Measuring Temperature using an NTC Thermistor using an Abbreviated Lookup

Table
copyright, Peter H Anderson, Baltimore, MD, June, '05
Introduction.
This discussion deals with the use of a 10K negative temperature coefficient (NTC)
thermistor to measure and calculate temperature. I have specifically focused on
the Vishay / BC Components 2381-640-66103 bead type thermistor with axial leads
and 2381-633-83103 glass thermistor with radial leads. However, the general
approach may be used for any NTC thermistors.
Note that Digikey stocks these as Digikey part numbers BC1482 and BC1491. These
are 2322 devices as opposed to 2381. I am uncertain if the 2381 devices may be new
devices which have yet to make it into the supply chain. However, the thermal
characteristics are identical.
NTC thermistors are relatively inexpensive, stable and even with a 10-bit A/D
converter are capable of resolving temperature to within 0.1 degrees C over most of
the temperature range. The disadvantage is the calculation of temperature is beyond
the capability of many processors.
In this discussion, I focus on how the calculation may be quite accurately performed
with an abbreviated table lookup and interpolation. In this example, less than 256
reference points (bytes) are used with an added interpolation of four points between
each reference. The result is a resolution of nominally 0.1 Degees C over the range of
0.0 to 37.0 degrees C and 0.2 degrees over the range of -20.0 to 65 degrees C. My
feeling is that this table lookup approach is as good as using a processor which has
floating point calculations and can handle the log function and raise numbers to
powers and it uses a tiny fraction of the program memory.
Note that the number of reference points might be reduced to nominally 128, 64, 32 or
even 16 reference points admittedly with some loss of accuracy.
Details
Consider the following configuration;
+5 VDC

|
R1 = 10.0K
|
---------------------------------- PICAXE A/D input
|
+
10K NTC thermistor
Vtherm
|
GRD

The voltage, Vtherm is calculated using voltage division;

(1)

Vtherm = Rtherm / (R1 + Rtherm) * 5.0

When using a ten bit A/D, the voltage Rtherm is calculated as;
(2)

Vtherm = ADVal / 1024 * +5 VDC

Using (1) and (2);

(3)

Rtherm = R1 / (1024 / ADVal - 1.0)

where R1 is 10.0K.
Note that for an 8-bit A/D, there are 256 quantizing bands and the above expression is;
(4)

Rtherm = R1 / (256 / ADVal - 1.0)

The temperature in degrees K is then calculated using a four point model as;

(5) Tkelvin = 1.0 / (A_const + B_const * ln(Rtherm/10.0e3)

+ C_const * ln(Rtherm/10.0e3)^2 + D_const * ln(Rtherm/10.0)^3)

This expression is discussed in greater detail below.

The temperature in degrees C is then;
(6) Tcelcius = Tkelvin - 273.15

Note that for each value of ADVal, other than zero, there is a corresponding
temperature and thus, one implementation might be a 1024 word (2 byte) lookup
table. That is, the value of temperature for each of the 1024 values of ADVal. This is
well beyond the capability of any PICAXE.
I used Microsoft Excel to calculate the Tcelcius at 256 points. A portion of the
spreadsheet is shown below. The complete spreadsheet is shown here.
ADVal

Rtherm Tkelvin Tcelc

Diff

Diff * 100

2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
8.00
9.00
10.00
11.00
12.00
13.00

78.74
118.58
158.73
199.20
240.00
281.12
322.58
364.37
406.50
448.98
491.80
534.98

#VALUE!
37.89
19.84
13.19
9.78
7.72
6.35
5.38
4.65
4.10
3.65
3.29

#VALUE!
3789.00
1984.00
1319.00
978.00
772.00
635.00
538.00
465.00
410.00
365.00
329.00

500.14
462.25
442.41
429.23
419.45
411.73
405.39
400.01
395.36
391.26
387.61
384.31

226.99
189.10
169.26
156.08
146.30
138.58
132.24
126.86
122.21
118.11
114.46
111.16

14.00
15.00
16.00
17.00
18.00
19.00
20.00
21.00
22.00
23.00
24.00
25.00
26.00
27.00
28.00
29.00
...
238.00
239.00
240.00
241.00
242.00
243.00
244.00
245.00
246.00
247.00
248.00
249.00
250.00
251.00
252.00
253.00
254.00
255.00

