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12 - Chapter 5
12 - Chapter 5
5.1 INTRODUCTION
single-element and differential capacitive sensors, and provides a linear digital output
frequency converter presented in chapter-3, it does not employ any complex analog
blocks, and thus realizes a capacitance measurement scheme which is simple, yet
efficient. This approach is also very useful for capacitive sensors that need sinusoidal
excitation at a specific frequency for the best performance of the sensor. However, in
certain applications, such requirements will not be present. In such cases, design
engineers will appreciate a simpler scheme like one based on the direct-microcontroller
(µC) approach, which involves just the microcontroller, the sensor, and a few passive
components, [43], [97]. This distinction of the direct-µC interface from the classical
(a)
(b)
data to the microcontroller. In the case of the direct-µC approach the sensing element
resistance through the coupling capacitances that form a part of the sensor structure.
modulates the value of the sensing resistance. To illustrate further, consider the example
parameters in assessing water quality, as shown in Fig. 5. 2(a). In this, the conductivity
of a water column in an insulating tube (e. g. PVC pipe) is determined without exposing
the measurement electrodes to the water, thereby avoiding the possibility of corrosion
and formation of layers of contamination on them which can lead to errors [99]. In
Fig. 5. 2(a), the electrode, insulating pipe, and the water layer directly below the
Resistive sensors are a popular choice to form touchpads [100], and tactile
sensors [101]. Similarly, they are used to measure pressure [102], force [103], [104]
and temperature [105]. Conventional resistive sensing methods have the critical
requirement of direct contact of the resistive element to the measurement circuit. This
requirement limits the versatility in the range of applications, and the reliability of the
sensor. Additionally, the conventional schemes are complex, with the complexity
introduced into the circuit design by the precision sinusoidal excitation, need for several
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ICs and components, corresponding power consumption, need for special signal
resistive sensors, some of the resistive sensors [100], [101] could be converted into
capacitively-coupled ones. This will improve the reliability and the manufacturing
process. Additionally, the final assembly could be simplified as the wired connection is
the focus of the direct-µC scheme presented in this chapter is on measuring the
resistance with no direct contact between the measurement system and the resistive
sensor, in certain applications, the value of the coupling capacitance also has useful
information [106]. This has been addressed in the proposed measurement scheme
applications [28], [40], [41] have their limitations. For instance, in [28] and [41], the
circuits are relatively complex with the requirements of a precise sinusoidal excitation,
and a phase-sensitive detector. The complexity in these circuit designs can be mainly
attributed to the need to measure small resistances in the range of tens of ohms
(<100 Ω).
However, such levels of complexity cannot be justified when, for example, one aims at
scaling the circuit for an array of sensors, or while measuring higher resistance values.
In fact, in the case of the conductivity measurement of water, the resistance of seawater
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(a) (b)
Fig. 5. 2 (a) Illustration of non-contact conductivity measurement of water in an insulating pipe. (b) Block diagram of the proposed
direct microcontroller interface for capacitively-coupled resistive sensor.
(55000 S/cm [42]) in an insulated cylindrical column of length 10 cm and diameter
2.5 cm is in the range of a few hundred ohms, but that of a drinking water outlet
(diameter ¼ inch or 6.35 mm pipe could be sufficient) is a few hundreds of kohm. The
conductivity of drinking (tap) water varies from 50-800 S/cm [42]. Thus, for the
This would be very promising in the water quality monitoring to determine the
potability of drinking water [42] and the quality of river water [44], [45].
Direct microcontroller interfaces have been developed for the measurement of resistive
[97], [107]-[109], capacitive [23], [43] and inductive [110], [111] sensors. In such
circuits, the microcontroller excites a passive RC or RL network and then measures the
duration of the transient response to reach a predefined threshold, using the embedded
digital timer. The main advantage is that no active electronic component is used
between the sensor and the digital system, i.e. microcontroller, thus reducing the cost,
size, and power consumption of the design. However, the possibility of developing such
direct interfaces for capacitively-coupled resistive sensors has not been explored so far,
In this chapter, a detailed study and evaluation of a simple and effective direct
microcontroller interface suitable for the measurement of the resistance and coupling
resistance is independent of the variation in the values of the coupling capacitances, the
charging capacitor, the power supply voltage, and the preset threshold voltage.
