Load Cell Instrumentation

Help & Support Robot Parts
1

I am recording the thrust of a large solid rocket engine with this load cell: robotshop.com/en/1000kg-butt … -cell.html

I believe I will need this amplifier.
and this micro-controller.

in order to record the thrust being administered to the cell over the course of a few seconds. Are these products compatible?
What other products will I need? What free software can I get to graph this data?

Thanks all,

Jack

2

Hi Jack,

The OpenScale comes with an on-board HX711 amplifier. Therefore, if you use the OpenScale with your 1000kg Button Load Cell, you won’t need an additional HX711 amplifier board.
The OpenScale outputs weight measurements from a Load Cell attached to it through serial.
It has an on-board ATmega328P microcontroller that transfer your data to a serial terminal or to a data logger such as the OpenLog.
For example, you can interface the OpenScale (with your load cell attached) with the OpenLog and start logging your weight data in a microSD card.
Then, you can use for example Google Sheet or any other free spreadsheet software to graph your data from the microSD card.

Another solution would be to use the PhidgetBridge Wheatstone Bridge Sensor Interface and the FlowBotics App for Phidgets Wheatstone Bridge Sensor Interface.

3

Ok, so if I were to use the load cell to OpenScale to computer setup, what program could I use to log the data to graph later? It says that OpenScale has the weight measurements pop up on the computer screen, can you save it and log it through that window? I have never used load cells before so this is all new to me.

Thanks very much,

Jack Oswald

4

Hi Jack,

As we mentioned, you can either use the OpenLog Data Logger interfaced with the OpenScale to log/save the data output from the load cell into an SD card then you can plot your data using a spreadsheet software as Google Sheet.
If you want to log and plot the data output from the OpenScale without the OpenLog Data Logger, you can search for a “Serial Plotter” Software.
You can find a lot of free softwares that can probably do this like ArduinoPlot, Bridge Control Panel, RealtimePlotter, Real Time Serial Data Plotter…
The other option would be to use the PhidgetBridge Wheatstone Bridge Sensor Interface. The FlowBotics App for Phidgets Wheatstone Bridge Sensor Interface let you log your Load Cell measurements into a CSV file with which you can plot graphs.