578.51
622.41
666.67
711.30
756.30
801.69
847.46
893.62
940.17
987.12
1034.48
1082.25
1130.43
1179.04
1228.07
1277.53

381.32
378.57
376.03
373.67
371.47
369.42
367.48
365.65
363.92
362.27
360.71
359.22
357.79
356.42
355.11
353.84

132222.22
140588.24
150000.00
160666.67
172857.14
186923.08
203333.33
222727.27
246000.00
274444.44
310000.00
355714.29
416666.67
502000.00
630000.00
843333.33
1270000.00
2550000.00

108.17
105.42
102.88
100.52
98.32
96.27
94.33
92.50
90.77
89.12
87.56
86.07
84.64
83.27
81.96
80.69

3.00
2.75
2.54
2.36
2.20
2.06
1.94
1.83
1.73
1.64
1.57
1.49
1.43
1.37
1.31
1.26

300.00
275.00
254.00 <<< Note
236.00
220.00
206.00
194.00
183.00
173.00
164.00
157.00
149.00
143.00
137.00
131.00
126.00

248.74
247.77
246.75
245.68
244.55
243.36
242.10
240.75
239.31
237.75
236.06
234.19
232.11
229.76
227.04
223.79
219.73
214.23

-24.41
-25.38
-26.40
-27.47
-28.60
-29.79
-31.05
-32.40
-33.84
-35.40
-37.09
-38.96
-41.04
-43.39
-46.11
-49.36
-53.42
-58.92

0.94
0.98
1.02
1.07
1.13
1.19
1.26
1.35
1.44
1.56
1.70
1.87
2.08
2.35
2.72
3.25
4.06
5.51

94.00
98.00
102.00
107.00
113.00
119.00
126.00
135.00
144.00
156.00
170.00
187.00
208.00
235.00
272.00 <<< Note
325.00
406.00
551.00

The first column is the the values of ADVal. Column B are the corresponding values
of Rtherm which are calulated using equation (4). The Tkelvin is calculated using (5)
with values of constants noted below. (More on this later).
A_const
B_const
C_const
D_const

=
=
=
=

3.354016e-3
2.569107e-4
2.626311e-6
0.675278e-7

This in itself, might be adequate in many situations. However, a byte is capable of

storing unsigned values in the range of 0 - 255 or signed values of -127 to +128. It is
indeed workable, but limits the temperature to one degree of resolution. I was looking
for something better.

Thus, in the next column, I calculated the difference between two adjacent cells in the
Tcelcius column and in the last column I multiplied this by 100.
Thus, if the ADVal is 2, the corresponding Tcelcius_100 (100 times Tcelcius) is
22699. If the ADVal is 3, the Tcelcius_100 is 22699 - 3789. If the ADVal is 6, the
corresponding Tcelcius_100 is 22699 - 3789 - 1984 - 1319 - 978. That is, the
Tcelcius_100 for any ADVAL may be calculated using a table consisting of the last
column.
Well, there is more complexity as an unsigned byte is limited to values in the range of
0 to 255, not such values as 3789, 1984, etc.
However, scroll down to an ADVal of 15, where the temperature, Tcelcius_100 is
10542. If the ADVal is 16, the Tcelcius_100 is 10542 - 254. If the ADVal is 20, the
Tcelcius_100 is 10542 - 254 - 236 - 220 - 194. Note that values such as 254, 236, etc
may be stored in a byte.
Thus the Diff * 100 values in the last column over ADVals of 16 to 251 may be
arranged in a table. If the ADVal is less than 15, the temperature is too hot. If the
ADVal is above 251, the temperature is too cold. Otherwise, the start temperature is
10542 minus each value in the table until the ADVal is reached.
Program Therm1.Bas implements this technique.
Program Therm1.Bas
' Therm1.Bas - PICAXE-18X
'
' Illustrates an interface with an NTC thermistor.
'
' Measures voltage across the thermistor and uses a combination of table
lookup
' and linear interpolation to calculate the temperature in degrees C.
'
' copyright, Peter H Anderson, Baltimore, MD, June, '05
Symbol ADVal = W0
Symbol TC_100 = W0
Symbol
Symbol
Symbol
Symbol
Symbol
Symbol
Symbol
Symbol

