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up vote 7 down vote favorite

I'm looking for a very low cost barometric pressure sensor. The SCP1000-D01 available at Sparkfun and elsewhere is around $25 but I was hoping to find something in the $5-10 range. I am only interested in rough relative pressure change, so it does not have to have high precision or be calibrated. Basically something like the thermistor equivalent for pressure...

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tough question! -- i'll ask around at work when I get a chance -- there's some Japanese company that makes some pressure sensors that are low cost.... although it could be that they are just low cost in high volumes. – Jason S Dec 29 '09 at 1:02
Thanks, additional options would be useful. – SteveP Dec 29 '09 at 17:07
I just had this exact same question! – vicatcu Jan 18 '11 at 3:07

5 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

Futurlec has a few barometric sensor in the $5-10 range. These use I2C interface though, so a bit more involved in the MCU side than a simple analog voltage.

http://www.futurlec.com/Pressure_Sensors.shtml

If you're in Australia, you can buy from their Australian website as well.

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up vote 5 down vote

I would take a look at the sensors from Freescale. I bought an MPX4115A from Mouser.com for about $10. This is (supposedly) suitable for use as an altimeter; I haven't gotten to that project, yet. :-)

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up vote 4 down vote

You can check out the Bosch Sensortec BMP085 sensor. It is SMT, but it gave me good results.

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Thanks, this is excellent as well. Nice breakout board. – SteveP Jan 8 '10 at 2:53
I still have some - so if anybody is interested - hit the contact button on my site ;) – Interactive Matter Jan 8 '10 at 7:42
BMP085 is good if you don't need anything too high resolution. – rhooligan Jan 13 '12 at 15:18
up vote 1 down vote

Those Freescale devices are very easy to use - I'd interface it to a small MCU with an ADC. Alternatively, you could just connect it to a voltmeter.

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up vote 1 down vote

Another vote for the MPX4115 family - I'm using one, they're very simple to use & cheap.

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