Similarly, the measured value of the coupling capacitance is not a function of the
change in the sensor resistance. The proposed scheme is simple in design, consumes
low power, and carries out the measurement in a few milliseconds. It does not use any
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expensive parts and can hence realize a low-cost measurement system. The details of
the proposed direct microcontroller scheme, the effect of the circuit non-idealities and
A block diagram of the proposed direct microcontroller scheme is shown in Fig. 5. 2(b),
where 𝑅𝑥 represents the resistive sensor element. In the example given in Fig. 5. 2(a),
Capacitance is formed between the electrode and the water column as it is separated by
an insulator. The same is valid when an insulated electrode is kept inside the pipe [28].
As illustrated, 𝑅𝑥 , 𝐶1 and 𝐶2 are in series, and the nodes ‘a’ and ‘b’ are accessible for
the direct connection to the µC. The scheme uses a reference resistor 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 , and a fixed
digital input/output pins DIO-1, DIO-2, DIO-3, and DIO-4, an analog input pin A1, a timer
The two terminals of 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 are connected to the two digital pins DIO-1 and DIO-2. The
terminal connected to DIO-2 is also connected to node ‘a’. This node is connected to 𝐶1 .
One end of the 𝐶2 is accessible at node ‘b’. The effective capacitance 𝐶12 due to the
coupling capacitances 𝐶1 and 𝐶2 equals 𝐶12 = (𝐶1 𝐶2 ⁄(𝐶1 + 𝐶2 )). The fixed capacitor
𝐶 is connected across node ‘b’ and ground. The node ‘b’ is also connected to DIO-3 and
A1, as given in Fig. 5. 2(b). 𝐶, along with 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 , and the capacitively-coupled resistive
sensor, form the RC circuit that enables the measurement of 𝑅𝑥 in this direct-µC
scheme. The operation of the scheme is explained below assuming ideal components.
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As for the microcontroller, the digital pins in HZ state are assumed to have an infinite
input resistance, while those set as output, a zero output resistance. The non-idealities
5. 2. 1 Measurement of 𝑹𝒙
To estimate 𝑅𝑥 , in the proposed direct-µC approach, the system operates in two modes
based on if the sensing resistance 𝑅𝑥 alone is present, or if the reference resistance 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓
is also present. Thus, the modes are, mode - 𝑅𝑥 and mode - (𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 + 𝑅𝑥 ), respectively.
execute this, the state of the pins DIO-1, DIO-2, and DIO-3 are set as per Table 5.1, where
LOW refers to 0 V or ground, HIGH to the dc voltage 𝑉𝐷𝐷 , and HZ indicates a high-
impedance state. DIO-3 is in HZ state during the charging and discharging cycles. A
begins when a start pulse (high to low transition) is provided at pin DIO-4. Then, the µC
sets DIO-1, DIO-2, and DIO-3 to 0 V, to discharge any residual charges that may be present
in the capacitances. This is indicated as state ‘0’ in Fig. 5. 3. Following this, DIO-2 is set
to HIGH, and DIO-1 can be set to either HIGH or HZ. This is indicated as state ‘1’ in
𝐶 constitute the RC circuit. In this condition, 𝐶 is charged to the final voltage 𝑉𝐹 given
by (5. 1). The measurement unit is in state ‘1’ for a preset time 𝑇𝐶ℎ1 . 𝑇𝐶ℎ1 >> (𝑅𝑥 𝐶𝑒𝑞 ),
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Table 5.1 States of digital pins
𝐶12
𝑉𝐹 = 𝑉𝐷𝐷 𝐶 (5. 1)
12 +𝐶
As soon as the time 𝑇𝐶ℎ1 is over, the state ‘1’ ends and the state ‘2’ begins, as in
illustrated in Fig. 5. 4(a), where 𝐼𝑑𝑐ℎ1 indicates the associated discharging current. In
state ‘2’, DIO-1 can be in either LOW or HZ states. In this discharging phase, the voltage
𝑣𝑐𝑓 across 𝐶 is fed to the input of the comparator OC via A1, and compared with a
preset DC threshold voltage 𝑉𝑇𝐿 , as illustrated in Fig. 5. 3. The time interval 𝑇1 taken
for 𝑣𝑐𝑓 to reduce from 𝑉𝐹 to 𝑉𝑇𝐿 is measured by the embedded timer, which starts
counting when the discharge begins and stops when 𝑣𝑐𝑓 = 𝑉𝑇𝐿 (via interrupt to timer
from OC output 𝑣𝑂𝐶 ). During the discharging phase in state ‘2’, (5. 2) can be written
when 𝑣𝑐𝑓 = 𝑉𝑇𝐿 . It is assumed that 𝑉𝐹 > 𝑉𝑇𝐿 , which can be ensured, in practice, by
selecting a value of 𝐶 such that 𝐶 < 𝐶12 , and setting 𝑉𝑇𝐿 < 𝑉𝐷𝐷 /2.
