Force or Pressure Sensor MF01
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ScribdTranslationsForce or Pressure Sensor MF01
Uploaded by
ScribdTranslationsForce or Pressure Sensor MF01
DESCRIPTION
This self-adhesive force or pressure sensor is ideal for detecting a force applied to the membrane.
When detecting a bending in the membrane, the sensor changes its internal resistance. It is made
of 2 layers separated by a spacer, the more it is pressed, the more active element points touch the
semiconductor and that causes the resistance to decrease. When not pressed, its resistance is
approx. 20MΩ. Its pressure range varies from 30 grams to 1kg. So it is enough to put it in a voltage
divider, to be able to measure the voltage output with some ADC.
These sensors are low cost, work with any development board or microcontroller with ADC stage.
It has an extension that ends in two tips that can be easily soldered. It is very easy to use and can
have a multitude of applications in many electronic projects. Works for most touch-sensitive
applications. You can use any power supply as it uses less than 1 mA of current.
DISADVANTAGES
These sensors are rarely accurate. So basically when you use this sensor you just have to wait to
get “ranges” of response. These sensors can detect weight, but they are a poor choice for
detecting exactly how many pounds of weight are on them.
SPECIFICATIONS
Actuation force: 30g min.
Sensitivity range: 30 to 10,000g.
Repeatability: 5%.
No-load resistance: 20 MOhms.
Hysteresis: 10%.
Response time: <1ms.
Temperature range: -30ºC to 70ºC.
Width: 0.05mm.
Performance: 100KΩ (light pressure) to 200Ω (max. pressure)
Force Range: 0 to 20 pounds (0 to 100 Newtons)
Force or Pressure Sensor with Arduino UNO
The objective of this practice is to verify the functionality of the pressure sensor, placing an LED
that amplifies its intensity, depending on the pressure on the sensor, and measuring the applied
voltage.
MATERIALS
1 LED
1 Breadboard
UTP or Dupont cable
Arduino UNO board
1 10KΩ resistor
1 MF01 Sensor (Force or Pressure)
1 resistor of 220Ω or 330Ω (Preferably so as not to damage the Led)
The connection of the pressure sensor, the LED and their respective resistors with the Arduino is
shown in the following diagram.
Connection Diagram.
As shown in the diagram, the red wire represents VCC that is connected to the 5V pin of the
Arduino, the black wire to GND, the yellow wires are signal, to Pin A0 (Sensor) and Pin 6 (Led).
The force or pressure sensor connected to the Arduino UNO will be as shown in the
Representative Figure.
Representative Figure
Once the pressure or force sensor is connected to the Arduino UNO, the next step will be to make
a program that modifies the brightness intensity of the LED with the pressure or force applied to
the sensor and displays it through the serial port, in this way we can verify that the components
work correctly.
We will install the necessary drivers, install the Arduino development IDE and connect the Arduino
to the PC through the USB port.
Next we will write the following program:
01int AnalogPin = 0; // Sensor connected to Analog 0
02int LEDpin = 6; // LED connected to Pin 6 (PWM)
03int ResRead; // Resistance Reading by Voltage Division
04int LEDBrightness;
05
06void setup()
07{
08Serial.begin(9600); // We will send the debugging information through the Serial Monitor
09pinMode(LEDpin, OUTPUT);
10}
11void loop()
12{
13ResRead = analogRead(AnalogPin); // Resistance is equal to the sensor reading (Analog 0)
14Serial.print("Analog Reading = ");
15Serial.println(ResRead);
16
17LEDBrightness = map(ResRead, 0, 1023, 0, 255);
18// Change the range of the analog reading (0-1023)
19// We use in analogWrite 8 bits (0-255) configured in the map
20analogWrite(LEDpin, LEDBrightness);
21
22delay(100); //One hundred “ms” of waiting on each read
23}
We will compile it to verify that the syntax of the C++ code is correct, to do this we will press the
“Verify” button. If the code is correct it will return “Compilation Completed”, if there is an error in
the code it will indicate it.
Once the code is verified, we will click on the “Load” button to send the program to Arduino UNO.
If the Arduino is correctly connected to the PC via the USB port, the program will be uploaded and
the Arduino IDE will show “Upload Completed”.
Arduino IDE
If we have correctly connected the pressure sensor to the Arduino board and if the program sent is
correct, the current data appears in the serial port window.
<img
Serial Monitor View
How is force/pressure measured with this Sensor?
As we have said, the resistance of the sensor changes as more pressure is applied. When there is
no pressure, the sensor looks like an infinite resistance (open circuit), as the pressure increases,
the resistance decreases. This graph approximately indicates the resistance of the sensor at
different force measurements. (Note that force is not measured in grams and what it really means
is Newtons * 100)
It is important to note that the graph is not very linear (it is a log / log graph) and that in especially
low force measurements it goes quickly from infinity to 100KΩ.
Sensor Voltage across
Force (lb) Force (N) Current through sensor
Resistance sensor
