AN512

Implementing Ohmmeter/Temperature Sensor

Author: Doug Cox Microchip Technology, Inc.

FIGURE 1:

OHMMETER/TEMPERATURE SENSOR
RC RA0

INTRODUCTION
This application note describes a method for implementing an ohmmeter or resistance type temperature sensor using the PIC16C5X series of microcontrollers. The ohmmeter requires only two external components and is software and hardware congurable for resistance measurement with resolutions from 6-bits to 10-bits with measurement times of 250 s (6-bits at 8 MHz) or longer. This method uses a software calibration technique that compensates for voltage, time, and temperature drift as well as component errors. PIC16C5X microcontrollers are ideal for simple analog applications because: Very low cost Few external components required Fully programmable. PIC16C5X Microcontrollers are offered as One Time Programmable (OTP) EPROM devices. Available off the shelf from distributors Calibration in software for improved measurement accuracy Power savings using PIC16C5Xs Sleep mode. PIC16C5Xs output pins have large, current source/sink capability to drive LEDs directly.

RA1 RM RA2 T0CKI RP PIC16C54 C

RP is a small resistor (100-200) which limits peak current through RA2 while discharging, or through RA2 or T0CKI in the event of an Electro-Static Discharge (ESD) or Electrical Over Stress (EOS) related breakdown.

FIGURE 2:
Voltage on C VIHRT

OHMMETER/TEMPERATURE SENSOR
TM TC TM RM C TC RC C

RM = TM x Rc TC

TIME

THEORY OF OPERATION
This application uses a capacitive charging circuit (Figure 1) to convert resistance to time, which can be easily measured using a microcontroller. First, a reference voltage (usually VDD) is applied to a calibration resistor, Rc. The capacitor C is charged up until the threshold on the chip input trips. This generates a software calibration value that is used to calibrate out most circuit errors, including inaccuracies in the capacitor, changes in the input threshold voltage and temperature variations. After C is discharged, the reference voltage is applied to the resistance to be measured (or thermistor). The time to trip the threshold is then measured and compared to the calibration value to determine the actual resistance (Figure 2). In the temperature sensing mode, the temperature is calculated using a lookup table.

1997 Microchip Technology Inc.

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CIRCUIT CONFIGURATION
The values of Rc and C are selected based upon the number of bits of resolution required. Rc should be approximately one half the largest value resistance to be measured and:
C= -T RM IN 1 - VT VR

CIRCUIT PERFORMANCE
The calibration cycle removes all rst order errors (offset, gain, C inaccuracy, power supply voltage and temperature) except R absolute accuracy. A low drift resistor should be selected for R and its value stored in software to reduce measurement errors. Other error sources are I/O pin leakage, resistor and capacitor non-linearities, input threshold uncertainty, and time measurement uncertainty ( one instruction cycle time). Measured performance shows the ohmmeter to be accurate within 1% over one decade.

Where: VR = Reference voltage T = Time to do the number of bits of resolution desired VT = Threshold voltage of the PIC16C5X input being used RM = Maximum resistance value to be measured Actual value for C should be slightly smaller than calculated to ensure that the PIC16C5X does not overcount during the measurement. For example use RM = 200k for 8-bit resolution with an 8 MHz clock, VR = 5V, VT = 3V, Rc = 100k and 6 instruction cycles per count: T = 256 counts 1/8 MHz 4 clocks/instruction 6 instructions/count = 768 s C = 4200 pF [Use 3900 pF]

Example
The assembly code implementing the circuit of Figure 1 is listed in Appendix A. This code measures time up to 16-bits (65535 measure cycles) and calculates the results using 16-bit multiply and divide subroutines. In actual applications, it is more efcient to use 8-bit measurements if application accuracies permit. The math code will be substantially reduced and measurement time is reduced by the simpler code and shorter count.

FIGURE 3:

TRANSMISSION FLOWCHART
Start Initial Setup DISCHARGE Set Cap to Ground MEASURE

Clear TMR0

Call Discharge Setup outputs for calibration

Wait

Clear Counter

Open Cap

Increment Counter

Call MEASURE

Return No

Check for TMR0 Trip Yes Return

Call DISCHARGE Setup outputs for MEASURE

Call MEASURE

Compute results

End

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AN512
Please check the Microchip BBS for the latest version of the source code. Microchips Worldwide Web Address: www.microchip.com; Bulletin Board Support: MCHIPBBS using CompuServe (CompuServe membership not required).