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Fig. 5. 3 Timing diagram of the proposed direct-µC scheme. The signal ‘ Start’ indicates the output of DIO-4.
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Fig. 5. 4 Discharge path of 𝐶 during (a) state ‘ 2’ , and (b) state ‘ 5.
𝑉𝑇𝐿 = 𝑉𝐹 𝑒 −𝑇1⁄𝑅𝑥 𝐶𝑒𝑞 (5. 2)
𝑉
𝑇1 = 𝑅𝑥 𝐶𝑒𝑞 ln (𝑉 𝐹 ) (5. 3)
𝑇𝐿
The measurement unit is in state ‘2’ for a preset time 𝑇𝐷ℎ1 , where 𝑇𝐷ℎ1 = 𝑇𝐶ℎ1 . If 𝑅𝑥 is
computed using (5. 3), its accuracy depends on the accuracy in the measurement of 𝐶𝑒𝑞 ,
introduced, as explained next. Once state ‘2’ is completed, the C sets DIO-1, DIO-2, and
DIO-3 once again to LOW (like in state ‘0’). This is indicated as state ‘3’.
The next measurement is made in mode - (𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 + 𝑅𝑥 ). In this mode, the RC circuit has
both 𝑅𝑥 and 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 in series. DIO-2 is set to HZ throughout this mode. DIO-1 is set to HIGH
to charge 𝐶 to 𝑉𝐹 , and LOW for it to discharge through the same path. These are
executed through the states ‘4’ and ‘5’, respectively, as illustrated in Fig. 5. 3. The
preset intervals for the states ‘4’ and ‘5’ are 𝑇𝐶ℎ2 and 𝑇𝐷ℎ2 . 𝑇𝐶ℎ2 = 𝑇𝐷ℎ2 and 𝑇𝐶ℎ2 , 𝑇𝐷ℎ2
>> [(𝑅𝑥 + 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 )𝐶𝑒𝑞 ]. As in mode - 𝑅𝑥 , the time interval taken by 𝐶 to discharge from
𝑉𝐹 to 𝑉𝑇𝐿 is measured. As illustrated in Fig. 5. 4(b), the discharging current 𝐼𝑑𝑐ℎ2 flows
through 𝑅𝑥 , 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 and 𝐶12 . In this condition, the expressions for 𝑉𝑇𝐿 and the
corresponding discharge time, namely 𝑇2 , are given by (5. 4) and (5. 5), respectively.
case continuous measurements are to be made, the circuit operation enters state ‘6’ once
the discharge phase in mode - (𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 + 𝑅𝑥 ) is completed. This state is identical to state
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𝑉
𝑇2 = (𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 + 𝑅𝑥 )𝐶𝑒𝑞 ln (𝑉𝐶𝐹) (5. 5)
𝑇𝐿
𝑇2 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓
=1+ (5. 6)
𝑇1 𝑅𝑥
𝑅
𝑅𝑥 = (𝑇 𝑟𝑒𝑓 𝑇 (5. 7)
2−𝑇 ) 1
1
in terms of the timer outputs 𝑇1 and 𝑇2 , and the known resistor 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 . Since 𝑇1 and 𝑇2
are outputs from the digital timer, the final output is digital. As can be seen from (5. 7),
the output does not depend on the value of the other parameters of the system such as
of 𝑅𝑥 . However, the measurement output does depend on 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 . For this reason, such a
reference component should be selected with a low tolerance and a low thermal
sensitivity.
5. 2. 2 Measurement of 𝑪𝟏𝟐
In certain applications, the value of the effective coupling capacitance 𝐶12 carries useful
information. For example, in the case of resistance measurement of the water column
in pipes, the actual inner diameter of the pipe will change over long time, due to
will be higher, for the same conductivity, compared to that measured with the original
dimensions of the pipe. In such a scenario, the measurement of the coupling capacitance
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𝐶12 can provide information about these inner layers formed and, hence, corrective
method can also be used to measure the capacitance value, in addition to the resistance
value, in lossy capacitive sensors where the resistance and capacitance are in series, in
To measure 𝐶12 , the same two modes of operation, mode - 𝑅𝑥 and mode - (𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 + 𝑅𝑥 )
are used. The only difference is that in each mode an additional measurement
measurements are made, namely, one corresponding to 𝑉𝑇𝐿 and the other to 𝑉𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤 ,
𝑉𝑇𝐿 , and 𝑇1𝑛𝑒𝑤 for 𝐶 to discharge to 𝑉𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤 . To determine 𝑇1𝑛𝑒𝑤 , 𝑉𝑇𝐿 and 𝑇1 in (5. 2)
𝑉𝑇𝐿
𝑇1𝑛𝑒𝑤 − 𝑇1 = 𝑅𝑥 𝐶𝑒𝑞 ln (𝑉 ) (5. 9)
𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤
the decaying exponential curve given in (5. 4), 𝑇2𝑛𝑒𝑤 is measured based on (5. 10).