' ADVal not needed when TC_100 is calculated

ADValHi8 = B2
ADValLow2 = B3
N = B4
Diff = B5
Whole = B6
Fract = B7
SignFlag = B4 ' N is not need when this is used
Dig = B5
' Diff not needed when this is used

Top:
GoSub MeasTemp
If TC_100 = $7fff Then OutofRange
GoSub DisplayTemp
Top1:
Wait 5 ' perform measurement every five seconds
GoTo Top
OutofRange:
SerTxD ("Out of Range", 10, 13)
GoTo Top1
MeasTemp:
ReadADC10 0, ADVal
ADValHi8 = ADVal / 4
' isolate the high 8 bits
ADValLow2 = ADVal & $03 ' low two bits
TC_100 = 10542 ' adjust this as required
If ADValHi8 < 16 Then TooHot
If ADValHi8 > 251 Then TooCold
For N = 0 to ADValHi8 ' continue to subtract
Read N, Diff
TC_100 = TC_100 - Diff
Next
' Now for the low two bits, a linear interpolation
N = N + 1
Read N, Diff
Diff = Diff / 4 * ADValLow2
TC_100 = TC_100 - Diff
MeasTemp_1:
Return
TooHot:
TooCold:
TC_100 = $7fff
GoTo MeasTemp_1
DisplayTemp:
SignFlag = Tc_100 / 256 / 128
If SignFlag = 0 Then Positive
TC_100 = TC_100 ^ $ffff + 1
SerTxD ("-")
Positive:
Whole = TC_100 / 100
Fract = TC_100 % 100

' twos comp

SerTxD (#Whole, ".")

' be sure the fractional is two digits
Dig = Fract / 10
SerTxD (#Dig)
Dig = Fract % 10
SerTxD (#Dig, 10, 13)
Return
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' EEPROM locations 0 - 15 not used
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM

16, (254, 236, 220, 206, 194, 183, 173, 164)

24, (157, 149, 143, 137, 131, 126, 122, 117)
32, (113, 110, 106, 103, 100, 97, 94, 92)
40, (89, 87, 85, 83, 81, 79, 77, 76)
48, (74, 73, 71, 70, 69, 67, 66, 65)
56, (64, 63, 62, 61, 60, 59, 58, 57)
64, (57, 56, 55, 54, 54, 53, 52, 52)
72, (51, 51, 50, 49, 49, 48, 48, 47)
80, (47, 46, 46, 46, 45, 45, 44, 44)
88, (44, 43, 43, 43, 42, 42, 42, 41)
96, (41, 41, 41, 40, 40, 40, 40, 39)
104, (39, 39, 39, 39, 38, 38, 38, 38)
112, (38, 38, 37, 37, 37, 37, 37, 37)
120, (37, 36, 36, 36, 36, 36, 36, 36)
128, (36, 36, 36, 36, 36, 35, 35, 35)
136, (35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35)
144, (35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35)
152, (35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35, 35)
160, (36, 36, 36, 36, 36, 36, 36, 36)
168, (36, 36, 36, 37, 37, 37, 37, 37)
176, (37, 37, 38, 38, 38, 38, 38, 39)
184, (39, 39, 39, 39, 40, 40, 40, 41)
192, (41, 41, 42, 42, 42, 43, 43, 43)
200, (44, 44, 45, 45, 46, 46, 47, 47)
208, (48, 48, 49, 50, 50, 51, 52, 53)
216, (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61)
224, (62, 63, 65, 66, 68, 70, 72, 74)
232, (76, 78, 81, 84, 87, 90, 94, 98)
240, (102, 107, 113, 119, 126, 135, 144, 156)
248, (170, 187, 208, 235)

Calibration.
In the above, the temperature corresponding to an ADVal of 15 is 105.42 (or
Tcelcius_100 = 10542). This will result in a temperature of 25.00 (or Tcelcius_100 of
2500) at an ADVAL of 512, or at 128 in the above table. This is for an "ideal"
thermistor.

