- #1
CameronRose
- 12
- 1
Hi everyone,
I'm working on a college project this year about mountain bike suspension damping. By trade I'm a mechanical engineer however, I'm required to construct a simple sensor circuit to monitor the performance of the damper I am making. Forgive me if my wording or logic is not quite correct on certain aspects.
I picked up a sliding potentiometer to use as a sensor since it was astronomically cheaper than inductive or other resistive options. The system has to be entirely stand-alone since, it will be tested in real world environments. I decided to connect the potentiometer in series with a standard 1.5V AA battery and a 150K resistor since the current rating on the pot is <10uA. As far as observation with a multimeter goes, this is functional. However, the stand-alone voltage data logger I own can only record in increments of 0.01V, this is an issue since the potentiometer voltage ranges between 0 and 0.05V which would only allow me ever to (optimistically) record 5 different values. Not nearly a good enough resolution to demonstrate damping trends.
I believe the solution lies in amplifying the voltage signal from the sensor however, I haven't a clue where to start when it comes to choosing an amplifier and I am even less familiar with how I would go about wiring one to do the required task.
Specifications
Potentiometer - 5K Ohms, <10uA, 200mm travel
Data Logger - 0-32V in increments of 0.01V, USB interface, 400Hz recording speed
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Cameron.
I'm working on a college project this year about mountain bike suspension damping. By trade I'm a mechanical engineer however, I'm required to construct a simple sensor circuit to monitor the performance of the damper I am making. Forgive me if my wording or logic is not quite correct on certain aspects.
I picked up a sliding potentiometer to use as a sensor since it was astronomically cheaper than inductive or other resistive options. The system has to be entirely stand-alone since, it will be tested in real world environments. I decided to connect the potentiometer in series with a standard 1.5V AA battery and a 150K resistor since the current rating on the pot is <10uA. As far as observation with a multimeter goes, this is functional. However, the stand-alone voltage data logger I own can only record in increments of 0.01V, this is an issue since the potentiometer voltage ranges between 0 and 0.05V which would only allow me ever to (optimistically) record 5 different values. Not nearly a good enough resolution to demonstrate damping trends.
I believe the solution lies in amplifying the voltage signal from the sensor however, I haven't a clue where to start when it comes to choosing an amplifier and I am even less familiar with how I would go about wiring one to do the required task.
Specifications
Potentiometer - 5K Ohms, <10uA, 200mm travel
Data Logger - 0-32V in increments of 0.01V, USB interface, 400Hz recording speed
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Cameron.