Further, from (5. 4) and (5. 10), (5. 11) is arrived at, as shown below.
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𝑉𝑇𝐿
𝑇2𝑛𝑒𝑤 − 𝑇2 = (𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 + 𝑅𝑥 )𝐶𝑒𝑞 ln (𝑉 ) (5. 11)
𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤
The selection of the threshold voltages 𝑉𝑇𝐿 and 𝑉𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤 must be done such that,
i) The difference between 𝑉𝑇𝐿 and 𝑉𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤 is much higher than the typical noise
level in both the signal 𝑣𝑐𝑓 and the input of the comparator.
ii) The difference in the measured time coming from (5. 9) and (5. 11) is much
Fig. 5. 5 Timing diagram illustrating the 𝑣𝑐𝑓 and 𝑣𝑂𝐶 waveforms, in Mode-𝑅𝑥
and Mode-(𝑅𝑥 + 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 ), using two threshold voltages 𝑉𝑇𝐿 and 𝑉𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤 .
Let 𝑇1𝑛𝑒𝑤 − 𝑇1 = ∆𝑇1 and 𝑇2𝑛𝑒𝑤 − 𝑇2 = ∆𝑇2 . Then, the difference between (5. 11) and
𝑉𝑇𝐿
∆𝑇2 − ∆𝑇1 = 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 𝐶𝑒𝑞 ln (𝑉 ) (5. 12)
𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤
∆𝑇2 −∆𝑇1
𝐶𝑒𝑞 = 𝑉𝑇𝐿 . (5. 13)
𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 ln ( )
𝑉𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤
Thus, using the value of 𝐶𝑒𝑞 obtained from (5.13), the value of the coupling capacitance
The above method to measure 𝐶12 is a simple, yet efficient one. According to (5. 13),
𝐶𝑒𝑞 and hence 𝐶12 depend on 𝑉𝑇𝐿 and 𝑉𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤 . A one-time correction to reduce the effect
5. 3 EFFECT OF NON-IDEALITIES
The important sources of error and their effects on the final output are discussed in this
section. The input offset voltage of the comparator, inaccuracies in the threshold
voltages, variations in 𝑉𝐷𝐷 , internal resistance and parasitic capacitance of digital pins,
Let 𝑉𝑂𝑆 be the input offset voltage of the comparator OC. In its presence, (5. 3) and
𝑉𝐶𝐹
𝑇1 = 𝑅𝑥 𝐶𝑒𝑞 ln (𝑉 ) (5. 15)
𝑇𝐿 ±𝑉𝑂𝑆
𝑉𝐶𝐹
𝑇2 = (𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 + 𝑅𝑥 )𝐶𝑒𝑞 ln (𝑉 ) (5. 16)
𝑇𝐿 ±𝑉𝑂𝑆
Dividing (5. 16) by (5. 15) gives the same equation as (5. 6), from which 𝑅𝑥 can be
obtained as in (5. 7). Thus, the presence of 𝑉𝑂𝑆 has no impact on the determination of
The same analysis holds good for the effect of variation in the threshold voltage. As
can be seen in (5. 15) and (5. 16), any change in the threshold voltage comes as an
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presence of 𝑉𝑂𝑆 , the inaccuracy of the threshold voltage does not affect the accuracy of
the final output provided that it is stable within one measurement cycle.
𝑉𝑇𝐿 ±𝑉𝑂𝑆
∆𝑇2 − ∆𝑇1 = 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 𝐶𝑒𝑞 ln (𝑉 ) (5. 17)
𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤±𝑉𝑂𝑆
′
The resulting capacitance obtained herein can be termed as 𝐶𝑒𝑞 , and is given by (5. 18).
′
The corresponding coupling capacitance 𝐶12 is given in (5. 19).