APPENDIX A:

OHMETER SOURCE CODE

OHMETER.ASM 1-16-1997 12:31:45 PAGE 1

MPASM 01.40 Released

LOC OBJECT CODE VALUE

LINE SOURCE TEXT

00000008 0000000A 0000000C 0000000E 00000010 00000012 00000014 00000001 0000002F 0000003C 01FF 01FF 0A58 0000 0000 0001 0002 0003 0004 0005 0006 0007 0008 0009 000A 000B 000C 000D 000E 000F 0010 0011 0012 0013 0014 0015 0016 0017 0018 0209 01EB 0603 02AA 0208 01EA 0800 0000 0915 032E 032F 0603 0900 032A 032B 032C 032D 02F4 0A09 0800 0000 0C10 0034 020A 002E

00001 00002 00003 00004 00005 00006 00007 00008 00009 00010 00011 00012 00013 00014 00015 00016 00017 00018 00019 00020 00021 00022 00023 00024 00025 00026 00027 00028 00029 00030 00031 00032 00033 00034 00035 00036 00037 00038 00039 00040 00041 00042 00043 00044 00045 00046 00047 00048 00049 00050 00051 00052 00053 00054 00055

TITLE LIST

OHMETER/TEMPERATURE SENSING PROGRAM REV 3-29-90 P=16C54

; ;******************************************************************* ; ; Program: OHMETER.ASM ; Revision Date: ; 1-13-97 Compatibility with MPASMWIN 1.40 ; ;******************************************************************* ; ACCA EQU 8 ACCB EQU 0A ACCC EQU 0C ACCD EQU 0E ACCE EQU 10 TCAL EQU 12 TEMP EQU 14 ; F EQU 1 ; RCALMS EQU 2F ;RCAL MSB VALUE IN HEX RCALLS EQU 3C ;RCAL LSB VALUE IN HEX ORG GOTO ORG MADD MOVF ADDWF BTFSC INCF MOVF ADDWF RETLW NOP CALL RRF RRF SKPNC CALL RRF RRF RRF RRF DECFSZ GOTO RETLW NOP MOVLW MOVWF MOVF MOVWF 1FF OHMS 0 ACCA+1,W ACCB+1, F 3,0 ACCB, F ACCA,W ACCB, F 0

;ADD LSB ;ADD IN CARRY

;ADD MSB

MPY MLOOP

SETUP ACCD, F ACCD+1, F MADD ACCB, F ACCB+1, F ACCC, F ACCC+1, F TEMP, F MLOOP 0

;RESULTS IN B(16 MSBS) AND C(16 LSBS) ;ROTATE D RIGHT ;NEED TO ADD?

;LOOP UNTIL ALL BITS CHECKED

SETUP

10 TEMP ACCB,W ACCD

;MOVE B TO D

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0019 001A 001B 001C 001D 001E 001F 0020 0021 0022 0023 0024 0025 0026 0027 0028 0029 002A 002B 002C 002D 002E 002F 0030 0031 0032 0033 0034 0035 0036 0037 0038 0039 003A 003B 003C 003D 003E 003F 0040 0041 0042 0043 0044 0045 0046 0047 0048 0049 004A 004B 004C 004D 004E 004F 0050 0051 0052 0053 0054 0055 0056 0057 020B 002F 020C 0030 020D 0031 006A 006B 0800 0000 0915 0C20 0034 006C 006D 0403 0371 0370 036F 036E 036D 036C 0208 008C 0743 0A35 0209 008D 0703 0A3E 0209 00AD 0703 00EC 0208 00AC 0503 036B 036A 02F4 0A28 0800 0C0B 0005 0CFF 0034 02F4 0A47 0C0F 0005 0800 0061 0069 0068 03E9 0A54 03E8 0A54 0A56 0701 0A4F 0201 0800 00056 00057 00058 00059 00060 00061 00062 00063 00064 00065 00066 00067 00068 00069 00070 00071 00072 00073 00074 00075 00076 00077 00078 00079 00080 00081 00082 00083 00084 00085 00086 00087 00088 00089 00090 00091 00092 00093 00094 00095 00096 00097 00098 00099 00100 00101 00102 00103 00104 00105 00106 00107 00108 00109 00110 00111 00112 00113 00114 00115 00116 00117 00118 00119 00120 00121 MOVF MOVWF MOVF MOVWF MOVF MOVWF CLRF CLRF RETLW NOP CALL MOVLW MOVWF CLRF CLRF CLRC RLF RLF RLF RLF RLF RLF MOVF SUBWF SKPZ GOTO MOVF SUBWF SKPC GOTO MOVF SUBWF BTFSS DECF MOVF SUBWF SETC RLF RLF DECFSZ GOTO RETLW ACCB+1,W ACCD+1 ACCC,W ACCE ACCC+1,W ACCE+1 ACCB ACCB+1 0

