Rod strain gauge

The DAQ on a Stick Strain Gauge with Programmable In Amp is one of a series of reference designs highlighting Renesas' precision products with different microcontrollers. This reference design is a self-contained demo showing a complete signal chain solution using Renesas parts and a Renesas microcontroller. The complete reference design is conveniently housed in a USB stick form factor. This compact design draws power through the USB port and uses a graphical user interface (GUI) to display the real-time voltage readings from a bridge strain gauge or a user supplied sensor. The image to the right shows the data acquisition (DAQ) on a stick connected to an external foil strain gauge.

The image below shows a simplified schematic of the strain gauge design. The design uses Renesas'  ISL28634 programmable instrumentation amplifier (in amp), ISL23328 digital potentiometer, ISL28233 operational amplifiers, ISL43840 dual 4-channel multiplexer (Mux) configured as a differential Mux, ISL21010 4.096V voltage reference, ISL21010 3.3V voltage reference, the ISL26104 24-bit Delta-Sigma converter and the R5F10JBC (RL78/G1C) microcontroller.

Key Features

• Self-contained demo platform

• 24-bit ADC with programmable sample rate

• Zero-drift amplifiers

• Real-time graphing on a GUI

• Programmable gains available for user supplied sensors

Software and Tools

The installation application includes the following items:

• GUI software

• Desktop shortcut for easy access

• Quick tutorial video for installing and operating software under “Resources”