′ 𝐶𝑒𝑞
𝐶𝑒𝑞 = 1+𝜖 (5. 18)
′ 𝐶𝑒𝑞 𝐶
𝐶12 = 𝐶(1+𝜖)−𝐶 (5. 19)
𝑒𝑞
In (5. 18), 𝐶𝑒𝑞 is the capacitance in the absence of 𝑉𝑂𝑆 given by (5. 13), and
1± 𝑉𝑂𝑆 ⁄𝑉𝑇𝐿
𝜖 = ln [1± ]⁄ln (𝑉𝑇𝐿 ⁄𝑉𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤 ). For a typical 𝑉𝑂𝑆 of 10 mV, and threshold
𝑉𝑂𝑆 ⁄𝑉𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤
voltages of 𝑉𝑇𝐿 = 500 mV and 𝑉𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤 = 300 mV, then 𝜖 =−0.02. The value of (1 + 𝜖)
′ (1
In the later measurements, the actual 𝐶𝑒𝑞 can be calculated as 𝐶𝑒𝑞 + 𝜖), and the same
can be used to estimate 𝐶12 as in (5. 14). As can be seen in (5.17), the capacitance
measurement will be affected due to drift in the input offset voltage. To keep this effect
low, IC with low offset voltage drift needs to be selected when implemented.
As mentioned above, the effect of change in the threshold voltage can be represented
as an equivalent 𝑉𝑂𝑆 . Therefore, when compensated for the effect of 𝑉𝑂𝑆 in the 𝐶12
measurement, the effect due to inaccuracy of the threshold voltages will also get
corrected.
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5. 3. 2 Variation in the Voltage 𝑽𝑫𝑫
The dc voltage 𝑉𝐷𝐷 provided by a digital pin in HIGH state is not derived from a
precision voltage source. Hence, variations are expected in it, e.g., 𝑉𝐷𝐷 ± ∆𝑣𝑑𝑑 , where
∆𝑣𝑑𝑑 is the variation. As one cycle measurement is completed in a very short time,
∆𝑣𝑑𝑑 is assumed to remain constant during that cycle. In such a case, as 𝑉𝐶𝐹 =
(𝑉𝐷𝐷 ± ∆𝑣𝑑𝑑 )𝐶12⁄(𝐶12 + 𝐶), (5. 3) and (5. 5) become (5. 20) and (5. 21), respectively.
As for the measurement of 𝐶12 , the variation in 𝑉𝐷𝐷 is irrelevant since the time
differences as per (5. 9), (5. 11) and 𝐶12 as per (5. 14) do not have the term 𝑉𝐷𝐷 .
Digital pins offering zero output resistance were assumed while explaining the
operation in section 5. 2. To analyze the impact of the internal resistance 𝑅𝑖 of the digital
pin in the measurement of 𝑅𝑥 and 𝐶12 , it is assumed that identical 𝑅𝑖 is present at each
digital input pin. In reality, there may be a mismatch of about a tenth of an ohm.
On the other hand, as long as the charging time is sufficiently long (at least, five times
higher) than the charging time constant, the charging phase is negligibly affected by 𝑅𝑖 .
Consequently, in the prototype developed, the measurement of 𝑅𝑥 and 𝐶12 should not
be affected by 𝑅𝑖 .
Each digital pin, together with the PCB trace or cable to the sensor introduces a parasitic
capacitance from the pin to ground. The capacitances 𝐶𝑠1 , 𝐶𝑠2 , and 𝐶𝑠3 , shown in
Fig. 5. 6, represent these parasitic capacitances, respectively, from node DIO-1, DIO-2,
and DIO-3 to ground. As these parasitic capacitances are in the range of a few pF, and
the output resistance of the digital pins is in the range of tens of ohms, the discharge-
time measurements in the mode-𝑅𝑥 have negligible impact due to 𝐶𝑠1 and 𝐶𝑠2 . As 𝐶𝑠3
is in parallel to 𝐶, the effective 𝐶 will become 𝐶 + 𝐶𝑠3 , and 𝐶𝑒𝑞 will get modified as
𝑠3 𝐶12 (𝐶+𝐶𝑠3 )
𝐶𝑒𝑞 = . Since 𝐶𝑒𝑞 is not present in the estimation of 𝑅𝑥 as in (5. 7), there will
𝐶12 +𝐶+𝐶𝑠3
be no effect.
simultaneously: (a) discharging of 𝐶𝑠2 through 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 to ground, and (b) discharging of
𝑠3 𝑠3
𝐶𝑒𝑞 through (𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 + 𝑅𝑥 ). Since the time constant 𝐶𝑠2 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 ≪ 𝐶𝑒𝑞 (𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 + 𝑅𝑥 ), it does
not affect the discharging along the main discharge path (b). To keep the effect of 𝐶𝑠3
very low, the condition 𝐶𝑠3 ≪ 𝐶 should be ensured. As 𝐶 is in nF and 𝐶𝑠3 is in pF, the
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Fig. 5. 6 The parasitic capacitances 𝐶𝑠1 , 𝐶𝑠2 , and 𝐶𝑠3 at the digital input pins.