DIV

SETUP 20 TEMP ACCC ACCC+1 ACCE+1, F ACCE, f ACCD+1, F ACCD, F ACCC+1, F ACCC, F ACCA,W ACCC,W NOCHK ACCA+1,W ACCC+1,W NOGO ACCA+1,W ACCC+1, F 3,0 ACCC, F ACCA,W ACCC, F ACCB+1, F ACCB, F TEMP, F DLOOP 0 B00001011 5 0FF TEMP TEMP, F LOOP B00001111 5 0 1 ACCA+1 ACCA ACCA+1, F ENDCHK ACCA, F ENDCHK END_M 1,0 TLOOP 1,W 0

DLOOP

;CHECK IF A>C

NOCHK

;IF MSB EQUAL THEN CHECK LSB ;CARRY SET IF C>A ;C-A INTO C

;SHIFT A 1 INTO B (RESULT)

NOGO

;LOOP UNTILL ALL BITS CHECKED

DSCHRG MOVLW TRIS MOVLW MOVWF LOOP DECFSZ GOTO MOVLW TRIS RETLW M_TIME CLRF CLRF CLRF TLOOP INCFSZ GOTO INCFSZ GOTO GOTO ENDCHK BTFSS GOTO END_M MOVF RETLW

;ACTIVATE RA2

;WAIT ;ALL OUTPUTS OFF

;CLEAR TMR0

;CHECK FOR TMR0 TRIP

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0058 0059 005A 005B 005C 005D 005E 005F 0060 0061 0062 0063 0064 0065 0066 0067 0068 0069 006A 006B 006C 006D 006E 006F 0070 0C03 0025 0C28 0002 0943 0C0E 0005 094C 0209 0033 0208 0032 0943 0C0D 0005 094C 0C3C 002B 0C2F 002A 0908 0213 0029 0212 0028 00122 00123 OHMS 00124 00125 00126 00127 00128 CAL 00129 00130 00131 00132 00133 00134 00135 00136 00137 MEAS 00138 00139 00140 00141 00142 00143 00144 00145 00146 00147 00148 00149 00150 00151 00152 00153 00154 00155 00156 00157 MOVLW MOVWF MOVLW OPTION CALL MOVLW TRIS CALL MOVF MOVWF MOVF MOVWF CALL MOVLW TRIS CALL MOVLW MOVWF MOVLW MOVWF CALL MOVF MOVWF MOVF MOVWF CALL B00000011 5 B00101000 ;SET RA0 AND RA1 HIGH (ON WHEN ACTIVATED) ;SELECT POSITIVE EDGE FOR TMR0

DSCHRG B00001110 5 M_TIME ACCA+1,W TCAL+1 ACCA,W TCAL DSCHRG B00001101 5 M_TIME RCALLS ACCB+1 RCALMS ACCB MPY TCAL+1,W ACCA+1 TCAL,W ACCA DIV

;DISCHARGE CAPACITOR ;ACTIVATE RA0 ;MEASURE TIME ;STORE LSB ;STORE MSB ;DISCHARGE CAPACITOR ;ACTIVATE RA1 ;MEASURE TIME ;CALIBRATION LSB VALUE ;CALIBRATION MSB VALUE

;MULTIPLY ACCA(MEAS) * ACCB(RCAL)

0071 0923 0072 0A58

;DIVIDE ACCB(MEAS * R) BY ACCA(TCAL)

GOTO OHMS END - = Unused)

MEMORY USAGE MAP (X = Used,

0000 : XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 0040 : XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXX------------01C0 : ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------X All other memory blocks unused. Program Memory Words Used: Program Memory Words Free: Errors : Warnings : Messages : 0 0 reported, 0 reported, 116 396

0 suppressed 0 suppressed

1997 Microchip Technology Inc.

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All rights reserved. 1997, Microchip Technology Incorporated, USA. 6/97 Printed on recycled paper.

Information contained in this publication regarding device applications and the like is intended for suggestion only and may be superseded by updates. No representation or warranty is given and no liability is assumed by Microchip Technology Incorporated with respect to the accuracy or use of such information, or infringement of patents or other intellectual property rights arising from such use or otherwise. Use of Microchips products as critical components in life support systems is not authorized except with express written approval by Microchip. No licenses are conveyed, implicitly or otherwise, under any intellectual property rights. The Microchip logo and name are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Inc. in the U.S.A. and other countries. All rights reserved. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies.

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1997 Microchip Technology Inc.