Assume the above program is run in an environment where the temperature is 25.30
degrees C, but the reported temperature is 22.36 degrees. It is a simple matter to add
2530 - 2236 = 294 to the initial 10542 value. For example;
TC_100 = 10542 + 294

Program Therm2.Bas.
This program illustrates a four channel temperature measurement system using four
10K - 10K thermistor divider networks on A/D channels 0, 1, 6 and 7. Note that in the
example, I have used different calibration values for each of the thermistors.
In addition, I have implemented a four channel thermostat using outputs 0, 1, 2 and 3.
Note that this would be somewaht more complex for negative temperatures and trip
points.
' Therm2.Bas - PICAXE-18X
'
' Four channel temperature measurement using 10K NTC thermistors on A/D 0, 1,
6, 7.
'
' Measures voltage across the thermistor and uses a combination of table
lookup
' and linear interpolation to calculate the temperature in degrees C.
'
' Sends temperature to PC (or similar).
'
' For each channel, operates or releases relays, or similar, on OUT0, 1, 2 or
3. Note that
' this may be used to turn on a fan (hot alarm) or turn on a heater (cold
alarm).
'
' Uses about 400 bytes of 2048 available.
'
' copyright, Peter H Anderson, Baltimore, MD, June, '05
Symbol ADVal = W0
Symbol TC_100 = W0

' ADVal not needed when TC_100 is calculated

Symbol Channel = B2
Symbol
Symbol
Symbol
Symbol
Symbol
Symbol
Symbol
Symbol
Top:

ADValHi8 = B3
ADValLow2 = B4
N = B5
Diff = B6
Whole = B7
Fract = B8
SignFlag = B5 ' N is not need when this is used
Dig = B6
' Diff not needed when this is used

For Channel = 0 to 3
GoSub MeasTemp
GoSub DisplayTemp
GoSub ThermostatSet
Next
Wait 5
GoTo Top
MeasTemp:
Branch Channel, (MeasTempCh0, MeasTempCh1, MeasTempCh2, MeasTempCh3)
MeasTempCh0:
ReadADC10 0, ADVal
ADValHi8 = ADVal / 4
' isolate the high 8 bits
ADValLow2 = ADVal & $03 ' low two bits
TC_100 = 10542 + 234' adjust this as required.
channel to channel
If ADValHi8 < 16 Then TooHot
If ADValHi8 > 251 Then TooCold
Goto MeasTempCalculate

Note this varies from

MeasTempCh1:
ReadADC10 1, ADVal
ADValHi8 = ADVal / 4
' isolate the high 8 bits
ADValLow2 = ADVal & $03 ' low two bits
TC_100 = 10542 - 123' adjust this as required.
channel to channel
If ADValHi8 < 16 Then TooHot
If ADValHi8 > 251 Then TooCold
Goto MeasTempCalculate

Note this varies from

MeasTempCh2:
ReadADC10 4, ADVal ' Corresponds to IN6
ADValHi8 = ADVal / 4
' isolate the high 8 bits
ADValLow2 = ADVal & $03 ' low two bits
TC_100 = 10542 + 321' adjust this as required.
channel to channel
If ADValHi8 < 16 Then TooHot
If ADValHi8 > 251 Then TooCold
Goto MeasTempCalculate

Note this varies from

MeasTempCh3:
ReadADC10 5, ADVal ' Correspond to IN7
ADValHi8 = ADVal / 4
' isolate the high 8 bits
ADValLow2 = ADVal & $03 ' low two bits
TC_100 = 10542 - 123' adjust this as required.
channel to channel