The resolution of the timer embedded into the microcontroller plays an important role
in the final accuracy. In the prototype developed, the timer has a resolution of 62.5 ns,
and the time interval under measurement is in the range of a few hundred microseconds
for the 𝑅𝑥 measurement. In the case of 𝐶12 measurement, the time difference estimated
as per (5. 9), (5. 11) is in the range of tens of microseconds. Therefore, the limited
resolution of the timer will have more effect on the accuracy of the 𝐶12 measurement.
The hardware prototype of the proposed scheme, presented in Fig. 5. 2(b), was realized
in two steps, for the measurement of both 𝑅𝑥 and 𝐶12 . In the first step, a prototype was
developed to test the feasibility of the approach without using a microcontroller. For
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this, a data acquisition system (DAS), namely Analog Discovery kit (14-bit resolution,
100 MS/s sampling rate) from Digilent, and a Virtual Instrument (VI), developed using
NI LabVIEW, were used. The function generator, included in the DAS, was
programmed to generate the HIGH and LOW state signals as required in the two modes
of measurement given in Table 5. 1 and Fig. 5. 3. As indicated in Table 5.1, DIO-1 can
be in HZ/high in state-1, and HZ/low in state-2. During the experimental tests, it was
kept high during state-1 and low in state-2. In this DAS, the operation of the function
generator is independent of the other operations, e.g., digitization, data transfer, etc.
Thus, the signal at node ‘b’ was digitized using the DAS and analyzed, as described
below. In the second step, a microcontroller-based prototype was developed and tested.
In this case, the two modes of measurement were realized by setting the microcontroller
pins in accordance with Table 5. 1 and Fig. 5. 3. The components used to build the
Fig. 5. 7.
This prototype to assess the practicality of the measurement scheme, was developed in
such a way that its performance was not limited by the non-idealities of the
Fig. 5. 2(b) was realized in hardware with the help of a data acquisition system (DAS).
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First, the mode - 𝑅𝑥 was implemented. For this, the function generator was set to give
a square wave (with a frequency of 200 Hz, amplitude of 5 V, and an offset of 2.5 V)
emulating the function of pin DIO-1. In addition, 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 was shorted with a wire in order
to measure only 𝑅𝑥 . Node ‘b’ was connected to the input of a voltage follower, built
using a very low bias current opamp (LF357), whose output was given to the DAS. The
analog channels of the DAS were used to acquire important waveforms. The
connections to the DAS were made such that channel-1 captured the signal at DIO-1,
whereas channel-2 captured 𝑣𝑐𝑓 at the output of the voltage follower. To operate in
mode - ( 𝑅𝑥 + 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 ), the short across 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 was removed. The developed system
A VI was accordingly developed, using LabVIEW, to acquire the signals from the DAS
and process them, as described further. For a chosen value of 𝑅𝑥 , the 𝑣𝑐𝑓 data during
the discharge phase was analyzed. The VI was programmed to perform an exponential
fit of the 𝑣𝑐𝑓 data and provide the parameters representing the decaying exponential
curve to compute 𝑇1 .
For this computation, 𝑉𝑇𝐿 = 300 mV. Then, the 𝑣𝑐𝑓 data corresponding to mode - ( 𝑅𝑥 +
𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 ) was taken and processed to compute 𝑇2 for the same 𝑉𝑇𝐿 . Once 𝑇1 and 𝑇2 were
computed, the value of 𝑅𝑥 was calculated by the VI using (5.7). This experiment was
repeated for a range of 𝑅𝑥 from 100 k to 500 k, in several steps. Later, this study
was repeated for 50 k, 700 k and 800 k and the accuracy was within the same
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Fig. 5. 7 Photograph of the experimental set-up.
