NEW APPROACHES TO TRANSDUCER EXCITATION AND CONDITIONING

Abstract

Transducer excitation and conditioning has continually influenced the size, power consumption, complexity, and weight of miniature data acquisition and multiplexing systems. Here we examine a new approach to the excitation and conditioning of transducers which have traditionally been formed into a wheatstone bridge configuration. This approach has been successfully utilized in new miniature systems to reduce size, power, and weight while not adversely effecting the function or accuracy. Thermocouple measurements have also presented a significant conditioning problem, in that reference junction compensation and a measurement offset temperature must be provided for each thermocouple measurement. We show here an approach which, through the use of a single reference junction compensation and offset amplifier, has achieved significant improvements in the collection of temperature data.