TRT-25 and Arduino Uno

Question

I need help on a project I am working on.

We are trying to integrate a reaction torque sensor and I am having a hard time deciding how to go about it.

Previously I assumed that like my load cell I would be able to use the HX711 module to connect my torque sensor to my Arduino. The torque sensors use a Wheatstone bridge configuration, which is great for this module.

The problem I ran into is that the TRT-25 torque sensor requires an excitation voltage of 10V and my Arduino is only supplying 5V. When I tried powering my sensor separately with 10V I quickly found out that these HX711 modules are not designed to handle 10V.

Needless to say that I am now wondering how I should power my sensor, but also which A/D converter can be used to get this working.

The same manufacturer sells all the components to get this working, but it is hundreds of dollars more and our budget doesn't allow for it.

I am posting links here so you can see the sensor. What I am considering now is finding a 10V source and connecting the signal pins to my analog pins on my Arduino. I am hoping based on the raw value I can compute a torque measurement based upon this small piece of information their tech support gave me. (X mv/v * EXCITATION v = TORQUE in/lbs).

FYI, I don't have much more information outside of what is on the site for the sensor. My project uses a small enclosure and I have an Arduino proto shield to power my other 3 sensors. I am limited on space but could probably incorporate a small power supply and replace the current HX711 module.

https://www.transducertechniques.com/trt-torque-sensor.aspx

Answer 1

You can use 5V as the excitation voltage. 10V is only specified as the excitation voltage used for calibration. Note that at 5V the output will be half that of the cal info. Its interesting how you are using the cheapest interface to what is probably a very expensive sensor.

Answer 2

Do what the support folks told you to do:

Use your 5V excitation voltage together with the given equation ((X mv/v * EXCITATION v = TORQUE in/lbs)) to find the torque.

Where:

• X is the measured voltage from the torque sensor
• EXCITATION v is the voltage powering the bridge - 5V in your case.
• mv/v is the value given in the datasheet for your sensor.
• TORQUE is the torque measured by your sensor. This is the result you are looking for.
• in/lbs is the unit for the torque meaurement.