MACE63021 – Experimental Methods

Hands-On Lab
Load Cells
1 Aims of this exercise
• To improve your understanding of how to read and write analog signals using DAQ hardware and LabVIEW
software
• To improve your knowledge of sensors and the basic concept of calibration
• To become familiar with differential signals and amplification
• To develop practical data acquisition skills using a myRIO and a breadboard
• To develop skills relevant to your group project

2 Prior knowledge required

In order to complete this task you should have completed the previous Experimental Methods laboratory and be
familiar with the lecture content up to this point in the course.

3 What equipment will I need?

For this exercise you will need:

• A PC with NI LabVIEW installed

• NI myRIO and USB cable
• A FAT32 formatted USB pen drive
• A small breadboard
• A flathead screwdriver
• An INA114BP Instrument Amplifier
• A 10Kg TAL220 Load Cell
• Some M-M jumper wires
• 100 ohm resistor (brown-black-brown)

4 Background
Load cells are prevalent in many different electronic devices, such as measuring scales, but are also used to
measure forces in scientific/engineering experiments. The most common form of load cell is a machined piece of
metal with known properties which has strain gauges bonded to it to measure its deflection under load.

A common type of strain gauge is called a Wheatstone bridge which is a circuit of resistors, one of which changes
in value depending on the deflection it is subjected to. By using a bridge circuit it is possible to measure the change
in resistance as a change in voltage. Figure 4.1 shows the internal circuitry of a Wheatstone bridge circuit. The
two legs of the circuit (ACB and ADB) are both potential dividers meaning that the voltage drop across each
resistor is different depending on its value. In a load cell, each of these resistors is a strain gauge meaning its value
of resistance changes when it is deflected. This change in resistance induces a voltage change across terminals C
and D in Figure 4.1 which we can measure using our ADC. However, the change in resistance in a strain gauge can
be very small (often under 1 ohm) which, in turn, induces a very small voltage across the C and D terminals. In
order to be able to measure this we are going to amplify the signal using an instrument amplifier so it is large
enough for us to measure.

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The load cell we are using is a TAL220 load cell which can be found online. This load cell has a rated output of
1mV/V meaning that for every volt of excitation we give the load cell we will get 1 mV output at its capacity load
(10Kg in our case).

Figure 4.1 – A Wheatstone bridge circuit

If we apply a 5V excitation to the load cell and apply a load of 10kg we should see a voltage change of 5mV.

5 Testing the load cell without amplification

Firstly we are going to wire up the load cell as shown below. The 5V supply and ground can be found on the myRIO
C connector as shown in the figure below. In order to wire up the C connector you will need to use a flat-head
screwdriver to screw the connections into the terminal block. We are using the C connector because we need to
use the differential input.

C connector

Figure 5.1 – myRIO with C connector labelled

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Figure 5.2 – TAL220 load cell wired up without amplification (note the grounds are linked)

5.1 Software
Open LabVIEW and use the myRIO template open a blank myRIO lab project (the same as the previous lab). Use
the default personality for the myRIO. Now open the Main.vi file from the project view (Figure 5.3).

Figure 5.3 – Project Explorer

Open up the block diagram and you will find a basic VI that displays the values from the accelerometer built into
the myRIO. Now we need to make the acquisition software by completing the following steps:

1. Delete the contents of the main loop and create a stop button

2. Right click on the Block Diagram and create and Analog Input VI from the myRIO menu.

3. Change the channel of this VI to C/AI0 and add a custom name if you like

4. Wire the error cluster into the VI between the Analog input and the shift register in the loop.

5. Output the Analog input value to a waveform chart

6. Run the VI and apply some bending force to the load cell to see the output change (you might need to bend
it quite hard by hand)

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Figure 5.4 – Raw output from the load cell when pushed by hand

Find the manual for the myRIO online and find the parameters of the analog input channels of the C connector
(page 21) and note them below -this is sometimes called the MSP connector on the myRIO.

Range=_______________________________Resolution=_____________________________________________

Given this information, what is the smallest voltage change those channels can measure?

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What was the maximum range of voltage change you measured?

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5.2 Save the data

Using the methods shown in the previous laboratory, save the data from the load cell and an array for time to a
USB drive.

Hint – Combine each of the indexed arrays outside of the loop.

6 Testing the load cell with an amplifier

Now we will amplify the signal from the load cell to a value that we can measure more accurately using the myRIO.

6.1 Hardware
Amplifying the signal from the load cell using an INA144BP instrument amplifier allows us to change the gain
applied to the signal by changing a resistor. From the INA114BP datasheet we are told that the gain applied to the
signal is given by the following equation:
50 𝑘𝛺 6.1
𝐺 =1+
𝑅𝐺
Where 𝐺 is equal to the gain and 𝑅𝑔 is the value of the gain resistor. If we use a resistor of 100Ω we will get a gain
of 𝐺 = 501 meaning our voltages should be measurable by the myRIO. In order to do this we need to create the

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circuit shown in Figure 6.1. When arranging the amplifier on the breadboard, note the location of the small circle
on the top of the chip as this is pin 1 (see Figure 6.2).

When trying to create this circuit, connect the power lines last and ask a demonstrator
to check it for you.

Figure 6.1 – Load cell with INA114 amplifier circuit layout

Figure 6.2 – Pin layout of the INA114 amplifier

6.2 Software
The software for this is identical to section 5.1 so no further description is required.

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Figure 6.3 – Output from amplified load cell when pushed by hand

Once the software is up and running apply some bending loads to the load cell. You should see that the output
range is now much larger than before and is therefore easier to measure.

6.3 Apply a calibration

When you have reached this stage let a demonstrator know and they will bring over some calibration weights so
that you can begin to estimate the relationship between voltage output and the force/mass applied. You can
increase the weights on the load cell in different increments. Measuring the values of voltage vs the weight applied
you can then create a calibration curve in any software you like (even Excel  ). Once you have calculated this
curve, apply it to the data displayed on the waveform chart by adding in mathematics functions into your loop.

You can ask the demonstrators for help but you should be fine to do it by yourself

Once you have applied the calibration apply some check weights to see if you are measuring what you should be.

7 Extensions
Using the datasheet for the instrument amplifier, try and calculate the actual gain of the amplifier circuit and see
if it compares with the values measured. You could also introduce a potentiometer from the previous laboratory
to control the gain yourself. Ask one of the demonstrators if you want to try this.

8 Conclusion
Congratulations you have now used load cells and amplifiers and measured their outputs to create a fully
functional measuring scale. This lab, when joined with other labs and documentation supplied on BlackBoard
should provide a good source of experience and knowledge which can be applied to using sensors in real
experiments.

Make sure you save the files that you have completed here as they could be very useful in future projects…

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9 Notes

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10 What did you find difficult?

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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11 How are you going to improve this?

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