Pressure sensors and

thermistors
-What do they do and how to calibrate them?

E80
Feb 21, 2008
Agenda
(1) Pressure sensors and calibration
(2) Relating pressure to altitude
(3) Thermistors and calibration
(Steinhart-Hart constants)
Pressure sensors
Barometric pressure changes vs. altitude
and temperature, so we can use pressure
sensor data to indicate the altitude change
in the rockets during their launch.
Each sensor has slightly different
characteristics, so we need to calibrate
them individually.

Analog
voltage
Computer
LabVIEW
Environment with
varying pressures
Pressure sensors
on R-DAS or IMU
Signal
conditioning
Analog
0-5V
Raw
data
0-1024
ADC
on R-DAS
Voltage
Pressure sensors
Barometric pressure changes vs. altitude
and temperature, so we can use pressure
sensor data to indicate the altitude change
in the rockets during their launch.
Each sensor has slightly different
characteristics, so we need to calibrate
them individually.

Analog
voltage
Computer
LabVIEW
Environment with
varying pressures
Pressure sensors
on R-DAS or IMU
Signal
conditioning
Analog
0-5V
Raw
data
0-1024
ADC
on R-DAS
Voltage
Pressure sensors-altimeter
MPX4115A(IMU) / MPXA6115A (R-DAS)
http://www.freescale.com/files/sensors/doc/data_sheet/MPX4115A.pdf?pspll=
1
http://www.eng.hmc.edu/NewE80/PDFs/MPXA6115A.pdf


Pressure sensors-MPX4115A
http://www.freescale.com/files/sensors/doc/data_sheet/MPX4115A.pdf?pspll=
1

Pressure units
Pascal (Pa)=N/m
2
: standard atmosphere P
0
=101325 Pa=101.325kPa
Bar: 1 bar=100 kPa
Psi= (Force) pound per square inch: 1 Psi=6.89465 KPa

MPX4115A measures pressure in the range: 15-115 kPa
Sensitivity: 45.9mV/kPa (pressure range 100kPa
voltage range 4.59V)
Typical supply voltage 5.1V
Output analog voltage
Offset voltage (V
off
) is the output voltage measured at minimum
rated pressure (Typical@ 0.204V)
Full scale output (Vfso) measured at maximum rated pressure
(Typical@ 4.794 V)


How does voltage correlate to pressure
Nice its linear!!!
http://www.freescale.com/files/sensors/doc/data_sheet/MPX4115A.pdf?pspll=
1

0.204 V
4.794 V
y=ax+b
Calibration!
Signal Conditioning Circuitry
- From sensor voltage to ADC on R-DAS
0.2-4.8V (close to 0-5V in ADC), so no scaling/shifting
circuitry is added for easy data processing.
The input impedance of R-DAS is 1k, so a unity gain
buffer is required for loading.
Low pass filter before ADC.
All power supplies should be bypassed to reduce noises.
1/4
AD8606
(AD8605)
+
-
To ADC
MPXA4115A
Pressure
Sensor
1
2
3
4
+5V
470uF
0.01uF
1uF
buffer
Measure voltage and pressure in the lab

After ADC, the digital readings (0-1024)(0-5V)
analog voltage
Pressure reading is in the units of Psi.
Since everything is linearly scaled, you can choose
your calibration curve or units freely.





Pressure
chamber
Hand
pump
Precision
pressure
gauge
R-DAS
IMU

Laptop
LabView
data
Sensors &
signal conditioning
Calibration curve options
Pressure (Psi)
D
i
g
i
t
a
l

r
e
a
d
i
n
g

kPa 89465 . 6 Psi 1
sensor from voltage Analog 5
1024
Digital
=
=
If you want to compare with
Manufacture specifications
If you want to use you calibration
curve to find pressure in field test
In case you care about error.
http://www.freescale.com/files/sensors/doc/data_sheet/MPX4115A.pdf?pspll=
1

Voltage Error=Pressure Error x
Temperature Error Factor x0.009 x Vs
Temperature Error Factor=1 (0
o
C-85
o
C),
otherwise higher
Pressure Error: +/- 1.5KPa


Find a and b in calibration curve
y=ax+b
Collect data sets (x
1
,y
1
) (x
2
, y
2
)(x
n
, y
n
), n>2
Best fit (regression or least square) line
Excel, Matlab or KlaidaGraph, of course LabView


Excel Example
Find a and b in calibration curve
y=ax+b

Believe it or not you can actually do it by hand:



n
x a y
b
x x n
y x y x n
a
n
i
i
n
i
i
n
i
i
n
i
i
n
i
i
n
i
i
n
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i i
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=



= =
= =
= = =
1 1
2
1 1
2
1 1 1
Intercept
Slope
How does pressure (P) relate to altitude (h)?
Assume constant temperature gradient dT/dh, the altitude h is
a function of pressure P given by:




where
h = altitude (above sea level) (Units in feet)
P
0
= standard atmosphere pressure= 101325Pa
T
0
= 288.15K (+15C)
dT/dh=-0.0065 K/m: thermal gradient or standard temperature lapse
rate
R = for air 287.052 m
2
/s
2
/K
g = (9.80665 m/s)
( )
( )
(
(
(

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=

g
R
dh
dT
P
P
dh
dT
T
h
0
0
1
Reference: (1976 US standard atmosphere)
How to relate pressure to altitude?
Plug in all the constants




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=
1902 . 0
5
kPa 325 . 101
kPa) (
1 10 4544 . 1
P
h
h is measured in feet.
This equation is calibrated up to 36,090 feet (11,000m).
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_pressure
A more general equation can be used to calculate the
relationship for different layers of atmosphere

(1)
It is finally rocket time!

