Published April 19, 2016 © LGPL

PSoC : Auto Ranging Ohms Meter

Utilizing IDAC to inject current through unknown Resistor & measuring Voltage across it with 12 bit ADC finally Ohms Law to find Resistance.

BeginnerFull instructions provided3 hours3,649

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Cypress PSoC 4 Prototyping Kit

Adafruit Standard LCD - 16x2 White on Blue

Solderless Breadboard Full Size

Jumper wires (generic)

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Cypress PSOC CReator 3.0

Story

At last, finished making a 7$ Auto Ranging Ohm- Meter!

That includes 4$ PSoC kit + 2$ LCD + 1$ Breadboard

New version of this project here

Specification

Range : 10 Ohms to about 100 kOhms
Accuracy : Acceptable (not tested in details, about 5% error above 100k and below 100 ohms)
Unit : Shown in Ohms Symbol
Display : Crisp & Backlit
Update : Fast Update Supported
Upgradable : to continuity checker, voltmeter, cap meter with few more code

Yes, not much! But what can you expect from 8 bit DAC and 12 bit ADC, normal DMM has 16 bit ADC or more!

But its AUTO RANGING and FASTER than many real Multimeter!

psoc ohm meter

Working Principle

The working principle is very simple, IDAC (Digital to Analog Current Converter) injects known uA current through unknown Resistor, some voltage drops across that Resistor. ADC measures that Voltage drop and ARM CPU Calculated the Resistance in Ohms

Ohms = Voltage / Current.

The Auto Ranging Trick

So, how dose the auto ranging works ? Well, this PSoC chip got a 8 bit IDAC module which can inject programmable current from 1.2uA ~ 306 uA in steps of 1.2 uA. (8bit = 255 values = 306uA / 1.2uA ---- all the same).

We know V= I x R

where I is the IDAC Current and R is the Unknown Resistance.

But wait, what if R is too large or Open Circuit, will V exceed the supply voltage ( 5 volts here) of the PSoC ? No, in that case V will reach maximum supply voltage.

Facts about IDAC:

IDAC is a current source/sink, so you can short it to Ground or V supply.
IDAC pin goes to 5 volt when set current (suppose you set 3.6 uA current but it cant flow through the load) can not flow.
IDAC pin goes to Gnd potential when shorted to Gnd.
IDAC consumes Analog Routing (paths inside PSoC, which is a limited resource).

Configuring the 12-Bit ADC

The 12 bit ADC can be configured as

Single Ended ( range from Gnd to V ref)
Unsigned ( makes Max range = 2*Vref)
12bit (4096 discrete values )
Internal Vref of 1.024 volts

ADC Setting

Which means, in this project the ADC is configured to measure from 0 volts to 2048 mV in resolution of 0.5 micro-volts. (2048/0.5= 4096 values).

Now, suppose we have an unknown R, first we start injecting with the highest IDAC current (which is 306 uA), if the V drop exceed 2000 mV (which equals to 4000 of ADC Data), MCU reduces the IDAC by one step and measures again with ADC, this keeps happening until a voltage drop is found with in the range of 0 to 2000 mV.

Now the CPU knows the V across R from ADC, which is converted into micro volt.

From the IDAC's last set value, current I Inject is calculate I= IDAC_Val * 1.2 uA (micro amp).

Finally, CPU calculates resistance form uV/uA = Ohms.

1 / 7 • Ohming in Action

The Ohm Symbol

Ohm Symbol

Notes

The on kit switch P0.7 can not be used during runtime because it is used as one of the LCD pin but it can still be used to enter bootloader programming during power up!

Reboot Timer saves the annoyance of plugging and unplugging the kit on usb during debugging/programming. It's not part of the Auto Range Ohm Meter Project.