range. The coupling capacitors used in this study were 𝐶1 = 𝐶2 = 4 nF, thus resulting in
𝑉𝐶𝐹 = 3.3 V. In each measurement, the actual value of 𝑅𝑥 was measured using a 6 ½
digit multi-meter, 34410A, from Agilent Technologies. This has an accuracy of the sum
of 0.012% of the range set (1 M) and 0.001% of the reading. This was used to compute
the error introduced by the proposed method. The results are shown in Fig. 5. 8. The
maximum error (expressed as a percentage of the full scale, %FS) noted during the
experiments was 0.28%, indicating the high accuracy of the proposed approach,
As mentioned in section 5.1, for the potential tap water conductivity monitoring
example, in the conductivity range of 50-800 𝜇S/cm [42], the resistance range of the
water column of interest lies in the range between 50 kΩ and 750 kΩ; when the distance
between the electrodes is 12 cm and the inner diameter of the insulating tube is
6.35 mm. The range can vary or adjusted by adjusting the distance between the
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electrodes. As described above, to study the performance of the proposed measurement
scheme, the value of 𝑅𝑥 was incremented in several steps within that range. For low
values of 𝑅𝑥 (say, lower than 1 k) with a coupling capacitance of 2 nF [28], the
discharge time will be very short and the resolution of the timer embedded into the
ATmega328 would not be sufficient to accurately measure it. Thus, for the proposed
design using the ATmega328, the range of 𝑅𝑥 should be such that the discharge time is
sufficiently long for the embedded timer to measure accurately. Once the range of 𝑅𝑥
was fixed, 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 was chosen so that (𝑇2 − 𝑇1 ) is much longer than the timer resolution.
In addition, 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 was set lower than 𝑅𝑥 , to avoid an unnecessary increase of the overall
beneficial for the measurement system to have larger values of 𝑅𝑥 . But when dealing
with higher values of 𝑅𝑥 , it shall not be comparable to the leakage resistances (e.g.
20 MΩ) of the capacitors used. The limiting factor when using large resistors is that of
self-discharge.
Fig. 5. 8 Results from the DAS-based prototype of direct-µC interface for a range
of 𝑅𝑥 . The output and error obtained are shown.
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Fig. 5. 9 𝑣𝑐𝑓 and DIO-1 waveforms recorded, using DAS, from the direct-µC interface prototype during the measurement process. States
0 to 6 correspond to 𝑅𝑥 measurement while 1’ , 2’ , 3’ , 4’ , and 5’ correspond to the cycles used for 𝐶12 measurement.
5. 4. 2 Measurement of 𝑹𝒙 using Microcontroller-based Prototype
In this experiment, instead of using the DAS and the VI as before, the scheme was
signal 𝑣𝑐𝑓 was given to node A1 of the microcontroller, and the built-in timer was
programmed to measure, with a timing resolution of 62.5 ns, the time intervals 𝑇1 and
𝑇2 during the corresponding states ‘2’ and ‘5’, respectively, as given in Table 5.1. The
important waveforms were recorded using the oscilloscope in Analog Discovery kit,
for the charge and discharge cycles for mode - 𝑅𝑥 followed by mode - ( 𝑅𝑥 + 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 ),
as shown in Fig. 5. 9; note that states ‘1’’ to ‘5’’ in Fig. 5. 9 correspond to 𝐶12
the same set of values of 𝑅𝑥 employed in section 5. 4. 1. The value of 𝑅𝑥 in each case,
and the corresponding error in %FS, was computed and is presented in Fig. 5. 10. The
maximum error noted during the experiments was 0.91%. The output of this
experiment, in comparison with that from section 5. 4. 1, reflects the effect of the non-
This testing approach is similar to the one used to prove the feasibility to measure 𝑅𝑥 .
In this study, the signal at DIO-1 was generated using the function generator in the
Analog Discovery kit, serving as DAS. This signal and 𝑣𝑐𝑓 at node 𝑏 were recorded
using the same DAS. This data was provided to the VI developed in section 5. 4. 1, to
perform an exponential fit of the 𝑣𝑐𝑓 data and provide the parameters. It was modified
to compute the time intervals 𝑇1 and 𝑇1𝑛𝑒𝑤 for 𝑉𝑇𝐿 = 500 mV and 𝑉𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤 = 300 mV,
respectively. Afterwards, using the same procedure, 𝑇2 and 𝑇2𝑛𝑒𝑤 were determined.
Once the time values were computed, the value of 𝐶12 was calculated by the VI using
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(5. 14). In these tests, 𝑅𝑥 was kept constant at 100 k and 𝐶12 was varied in steps of
200 pF within the range from 1 nF to 3 nF. The actual values were measured using an
LCR meter (HP 4274A) that has an accuracy of 0.1%. The results obtained are shown
in Fig. 5. 11. The maximum error (full scale) noted from the experiments was −0.96%.