Time (second)
Voltage

Time (second)
Altitude
Time (second)
Pressure

Calibration curve
Equation (1)
Thermistors
Thermistors are widely used for temperature
sensing purposes (sensitivity, accuracy, reliability)
Thermistors are temperature dependent resistors
Most common: Negative-Temperature Coefficient
(NTC) thermistors
NTC themistors have nonlinear R-T characteristics
Steinhart-Hart equation is widely used to model
the R-T relationship.
More background: http://www.thermometrics.com/assets/images/ntcnotes.pdf

Examples: thermistors in your car
Air conditioning and seat temperature controls.
Electronic fuel injection, in which air-inlet, air/fuel
mixture and cooling water temperatures are
monitored to help determine the fuel concentration
for optimum injection.
Warning indicators such as oil and fluid temperatures,
oil level and turbo-charger switch off.
Fan motor control, based on cooling water
temperature
Frost sensors, for outside temperature measurement
Basic characteristics of thermistors
(1) Operating temperature range
(2) Zero power resistance of thermistor
R=R
0
expB(1/T-1/T
0
), T, T
0
are ambient
temperatures, R, R
0
are corresponding resistances
and B is the B-constant (or constant ) of the
thermistor
Or B=ln(R/R
0
)/(1/T-1/T
0
)
(3) Since thermistor is a resistor, power dissipation
P=C(T
2
-T
1
), where C is the thermal dissipation
constant (mW/C). This causes self-heating.
(4) Thermal time constant


R-T characteristics of thermistor
A common 10kOhm NTC thermistor
It is nonlinear!!
Temperature goes up more
charges in semiconductor
resistance goes down! (NTC)
Relating T to R:
Steinhart-Hart (S-H) Equations
3 term form:

2 term form:



T is measured in Kevin.
Measure 3 resistances and 3 temperatures, you can
solve three unknowns C
1
, C
2
and C
3.
Matrix inversion (linear algebra)
Minimize (least square) error in curve fitting
Once C
1
, C
2
and C
3
are known, S-H equation (for your
sensor) can be used to predict T based on R
measurement.

3
3 2 1
) ln( ) ln(
1
R C R C C
T
+ + =
2 2 1 1
2 1
' , ' Note
) ln( ' '
1
C C C C
R C C
T
= =
+ =
Solve C
1
, C
2
and C
3


3
3 2 1
) ln( ) ln(
1
R C R C C
T
+ + =
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
X) solve known, are B (A,
ln ln 1
ln ln 1
ln ln 1
ln ln
ln ln
ln ln
1
1
1
3
2
1
3
3 3
3
2 2
3
1 1
3
3 3 3 2 1
3
2 3 2 2 1
3
1 3 1 2 1
3
2
1
X B A
C
C
C
R R
R R
R R
R C R C C
R C R C C
R C R C C
T
T
T
=
(
(
(

(
(
(

=
(
(
(

+ +
+ +
+ +
=
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

Solve C
1
, C
2
and C
3


3
3 2 1
) ln( ) ln(
1
R C R C C
T
+ + =
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
| | | |
ji
T
ij
b
B
b
B
B
X B B A B
X B A
C
C
C
R R
R R
R R
R C R C C
R C R C C
R C R C C
T
T
T
1 1
where

X) solve known, are B (A,
ln ln 1
ln ln 1
ln ln 1
ln ln
ln ln
ln ln
1
1
1
1
1 1
3
2
1
3
3 3
3
2 2
3
1 1
3
3 3 3 2 1
3
2 3 2 2 1
3
1 3 1 2 1
3
2
1
= =
=
=
(
(
(

(
(
(

=
(
(
(

+ +
+ +
+ +
=
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

Matrix inversion
Matrix determinant
Matrix transpose
Measure thermistor resistance
with R
T
embedded?
(1) Voltage divider circuit
Relating Vout to R
T
(2) Wheatstone bridge circuit*
Balancing the Bridge circuit
Relating Vout to R
T

Embed a thermistor in voltage divider

Design considerations:
V
out
voltage range (signal conditioning in order
to interface with ADC)
V
out
sensitivity varies at different temperature
range (R-T characteristics curve)

+

Vs
R1
RT
Vout
1
R R
R
V V
T
T
S out
+
=
Recall BEM Lab #3:
Where R
T
varies with T
Bridge circuit to embed a thermistor*
Design considerations:
More sensitive to small changes
V
out
voltage range (to interface with ADC)
Reference:
http://www.analog.com/UploadedFiles/Associated_Docs/324555617048500532024843352497435735317
849058268369033Fsect2.PDF
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~ =
=
=
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+

+
=
out S
out S
T
T
out
T
T
S out
V V
V V
R R
R R R R
V
R
R
R
R
R R
R
R R
R
V V
2
2
: Then
& if
0
balanced) is (bridge if
1
1 3 2
3
2
1
3 2
3
1
1
+

Vs
R1
RT
Vout
R2
R3
+ -
Thermistor signal conditioning circuits
REF195
1/4
AD8606
(AD8605)
+
-
10k
Thermistor
To ADC
buffer
+5 V
reference
Voltage divider and a unity gain buffer is required!
nominal at 10k
Vout
Thermistor on rocket!
Voltage
Reading
Resistance
R
T
Temperature
on rocket
S-H equation
(with calibration constants
C
1
, C
2
and C
3
)
Just a voltage divider
In summary
calibrate sensors in the lab
ADC
Analog
voltage
Computer
LabVIEW
Pressures chamber
Signal
conditioning
Analog
0-5V
Environment with
different temperatures
ADC
Analog
voltage
Signal
conditioning
Analog
0-5V



Measurement
circuitry
Thermistor
on rocket



Measurement
circuitry
Pressure sensor
on rocket