Note this varies from

If ADValHi8 < 16 Then TooHot

If ADValHi8 > 251 Then TooCold
Goto MeasTempCalculate
MeasTempCalculate:
For N = 0 to ADValHi8 ' continue to subtract
Read N, Diff
TC_100 = TC_100 - Diff
Next
' Now for the low two bits, a linear interpolation
N = N + 1
Read N, Diff
Diff = Diff / 4 * ADValLow2
TC_100 = TC_100 - Diff
MeasTemp_1:
Return
TooHot:
TooCold:
TC_100 = $7fff
GoTo MeasTemp_1
DisplayTemp:
SerTxD (#Channel, " ");
If TC_100 = $7fff Then DisplayTempOutofRange
SignFlag = Tc_100 / 256 / 128
If SignFlag = 0 Then DisplayTempPositive
TC_100 = TC_100 ^ $ffff + 1
' twos comp
SerTxD ("-")
DisplayTempPositive:
Whole = TC_100 / 100
Fract = TC_100 % 100
SerTxD (#Whole, ".")
' be sure the fractional is two digits
Dig = Fract / 10
SerTxD (#Dig)
Dig = Fract % 10
SerTxD (#Dig, 13, 10)
Goto DisplayTempReturn
DisplayTempOutofRange:
SerTxD ("Out of Range", 13, 10)
Goto DisplayTempReturn
DisplayTempReturn:
Return

ThermostatSet:
Branch Channel, (ThermoStatSetCh0, ThermoStatSetCh1, ThermoStatSetCh2,
ThermoStatSetCh3)
ThermoStatSetCh0:
If TC_100 > 2900 Then TurnOn ' Hot alarm 29.00, Off at 27.00
If TC_100 < 2700 Then TurnOff
Goto ThermoStatSetReturn
ThermoStatSetCh1:
If TC_100 > 3200 Then TurnOn ' Hot alarm 32.00.
If TC_100 < 2700 Then TurnOff
Goto ThermoStatSetReturn

Off at 27.00

ThermoStatSetCh2:
If TC_100 < 400 Then TurnOn ' Cold alarm 4.00.
If TC_100 > 1000 Then TurnOff
Goto ThermoStatSetReturn

Off at 10.00

ThermoStatSetCh3:
If TC_100 < 2500 Then TurnOn
If TC_100 > 2700 Then TurnOff
Goto ThermoStatSetReturn

' Cold alarm 25.00.

Off at 27.00

TurnOn:
High Channel
Goto ThermoStatSetReturn
TurnOff:
Low Channel
Goto ThermoStatSetReturn
ThermoStatSetReturn:
Return
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
' EEPROM locations 0 - 15 not used
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM

16, (254, 236, 220, 206, 194, 183, 173, 164)

24, (157, 149, 143, 137, 131, 126, 122, 117)
32, (113, 110, 106, 103, 100, 97, 94, 92)
40, (89, 87, 85, 83, 81, 79, 77, 76)
48, (74, 73, 71, 70, 69, 67, 66, 65)
56, (64, 63, 62, 61, 60, 59, 58, 57)
64, (57, 56, 55, 54, 54, 53, 52, 52)
72, (51, 51, 50, 49, 49, 48, 48, 47)
80, (47, 46, 46, 46, 45, 45, 44, 44)
88, (44, 43, 43, 43, 42, 42, 42, 41)
96, (41, 41, 41, 40, 40, 40, 40, 39)
104, (39, 39, 39, 39, 38, 38, 38, 38)
112, (38, 38, 37, 37, 37, 37, 37, 37)

EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM
EEPROM

120,
128,
136,
144,
152,
160,
168,
176,
184,
192,
200,
208,
216,
224,
232,
240,
248,

(37, 36, 36, 36, 36,

(36, 36, 36, 36, 36,
(35, 35, 35, 35, 35,
(35, 35, 35, 35, 35,
(35, 35, 35, 35, 35,
(36, 36, 36, 36, 36,
(36, 36, 36, 37, 37,
(37, 37, 38, 38, 38,
(39, 39, 39, 39, 40,
(41, 41, 42, 42, 42,
(44, 44, 45, 45, 46,
(48, 48, 49, 50, 50,
(53, 54, 55, 56, 57,
(62, 63, 65, 66, 68,
(76, 78, 81, 84, 87,
(102, 107, 113, 119,
(170, 187, 208, 235)

36, 36, 36)

35, 35, 35)
35, 35, 35)
35, 35, 35)
35, 35, 35)
36, 36, 36)
37, 37, 37)
38, 38, 39)
40, 40, 41)
43, 43, 43)
46, 47, 47)
51, 52, 53)
58, 59, 61)
70, 72, 74)
90, 94, 98)
126, 135, 144, 156)