope Approximately 2%
Increase the Slope Approximately 3%
Increase the Slope Approximately 4%
Increase the Slope Approximately 5%
Increase the Slope Approximately 6%
Increase the Slope Approximately 7%
Normal Slope
OUT
IN
OUT
OUT OUT
IN
IN
OUT
OUT
OUT OUT
OUT OUT OUT
IN
IN
IN
IN
IN
OUT
IN
OUT OUT
OUT OUT
OUT OUT
OUT OUT OUT
OUT OUT OUT OUT
IN
OUT
IN
OUT
OUT
OUT
OUT
IN
OUT
IN
IN
IN
IN
OUT
IN
To improve the accuracy of the system, you can change the
constant used by the program that determines the span of the
sensor and amplifier. You will need an accurate test gauge
(using PSI as the reference) to measure the pressure applied
to the sensor. Anytime after the display has completed the
zero calculation, (after CAL is no longer displayed) apply the
sensor’s full scale pressure (see Table 1), to the sensor. Make
sure that jumpers J4 through J7 are in the “normal”
configuration (see Table 3). Referring to Table 3, you can
better “calibrate” the system by changing the configuration of
J4 through J7. To “calibrate” the system, compare the display
reading against that of the test gauge (with J4 through J7 in the
“normal slope” configuration). Change the configuration of J4
through J7 according to Table 3 to obtain the best results. The
calibration jumpers may be changed while the system is
powered up as they are read by the software before each
display update.
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
To build a system that will show how to interface an
MPX2000 series pressure sensor to a microprocessor, there
are two main challenges. The first is to take a small differential
signal produced by the sensor and produce a ground
referenced signal of sufficient amplitude to drive a
microprocessor’s A/D input. The second challenge is to
understand the microprocessor’s operation and to write
software that makes the system function.
From a hardware point of view, the microprocessor portion
of the system is straight forward. The microprocessor needs
power, a clock source (crystal Y1, two capacitors and a
resistor), and a reset signal to make it function. As for the A/D
converter, external references are required to make it function.
In this case, the power source for the sensor is divided to
produce the voltage references for the A/D converter.
Accurate results will be achieved since the output from the
sensor and the A/D references are ratiometric to its power
supply voltage.
The liquid crystal display is driven by Ports A, B and C of the
microprocessor. There are enough I/O lines on these ports to
provide drive for three full digits, the backplane and two
decimal points. Software routines provide the AC waveform
necessary to drive the display.
The analog portion of the system consists of the pressure
sensor, a quad operational amplifier and the voltage
references for the microprocessor’s A/D converter and signal
conditioning circuitry. Figure 4 shows an interface circuit that
will provide a single ended signal with sufficient amplitude to
drive the microprocessor’s A/D input. It uses a quad
operational amplifier and several resistors to amplify and level
shift the sensor’s output. It is necessary to level shift the output
from the final amplifier into the A/D. Using single power
supplied op amps, the VCE saturation of the output from an op
amp cannot be guaranteed to pull down to zero volts. The
analog design shown here will provide a signal to the A/D
converter with a span of approximately 4 volts when zero to
full–scale pressure is applied to the sensor. The final
amplifier’s output is level shifted to approximately 0.7 volts.
This will provide a signal that will swing between
approximately 0.7 volts and 4.7 volts. The offset of 0.7 volts in
this implementation does not have to be trimmed to an exact
point. The software will sample the voltage applied to the A/D
converter at initial power up time and call that value “zero”. The
important thing to remember is that the span of the signal will
be approximately 4 volts when zero to full scale pressure is
applied to the sensor. The 4 volt swing in signal may vary
slightly from sensor to sensor and can also vary due to resistor
tolerances in the analog circuitry. Jumpers J4 through J7 may
be placed in various configurations to compensate for these
variations (see Table 3).
F
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
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