Schematics

Code

Main C

#include <project.h>

int current =0;
int voltage =0;
int resistance=0;
char str_resistance[5];
unsigned int IDAC_Val=0xff;
//Prototype the ISR Handler

CY_ISR_PROTO(RebootISR_Handler);

// Implement ISR
CY_ISR(RebootISR_Handler)
{
    // Enters Bootloader here and shows message
  LCD_Char_ClearDisplay();
    CyGlobalIntDisable;
    LCD_Char_PrintString(" Restarting... ");
    CyDelay(500);
    LCD_Char_ClearDisplay();
    LCD_Char_PrintString("READY to PROGRAM");
    LCD_Char_Position (1,0);
    LCD_Char_PrintString("< Upload Code > ");
    
    // Restart and enter bootloader 
    Bootloadable_Load();

    
}



int main()
{   int c=4095;
    LCD_Char_Start();
  // LCD_Char_LoadCustomFonts();
   
    Reboot_Timer_Start();
    ADC_Start();
    IDAC_Inject_Start();
    

    
    // Enable ISR and clear pending, if any !
    RebootISR_ClearPending();
    RebootISR_StartEx( RebootISR_Handler );
    CyGlobalIntEnable;
 
  
    IDAC_Val=0xff;
     IDAC_Inject_SetValue(IDAC_Val);
    ADC_StartConvert();
    
    LCD_Char_PrintString("PSoC Auto Range");
    LCD_Char_Position(1,0);
    LCD_Char_PrintString("  Ohms Meter  ");
    CyDelay(2000);
    LCD_Char_ClearDisplay();
 
  for(;;)
  {
    IDAC_Val=0xff;
    c=4095;
   
   
    // the following while loop does the AUTO RANGING
while((IDAC_Val>0)&&(c>=4000))
{
    
    IDAC_Val=IDAC_Val-0x01;
    IDAC_Inject_SetValue(IDAC_Val);
    CyDelay(3);
    while( ADC_IsEndConversion(ADC_RETURN_STATUS)){}
    c=ADC_GetResult16(0);
   // LCD_Char_ClearDisplay();
    CyDelay(2);
     
   
}
   

if (c<4000)
{
    IDAC_Inject_SetValue(IDAC_Val);
    CyDelay(1);
    // while( ADC_IsEndConversion(ADC_RETURN_STATUS)){}
    //  c=ADC_GetResult16(0);
    current= IDAC_Val*1.2;    // in uAmp
    voltage=c*1000/2;  // in uVolt

     resistance= voltage/current;
    
  //  sprintf(str_resistance,"%f",resistance);
    LCD_Char_ClearDisplay();
    LCD_Char_PrintString("   Resistance");
    LCD_Char_Position(1,3);
  //  LCD_Char_PrintString("in Ohms= ");
    if (resistance<950000)
    {LCD_Char_PrintU32Number(resistance);
    
     LCD_Char_PrintString(" ");
    
     LCD_Char_PutChar(LCD_Char_CUSTOM_0);
    }
    else 
    {
        LCD_Char_ClearDisplay();
        LCD_Char_PrintString("Connect Resistor");
      
    }
     
    CyDelay(300);
    
  
    

  }
 

}


// Num to String
}

Credits

Shahariar

74 projects • 266 followers

"What Kills a 'Great life' is a 'Good Life', which is Living a Life Inside While Loop"

PSoC : Auto Ranging Ohms Meter

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Specification

Working Principle

The Auto Ranging Trick

Configuring the 12-Bit ADC

The Ohm Symbol

Notes

Custom parts and enclosures

PSoC Project File

Schematics

PSoC Intern Sch

Code

Main C

Credits

Shahariar

Comments

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PSoC : Auto Ranging Ohms Meter

PSoC : Auto Ranging Ohms Meter

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Specification

Working Principle

The Auto Ranging Trick

Configuring the 12-Bit ADC

The Ohm Symbol

Notes

Custom parts and enclosures

PSoC Project File

Schematics

PSoC Intern Sch

Code

Main C

Credits

Shahariar

Comments

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