Smart Sensors and MEMS, 2nd Edition

2

Interfacing sensors to microcontrollers

a direct approach

Ferran Reverter     Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech, Castelldefels, Spain

Abstract

This chapter discusses the direct connection of analog sensors to digital systems without using any analog circuit in the signal path. It first reviews the operating principle of analog sensors (mainly, resistive and capacitive sensors) and digital systems (basically, microcontrollers). It then explains how to connect different sensor topologies to a microcontroller to build a direct interface circuit. Finally, it discusses some applications using commercial devices.

Keywords

Capacitive sensor; Microcontroller; Resistive sensor; Sensor electronic interface

2.1. Introduction

Just as human beings ...