as presented in section 5.2.2., the program for the prototype developed using the
was included in each of the modes, to measure 𝐶12 , along with 𝑅𝑥 . Thus, now there are
four time measurements, two in each of the two modes of operation. The operations of
the digital pins DIO-1, DIO-2, and DIO-3 are identical in both the cycles present in the same
mode. The only change is in the threshold (𝑉𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤 ) used in the new cycles. The
following modes were executed: mode-𝑅𝑥 with 𝑉𝑇𝐿 = 500 mV, followed by the same
mode with 𝑉𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤 = 300 mV, and then mode-(𝑅𝑥 + 𝑅𝑟𝑒𝑓 ) with 𝑉𝑇𝐿 = 500 mV, followed
by with 𝑉𝑇𝐿𝑛𝑒𝑤 = 300 mV, as shown in Fig. 5. 9. This was repeated for the same range
of 𝐶12 as in the DAS-based prototype. From the measured discharging times, the value
of 𝐶12 , in each case, was estimated using (5. 14). The corresponding error in each
measurement was computed, and presented in Fig. 5. 12. As can be seen, the maximum
error noted during the experiments was −2.94% (full scale). Based on the results given
in section 5. 4. 3, one can conclude that an improvement in the accuracy of the results
An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the noise and resolution in the
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𝐶12 were set to 100 k and 1 nF, respectively, and 200 readings were recorded in a
continuous manner. From this data, the signal to noise ratio (SNR), standard deviation,
𝜎, effective number of bits (ENOB), and repeatability, d, were computed using the
formulae given in Table 5. 3, and presented in the same table. Accordingly, a resolution
of 8 bits is feasible for the measurement of both 𝑅𝑥 and 𝐶12 which is a remarkable value
considering the simplicity of the proposed circuit and the complexity of the sensor
circuit model.
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Fig. 5. 12 Results from the microcontroller-based prototype for the measurement
of 𝐶12 .
Table 5. 3 Noise and Resolution Study for the proposed Direct-µC Interface
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The repeatability experiment was repeated for a resistance range of 50 k to 800 k as
given in Table 5. 4. Output was recorded for a data length of hundred measurements,
for each resistor, and the corresponding standard deviation (SD) was computed. As
presented in Table 5. 4, the SD is in the range of 0.301 k to 0.305 k for all the
resistors tested.
Later, the experiment was continued for 100 k, for 12 hrs. In this, the microcontroller
was powered all the time and hundred measurements were recorded for every one hour
and the corresponding SD was computed. This data is presented in Table 5. 5. Again,
not much variation in the SD of the measured outputs is observed throughout the day.
5. 5 DISCUSSION
When resistance and capacitance in series to be measured, other than the conventional
bridge-based ones [103] that require manual balancing, a widely used method is
multipliers, low pass filters, followed by digitizer and a processor for computation. A
transform of the digitized signal. The demodulation approach gives high accuracy but
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multiplication, and overall power consumption. A scheme based on modified Martin
current source. The oscillator has to be operated in four different modes, and then the
values of resistance and capacitance are computed from the four oscillator time periods
several schemes available for the measurement of capacitance [38], [115] and resistance
[103], [116] but none of these are useful to measure resistance from a capacitively-
coupled resistance.
[43], and inductance in [110], [111]. In [120] both resistance and capacitance were
measured, but for a lossy capacitive sensor where resistance and capacitance are in
parallel.
The capacitively-coupled resistive sensor has not been explored so far from the
given in Table 5. 6. A previous work [112] by the authors deals with a suitable circuit
for such a sensor, but it was designed to measure only the resistance. In some
applications, however, the value of the capacitance that is in series with the resistive
interface could measure both resistance and capacitance. In this context, it is for the
capacitively-coupled resistive sensor has been developed and evaluated. The proposed
method of estimating the coupling capacitance 𝐶12 does not require any additional
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hardware compared to the initial study presented in [112]. Since the direct
microcontroller interface is simple, robust, low-cost, and consumes less power [98], it
offers the opportunity to realize portable and scalable measurement systems that can be
par with the schemes (without special calibration) available to individually measure
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5. 6 CONCLUSION
presented in this chapter, measuring both the resistance and the coupling capacitance,
has been attempted for the first time. The measured resistance output is independent of
the values of the coupling capacitances, the charging capacitor, the dc excitation
voltage, and the preset threshold voltage. When a resistive sensor is coupled to the
measurement system through capacitances, one of the main challenges is to make the
conventional approaches. The proposed circuit is simple in design and completes both
measurements in 10 ms. The feasibility study of the proposed circuit for resistance and
measurement is 0.91%, and that for the coupling capacitance is 2.94%. Higher accuracy
The proffered scheme employs only a simple microcontroller and a few passive
components and hence can realize a low-cost, low-power measurement system. Thus,
the proposed measurement circuit offers an attractive choice for a simple, yet efficient,
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